WHEN DOES MY CHILD NEED MATH HELP?

Have you ever heard someone say, "Your daughter is a genius in social studies!" or "Your son is brilliant in history"? Most likely not. In our society, whether warranted or not, those kids who are naturally good in math are considered "brains" and those who are not, even though they may be highly intelligent, often label themselves as "dumb." In fact, from as early as the first grade, children who find math difficult frequently suffer from a low level of confidence. If they are not soon taught in a way that makes sense to them, students can fall far behind in their math and lose so much self-esteem that some act out in school, and even give up trying. A situation such as this is not at all uncommon, and can negatively affect the way students view themselves and their ability to succeed well into their adult lives. We have heard this from many of our parents who have confided that they were and remain "terrible" in math, and they still remember the shame they felt as kids because of it.

You would think that parents would seek math help for their children sooner, rather than later, to avoid such detrimental results in their children. Nevertheless, a large number of parents wait a very long time, even until their children are failing, to obtain needed tutoring for their students. Why would that be? There are two main reasons that we see at Mathnasium.

For one thing, parents mistakenly think that the child's abilities will somehow improve over time. Unfortunately, as often as not, this is not the case. Kids who do not grasp math the way they are taught at school will invariably need auxiliary help, taught in a way that they can understand.

The second reason is that parents do not recognize the warning signs of a child who needs extra help outside the classroom. For younger children, look for one or more of the following signs:

• They are having trouble learning their 10's addition facts such as 3+7=10 or 2+8=10 no matter how much you drill
• They have great difficulty learning their doubles facts such as 8+8=16
• They can't count backwards accurately
• They forget their math facts easily
• They never lose the habit of counting on their fingers

If your child "suddenly" starts to perform poorly in the 3rd or 4th grade, you can be sure that they have not mastered the fundamentals and need immediate tutoring help so that they can catch up and succeed.

In older children, if you begin to notice one or more of the following signs, you will realize that their self-esteem is already disturbingly low, and that they require immediate math tutoring:

• Your kids say they "hate math" or are "dumb" in math
• They get poor grades
• They lack motivation and even refuse to do their math
• They are ashamed and do not want to get outside tutoring
• They feel increasingly anxious about upcoming math tests

In our experience, parents have never brought their children to us for math help too soon. Rather many, perhaps 50% or more, have waited so long to get their children the expert help that they need that their kids have become math phobic, have lost their self-confidence, and have given up. In other words, many kids we see each week need full-scale math resuscitation! Getting the kids' math and self-esteem on track at this point is a long and difficult process that could have been avoided by getting help earlier. Hopefully by knowing some of the warning signs, you will not hesitate to get your children expert math help that makes sense to them in time for them to succeed and develop confidence!

Donnavon Isaac is the owner/director of Mathnasium, The Math Learning Center. Mathnasium specializes in teaching math, customized to each child's needs, in a way that kids understand. Please call him at: (913) 642-MATH (6284)