Posts Tagged mathematics
Tips for Picking the Right Home School Math Curriculum
Posted on September 25, 2011 | Home Schooling.
Mathematics is an essential part of the core educational curriculum. Parents who choose to home school their children are given the option to choose which math curriculum best fits their students.
The most important factor to keep in mind when choosing the right home school math curriculum is the student. Parents must be aware which learning style their child learns best under. Parents must decide if their child is an auditory or visual learner, if their child works best with active learning, how much time is spent on instruction, and weather or not the student is able to learn in a step-by-step or sequential manner.
Visual learners often appreciate colorful textbooks and benefit from the use of video demonstrations. Auditory learners benefit from having the concepts verbally explained.
Most children work best with active learning. Active learning incorporates activities to ensure that the child knows, understands and is able to apply the concepts learned. With this method of teaching, children put what they learn into practice, separating the difference between memorizing concepts and actually learning them.
When choosing a math program it is important to distinguish if the program is spiral or mastery. Spiral programs introduce various topics without expecting students to fully comprehend them. The concepts and topics are continuously repeated which allows students to master the topics, as they understand them. This type of program often works as a great method for teaching students with attention difficulties and students who are perusing a career plan that does not require in depth mastery of math concepts. Spiral programs are more flexible, allowing students to change topics, keeping them from becoming overwhelmed and stifled. This program also allows students to learn and understand basic information and formulas needed in everyday life. This makes spiral learning ideal for students that are working for a career in a non-mathematic field.
Mastery programs are presented in steps. Mastery programs ensure that a child fully understands a concept before continuing to the next. This type of program usually takes the student longer, but is much more extensive. This type of program is extremely beneficial to students that are working towards a career that requires mastery of mathematical concepts. Mastery programs ensure that the student completely understands the topic before moving to the next.
When choosing a math program, parents must also decide between concrete and abstract mathematics. Concrete mathematics refers to the actions taken to perform mathematical functions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Abstract mathematics deal with the reasoning behind mathematical functions and actions.
These are the exact ideas and concepts parents must keep in mind when choosing the right home school math curriculum that best fits the student. Choosing the program that best appeals to the student ensures the student’s success. Parents may also want to consider an online math tutoring platform as a way to supplement their home school curriculum.
Strategy For Teaching Mathematics Effectively
Posted on August 2, 2011 | Home Schooling.
Mathematics is one of the most common subjects reinforced in a home tuition service. This is because of the fact that majority of the students finds a hard time comprehending every concept in mathematics. A lot of student finds a hard time coping up with their lessons in math. This is the reason why most students who may need the services of a private tutor will need a tutor who has expertise in mathematics. Thus, if you are a private tutor who is an expert in a math subject, you certainly have extra qualifying points. However, knowledge about the subject matter is not enough to make tutoring effective. The manner of how the tutor relays the concept to his or her students counts the most. The tutor must develop effective tutoring strategies in order to make every tutoring session as effective as possible. One of the most effective strategies is the two way approach. This strategy has been proven to be effective by a lot of tutors.
The first way is by teaching the student ahead of the class. Whether you are teaching a brilliant or just an average student, or even if you are teaching someone who performs the poorest in class, teaching the lessons ahead of the class will always do wonders in every student. What exactly do I mean by teaching ahead of the class? This only means that you as a tutor must teach the lesson which is not yet taught by their teacher in their regular class.
This is always an effective means of helping the student grasp the lesson that will be taught in their regular class effectively and efficiently. If you are able to introduce them to the concept ahead of time, they will become more familiar with the concept. Thus, the moment that their teacher will cover the concept, the student will not be lost with the discussion anymore because they already have an idea of what the teacher is talking about. You see, the most common problem of students in a regular class is that they often get lost in the discussion. They often fail to understand the material that is being presented by the teacher but they become to shy to clarify things. They are too preoccupied with the thought of how their classmates would think about them if they will raise their question in front of the class. The only way to conquer this hesitation is by building their self confidence. The way to do this is by presenting the material before hand at the comfort of their own home.
The second strategy is to always find time to go back and review previous topics. Mathematics can be very complex. Students may find certain topics to be very confusing. Thus, going back and reviewing previous topics may allow students to understand the topics that they were not able to understand during their first encounter.
The two strategies mentioned above have been proven to bring positive effects to every student. It helps build the confidence of the students and therefore, enhances the learning potential of every student. If you are a private tutor, you may try using this strategy and assess for yourself if this strategy works well or not.