Children look to their parents for attitudes about math. It is very important to show your child that math is a part of your daily life. Let your child see you using math to do routine tasks such as balance the family budget, plan schedules, complete projects and similar tasks. It's also vital to demonstrate that math is manageable and understandable.
Monitor your student's progress in math as carefully as you would progress in reading and writing. Familiarize yourself with the skills to be learned at each grade level and make sure your child is keeping up with school expectations. Help him or her to memorize basic computation combinations and strategies, measure accurately, understand and utilize fractions and learn about percentages.
Many people underestimate the importance of learning to "speak math." Math has a vocabulary all its own, and successful students learn to use the math words. Parents can keep up with math vocabulary being taught to their child by looking in the textbook for highlighted words and phrases. Use these in conversation with the children and make sure they are being learned. Math vocabulary is vital to understanding tasks on homework and tests. It is also important for framing questions correctly to get further information.
Math is a cumulative subject. Each new concept builds on the ones previously mastered. If your student seems unsure about math concepts or if graded assignments and tests show incomplete mastery, insist on extra practice of that skill. Review mastered skills regularly to maintain learning. Parents can find practice problems online by searching the name of the chapter or section being covered in the textbook. Video reviews of lessons and concepts can also be a great help to students who need to review ideas before moving on to more complex lessons.