Math Homework… Tonight?
Math homework often involves completing a set of similar math problems. The goal is to get the correct answer, often showing the steps performed along the way. If your child struggles with math, you know first-hand the frustration they experience when faced with a page of math problems they cannot solve.
Solving a math problem can involve performing a series of steps and calculations. Students will often judge their understanding by their ability to get the correct answer. If they get a wrong answer they may think… “I don’t get it!”
This is usually not the case. There are often some steps they do understand. But they may forget a step, or get them out of sequence. Which step or calculation do they not yet understand? This is the most important part of the learning process: to figure out where their difficulty is, so that your child can go back to school the next day and pinpoint this difficulty to their teacher. Learning how to speak up and advocate for themselves is an important skill for your child to learn, not just for math, but also for life.
Think of the Get it Guide Tutorials as an approach your child can use when learning new math concepts. An approach that focuses on communication. Communication is an important part of how we learn. Get it Guide tutorials will help your child practice communication skills such as reading aloud, thinking aloud, explaining and teaching as strategies for effective learning.
Getting your child to communicate about the math they are learning will also provide opportunities for you to have meaningful conversations about learning with your child. Conversations about what they are learning in math, what they understand and do not understand about solving a particular math problem. Reinforcing study habits for effective learning. Encouraging your child to seek out expert help from their math teacher.
Your child can practice the same approach to question themselves, and to think aloud when working through a math problem. This is what effective problem solvers do.
It’s as
Easy As…
Look at the types of problems in your homework assignment (i.e. subtracting integers, multiplying rational numbers, solving 1-step equations).
Look at the Math Topic Categories below. Inside each category are various tutorials; browse for the one that matches your math problem.
Select the Slideshow Tutorial, a Worksheet or Video that matches the types of problems in your homework assignments.
Conversations About Learning
- Read aloud each effective question as it is presented in the tutorial
- Take some wait time (3 – 5 seconds) to think about how they will respond
- Think aloud as they speak/verbalize their response
- Write down/document their thinking on paper. Your child has the option of printing a worksheet activity for each tutorial.
- Reflect on their thinking by reading and comparing their work to each explanation presented in the tutorial.
- Assess their understanding by having them walk you through a solution to a problem. They’ll teach you!
Have them walk you through the tutorial. They teach you! Goals and indicators of success include the following:
- In response to each effective question, your child can explain their response and thinking clearly
- Your child can use appropriate mathematical vocabulary
- Your child can demonstrate a solution step
- Your child can compare, paraphrase and explain the solution examples presented in the tutorial.
- Identify the solution steps they feel confident explaining and demonstrating
- More importantly, identify the solution steps they do not yet feel confident explaining and demonstrating
- Write learning goals they’ll ask their teacher for help with