Many elementary school teachers are contractually required to offer a certain number of after-school hours each week to tutoring/homework help. Even those with no such obligation are usually happy to sacrifice some of their free time for the overall benefit of their classes. If your child takes advantage of free after-school math tutoring, you will very likely notice a positive difference in that child’s grades and demonstrated skill-set when it comes to math. If for some reason after-school tutoring isn’t available, you might want to consider hiring a private math tutor to work with your child after school or on the weekends. If you don’t have the funds, and time permits, consider tutoring your own child. Any extra help and reinforcement can ultimately help your child get over the hump.
Oftentimes, children associate math with “hard work” and “boredom,” and this association can sap their motivation to succeed in class. Allow your child to add some fun to an otherwise dry subject. There are many free math-based games available through the internet and your favorite app store. Give your child a certain amount of access to these games, without going overboard. An hour or so of “free computer time” after a long day at school can feel to a child like visiting the penny arcade. Make sure their access is limited to educational, fun math games. Stay as involved as possible. For example, challenge your child to beat his or her high score on each game played. Don’t be afraid to sit down and have a go at the game yourself, while treating it like it’s the coolest thing in the world. The children may not even realize they’re sharpening their math skills.
According to a study conducted by the Hamilton Project, short term extrinsic incentives offered for positive student output, such as completed assignments, books read, and good test scores, can be an effective method for getting children to put more energy into their schoolwork. In one such study, students given incentives mastered 125 percent more math objectives than students without incentives. Children can’t always appreciate the long term benefits to performing well in math class, but they can certainly understand the value of going out for pizza or ice cream after they do well on a particularly difficult test. Once incentives have helped students raise their math grades, those children may then have enough enthusiasm to succeed without additional extrinsic incentives.
Sometimes, children are willing to put in the extra work but still have trouble. This can be a result of a low self-efficacy in the subject of math. According to Intervention Central, children can underperform in a given subject by believing themselves, for whatever reason, incapable of doing well in that particular subject. This can lower their self esteem and keep them from putting forth their best effort. Low self-efficacy can be caused by a student’s belief that his or her difficulties in math are a permanent problem, as opposed to a temporary challenge. Students can sometimes improve their math scores simply changing the way they look at the situation, though this can take a lot of coaching and reinforcement from their parents and teachers.