Top 10 tips to get your child excited to do their maths homework
Do you remember what it was like to be a child coming home from school, excited about the different ways you would spend your free time and then you remember that before you can enjoy your free time, you have some maths homework to complete? At this moment kids experience a decrease level of energy and motivation towards their homework. Well, if this is something that you and your kids have experienced and your kids feel, don’t worry too much about it and remember that you too were once in their shoes and have an ability to relate and nurture them in more ways than they could ever imagine. So, how do you nurture your child while assisting them in doing their maths homework? How do you encourage them to have a positive and excited approach to their maths homework? How do you as a parent keep them engaged and confident in tackling one of the most important subjects that allows them to multiply their own potential in the near future?
Well, we have 10 tips to help you multiply their potential when doing their maths homework:
Tip one:
First things first, make sure your kids have a balanced meal, or snack right before they get to working on their homework – as well as a cup of NESTLÉ® NESPRAY® FortiGrow™, which is packed with essential nutrients that help support their cognitive development, to wash it down and get all the goodness to multiply their potential. Remember that kids do struggle to focus when working or studying on an empty stomach. So as they work through their homework, make sure they have a few snacks and some water with them.
Tip two:
It’s important for you as the parent to realise that you and your child have completely different learning styles. Therefore, it’s crucial that you as the parent encourage your child to not only express and explore their own learning style but also challenge them to put it into practice when they’re in the classroom.
Tip three:
Speaking of challenging your kids to practise their own learning styles in the classroom. It’s crucial that you encourage your kids to ask any and all questions that they have – from the principles they should use when solving an equation, to asking about equations that just don’t make any sense to them. Remind them that all their questions are completely valid and that they are in a safe space to ask them. From the classroom to the homework table at home, no question should go unspoken. A great way to ensure your kids ask every question they have, is to put up a question board where they can write down all their questions. This will give you an idea of what to tackle first, what your kids need to constantly practise and where they are struggling and shining.
Tip four:
Ask them about their day. This allows them to open up about what made their day special and gets them excited to talk about what they learned in class, giving you the parent insight, on which points to address or which equations to focus on.
Tip five:
Create a homework-friendly space in the house just for them. Creating a space that is equipped with everything they need to complete their maths homework allows them to put their guard down when they enter the space. They feel a sense of freedom to explore and challenge themselves. Consider having this space where there’s a window that allows sunlight in and allows them to feel as though they are outside when looking through the window. To make the space more encouraging, consider placing learning posters on the walls as well as their previous test results. This encourages them to measure themselves against themselves, which helps build their confidence when they can track their progress.
Tip six:
When trying to explain a maths equation, concept or principle to your kids, use a topic they really enjoy to help them grasp and understand. For example, if your kid is into music, you can ask them: If a song is 03:00 minutes long and the music video is 04:30 minutes long, what is the time difference between the song and the music video? This also works well in helping them grasp different maths principles, such as remembering the value of pie as the duration of a song they really enjoy (a song that is 03:14).
Tip seven:
Practice in the kitchen! The kitchen is a great space for getting your child not only enthusiastic about maths but it also gets them practising their maths in a fun and delicious way. Get baking to practise measurements and their different terminologies. The best part? They get to enjoy a delicious reward with every equation and measurement.
Tip eight:
Empathy is a great tool in building your kids’ interest in their homework. It makes them feel less alone and out of place when you as their parent speak to the aspects of maths you don’t understand. Practise and learn along with them. Be their Maths Buddy for a little while. Take a test or exam with them and have them mark your submission so they learn to build a healthier relationship with being wrong and with being right. This helps them understand that they can never learn too much.
Tip nine:
Dear parents, your compliments, affirmations and encouragements are so important in building your kid’s confidence – never stop. Make sure they feel proud of the efforts they made in improving their own understanding of maths. Rewards also work very well in keeping them engaged with improving themselves.
Tip ten:
Have fun! Laugh and play when it comes to assisting your child with their homework. Create a light-hearted mood that allows them to open up and play while learning.
We hope this has encouraged you to realise that all your child needs to get excited about maths is you as their Maths Buddy to help them multiply their potential and nurture their future. We’re pretty sure you have some tips of your own. So don’t be shy to share them with us on our social media platforms.