8 Tips on Teaching Math to Your Children

It is always difficult to teach your own children anything. If they don't want to learn, they give you an attitude and try get away with crying and yelling. When that happens, that makes you upset and you start fighting with your children. They seem to learn better from the stranger, but why?

Here are some tips on how to make your children learn math from you.

1. Teach them regularly --- When they know that they have no way to excuse the study time, they will learn to sit and learn. Set a regular time for them to learn from you.
2. Do not teach by time length, but by quantity --- When you tell your children that they have to learn math for two hours every Monday, that will give them depressing feelings. They try to do as little as possible for these two hours. Instead, decide on quantity they need to finish that time. Four pages for that day then if your child finishes in one hour, let the child set free in one hour, if the child takes three hours, then sit with the child for three hours. Adjust the amount of work you give them based on their abilities. If the child takes long time to learn, cut the amount in half and set two days a week instead of one. If the child always finishes early, add a bit more work next time.
3. Praise them when they do it with good attitude --- The most difficult thing about teaching your children is their attitude. When you can overcome with it, they learn so much better. Even if they become older, they love good praises by the parents, patting on the head or back for doing a good job. You don't have to give them material things, just give them encouragement by praising how proud you are of them listening and learning so nicely.
4. Your partner should be on your side --- Another issue with teaching is when you are having difficulties with the child, the other partner tells you that the work maybe too difficult or you are being too hard on the child. If the partner says that in front of the child, the child will take an advantage and it will cause a big fight among all of you instead of just you and the child. Make sure that both parents should have understanding of never interfere in front of the child.
5. Invite a friend to study together --- If your child has a good friend, who also wants to learn math together, invite the friend. Your child will learn with much better attitude with a friend doing the same thing.
6. Be patient --- What often happens is that the parent gets frustrated when the child doesn't understand something simple. You think you knew this when you were your child age and you feel that your child is behind and not learning as well as you did. Be patient. Explain over and over without being emotional. Your child might not be as talented as you were at the same age, but everyone has unique talents. Your child is probably much better at something else. Don't expect your child to be the same as you.
7. Try to let them write down steps --- Often children write down answers to the questions but don't write down the steps it took. As they get older, this habit causes them to lose more marks than necessary. Always ask them to write down each step showing how the answer was reached. While following the steps, it is easy to spot simple calculation mistakes, but if just answer is presented, no one can give any part marks to the question. It also helps themselves to review the answer by themselves.
8. Write nice and neat on calculation paper --- Children are often provided with calculation paper during the tests. If the calculation paper has illegible writings, this causes mistakes in calculation, and it is hard to track what he/she was doing. Teach them to write nice and neat even if that is only for themselves to look at. Calculation mistakes often happens because of illegible writing of their own.