• Looking for Additional Ways to Support Your Student?

     

    Try one of these strategies.

    • As your child is working through a problem, have her/him explain step-by-step what s/he is doing and then write down any places in which s/he cannot give a reason for the step.  Your child will then have specific questions to ask in class.

     

    • Remind your child to look at his/her notes for similar problems.

     

    • Remind your child to read the section that the homework is in and to look for similar problems.

     

    • Remind your child to check their homework after they have completed it.  Odd answers for section problems and all answers for chapter reviews are in the back of the book in the "Selected Answers" section. 

     

    • If possible, allow your child to attend after-school help sessions.  However, please keep in mind that these sessions are only effective if the student actively seeks out and accepts assistance from others, especially from their peers. It will not be effective if a student waits only for me to help them.

     

  • Strategies for Students Feeling Anxious about Math and/or Tests

     

    •  Attend class regularly - Some students are involved in many activities that might require them to miss school days or certain class periods frequently.  Excessive class absence means that the student is missing key concepts that are discussed.  Since math is a cumulative course, any missed key concept eventually will begin to create comprehension problems for the child and a sense of falling far behind the rest of the class.

     

    • Ask questions / Get help - Some students have found math to be easy up to this year and may not have developed strategies that would support them in solving more abstract problems.  This may lead to the students feeling frustrated with the class and unsure of themselves.  Please remind students that it is ok to ask questions and to get help.

     

    • Time Practice Tests/Quizzes - This strategy can help students get used to taking tests/quizzes within a certain time frame. Typically, quizzes are usually 15 - 20 minutes long, and tests are the entire class period, 49 minutes. Many students have told me that using this strategy helped them understand their areas of strengths and weaknesses, and so they knew upon which test/quiz topic(s) they needed to study more and/or to ask for help.

     

    • Practice, Practice, Practice - The amount of practice required for proficiency varies for each student. Some students only require a couple of problems; others need many. Therefore, some students may need more practice problems than I assign to become proficient. As I do not assign every problem in each section, students may practice using unassigned problems. I suggest that they use odd problems first, because they can check their answers in the back of the book.