Learning at home can be difficult for students and teachers. The three most important items to keep in mind when helping your child learn are:
1. Practice is key. For math, the best way to learn, remember, and understand is to do problems. It is essential that your child work on problems independently. I suggest helping them through a few examples. Then walk away and let them do a question on their own.
2. Take it slowly at first. Everyone learns at their own pace, and it is okay if your child needs to take longer to draw diagrams and think about the concepts until they can see it in their own minds.
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When I first started teaching, I used to think that the goal is to get to the correct answer accurately and quickly. But now I see that at the grade school and middle school level, it is more important to understand the why because as a student advances, each grade builds upon the skills they gained in the level before.
3. Keep it simple. This is one of the hardest aspects of teaching for myself. When I feel excited by a topic, I tend to over explain and begin touching upon topics that the student may not have learned yet. Try to keep your explanations concise and write things down so they can visualize.
~Cianna Choo