Q1: What advice would you give parents who want to help their child start the school year with confidence?
A1: Rather than trying to teach new math over the summer, spend the summer reflecting with the student on what topics were easy and hard in the last year, and review both. Reviewing topics the student already mastered helps solidify the foundation with dispersed practice, but it also boosts students' confidence going into a new year. Reviewing the more difficult topics will teach success through hard work and resilience. Moreover, when students understand that they can learn new skills and work through difficult topics, they will feel more confident and less intimidated as they enter the next school year.
Q2: What are some of the most common math challenges students face at the beginning of a new school year?
A2: After a long summer away, math can be scary and frustrating to come back to. Students often lose 1-2 months of math learning over the summer, and when they advance to the next grade level, the beginning of school often focuses on review. The topics reviewed may be taught at a quicker pace with the expectation that students remember some about them, and these topics are often among the more difficult skills from the previous year. Some students can feel intimidated by the expectation they would already know these more advanced skills. Check in with your student early and frequently to ask about what they're learning and how they feel about them. Even if the students state topics they have done before, still check in with them and offer support. A few common topics that students struggle with from year-to-year include subtraction with borrowing, fractions, and long division, among others.
Q3: What makes this time of year exciting at your Mathnasium center?
A3: For us at Mathnasium, it is most exciting seeing students advance to their next school year with renewed (or newly acquired) confidence. Our students who have studied a few hours every week in the summer feel excited to take on new challenges, rather than feeling intimidated or anxious. We often hear students talking eagerly about how their teacher is reviewing last year's math, but they already remembered all the material from their Mathnasium work. Seeing all their hard work pay off is such a reward, and the excitement is truly infectious.
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