Tips for Helping Children with Math Homework
General Questions to Ask:
- What did you learn in math today?
- What questions do you still have about __?
Problem Solving:
- What is the problem saying? Put it into your own words.
- How do you think you should start?
- Let's try drawing a picture of what is happening.
- Does this remind you of a problem you've solved before?
- Could we try changing the numbers to make it a simpler problem?
- Let's look back and see if your answer makes sense.
- Let's pretend I'm a younger student. Explain your method to me.
Praise:
- Praise effort and process rather than intelligence. For example, say, "I love how you stuck with that!" rather than, "You are so smart!"
Mistakes:
- Explain your process to me.
- Let's check this with another method.
- What did you learn from that mistake?
- Did you know that your brain grows new synapses every time you make a mistake?
Self-Assessment:
- What parts of this problem were easy for you?
- What parts of this problem were difficult for you?
- What did you learn from this problem?