It can be tough to teach something if you are not confident in the skill. Amateurs aren’t often expected to lead orchestras or train medical students.
But we all got through math class, right? Still, many parents realize just how many years ago they first learned those skills—and how different the approach was back then—when their child asks for homework help.
For parents who find they need to brush up their own skills when faced with calculus, algebra or even multiplication tables, it’s not too late. It’s just time to apply the approaches used for today’s learners.
Corinne Gist is the owner and director of Fit Learning Cleveland in Pepper Pike, part of a larger network of tutoring centers. The network focuses on “fluency,” she says.
That means they’re helping students to be accurate in their skills, but also fast enough to be efficient in both the classroom and in daily life.
“So, you think about playing an instrument or playing a sport. You can’t just do it once a week and expect to master that skill,” Gist says. “So, it’s the same with academics.”
For example, when it comes to addition and subtraction, if someone can do 50 single-digit problems in a minute, they’re likely fluent in that skill, according to Gist. If someone is fluent in a skill, they’re not likely to lose it if they step away from daily practice for something like summer break. And they can then build on that skill to learn more difficult ones.
No matter a student’s age, Fit Learning Cleveland has them start with the basics. For math, these concepts include place value, addition and subtraction, and multiplication. Curriculums are individualized for students after an initial assessment. That goes for the center’s learning coaches, too, who are expected to be fluent in all the skills they teach, and it can also go for parents.
Read on for some tips from Gist and from Carole Richards, chairman of North Coast Education Services, the Solon-based company she started about 40 years ago.
Practice, practice, practice. It’s about “repeated reinforcement of behavior over time,” Gist says. Fit Learning Cleveland breaks numbers into “fact families,” groupings of numbers like two, two and four, for students to focus on at one time. They use worksheets to practice the different problems that can be made with those numbers until they’ve mastered them before moving on to the next.
She recommends that parents who want to brush up on their skills do the same: break the skills into small parts and practice them every day. And time those practices, she says. It doesn’t have to be long: just five sets of one-minute practices makes a difference.
Look online. If parents feel like they need a tool for practicing, flashcards or online worksheet generators are good options, Gist says.
Richards adds, there are other kinds of online resources, like Khan Academy, where parents can update their own skills with free lessons.
Check what skills students are struggling with. Richards says there are a few areas she looks at first if a student is struggling in math: place value, fractions and multiplication facts. (For multiplication, she recommends a similar approach to Gist: breaking numbers into sets, starting with single-digit numbers times zero, then times one, times two and on up, and practicing often.)
Make the concepts real. For issues with place value or fractions, Richards suggests using manipulatives, like coins, to make the concept tangible. It’s about making sure students—and parents—understand the why behind the math problems and solutions.