Real Solutions To Your Homeschool Math Problems

If there’s one subject that consistently causes problems for homeschooling families, it’s math. I’ve invited Raj Valli to share real solutions to your homeschool math problems.

It’s late.

You’re tired.

Your child is tired.

And yet you’re both sitting at the kitchen table, working on the math problems that your kiddo should have finished hours ago.

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You tried to get it done earlier in the day, but after spending way too much time on just a few problems, life interrupted the lesson. You had a job to get to or a deadline to meet. The baby started crying. The toddler was about to flush your phone…again. Or maybe your child just needed a break from his frustration.

But you’re determined to get it done tonight. You’re not going to have a repeat of last week, where things got so busy, and your child got so overwhelmed, that math just…didn’t happen.

Once your kiddo’s finally in bed for the night, you lie down too, exhausted. But you can’t sleep.

Your mind is racing: Should I put him back in school? But homeschooling has been such a game changer for us! Does she need a math tutor? Ugh, they’re so expensive! Is my job interfering too much for us to homeschool effectively? Maybe I should quit – but then what? Should we try a different curriculum? We’ve already spent so much money on the last 3 we tried…

If there’s one subject that consistently causes problems for homeschooling families, it’s math.

And it’s no wonder – with all the different curricula out there, and all the different approaches to math that various homeschooling experts recommend, you could spend years experimenting and still never hit on just the right combination to help your child thrive in math.

And unfortunately, that’s exactly what many homeschooling parents do.

But here’s the thing. While it’s true that there are a dizzying number of options out there, there are also certain tried and true elements that, when present in a math program, will skyrocket your child’s chances for success.

3 Solutions For Homeschool Math Problems:

Let’s take a look at 3 of the most important ones:

1. Math should be customized for your child’s level of need.

As homeschool parents know, grade level or age alone isn’t enough to determine which math skills your child needs to be focusing on.

Instead, it’s important to assess which skills your child has mastered, and which ones he or she still needs to practice and learn.

Most math curricula offer a table of contents or list of skills they teach at each level, and some even offer an assessment test that can give you insight into exactly where you need to fill gaps or do a little more practice with your child.

Repeating lessons on skills they already have can lead to boredom while trying more advanced math without having the necessary foundations in place causes frustration.

Focusing on mastering certain skills, rather than simply following a curriculum from start to finish, ensures that your child is creating a solid foundation for making progress in math.

2. Math progress should be trackable in real time.

And speaking of progress in math, a good program will give you the ability to track exactly where your child is at any given time in his skills development.

Sure, you can grade a worksheet or see a score on an online assignment, but does that really tell you which skills your child has now mastered, and which still need work?

Find a program or curriculum that allows you to easily see which skills they are working on in any given lesson. If each lesson incorporates problems from previous lessons, grade those separately, so you can compare progress on the new skills alone.

Only by tracking progress in real-time, after each individual lesson, can you determine what the best next step is, whether that’s moving on to the next skill, additional practice, or even trying a different curriculum.

3. Math should be stress-free and enjoyable.

This may seem like an impossible dream, but really, it doesn’t have to be! Think about what motivates your child, and what causes them to feel stressed.

Doing math online with some element of gamification involved can be a huge motivator, whereas sitting down to do a paper worksheet full of problems can often cause anxiety. Maybe your child works best when you’re the one to explain things to him, or maybe she needs a tutor to lessen the stress.

But the single most important thing that makes math enjoyable for kids is a sense of confidence and accomplishment – and they can only get that from a program that builds up their skills step-by-step, taking their individual level of need into consideration, and is adjusted in real-time based on their progress.

Sounds like a lot of work, right? Time-consuming? Complicated? It can be. And especially when you’re homeschooling your other children as well…handling younger siblings….and oh yeah, working!

⇒So how on earth can you ensure that your kiddos finally get the kind of math instruction they need to thrive?

Math That Helps Your Child Thrive

I have to admit, as CEO of Thinkster Math, I am just a little biased. But I developed my online math program to help with this exact situation.

Kids across the country, and across the world, need math help. Whether they’re in school or homeschooled, whether their parents are home with them or working – across the board, the current curricula and programs just aren’t working for our kids.

So I created Thinkster Math to hit each of the points I addressed above – to be the kind of math program that is practically guaranteed to help students make progress, no matter what their current skill level or attitude towards math.

We start with an online assessment test, to see where exactly your child needs help, and where he is already proficient.

Then we pair you with a live, online tutor, who goes over the results with you and then creates a customized learning plan for your child to address their needs.

Each week, your child can choose several video tutorials to watch, each explaining a skill in a different way, and then completes worksheets to practice that skill.

Then, your child’s dedicated tutor grades the worksheets daily – yes daily – using our proprietary software that allows them to watch the student’s work in real-time, so they can see where mistakes are being made.

In their live online private 1:1 tutoring sessions, the tutor then addresses those mistakes and works with your child to increase the understanding of each skill.

As your child makes progress, the tutor adjusts the learning plan and the worksheets she assigns. Your child’s efforts are incentivized and rewarded by fun achievement badges online. And the whole time, you as the parent, are kept updated on their progress through weekly reports specifically detailing where your child is with each skill.

You can also log on to the Thinkster site at any time to check in, or use the handy Parent Insights phone app to call, text, or email your child’s tutor for a parent-teacher conference.

The Thinkster program is designed to put math success within anyone’s reach, no matter what their situation.

So if you feel like math struggles are ruining your homeschool, I invite you to take a look at Thinkster. We offer a free 7-day trial that includes an actual tutoring session with a live tutor.

We’d be honored to have the chance to accompany you on your family’s homeschooling journey and provide the support you need to continue providing your children the very best education possible.

And oh, by the way, check out our “about us” section. We are what we practice each day – you will get to know us even better after you give our about-us section a read!

Does your child struggle with Math, what have you found the most helpful?

Special thank you to Raj for joining us in finding practical solutions to our homeschool math problems. You’ll want to check our chat here to learn more about his program. 

Author Bio:

Raj Valli is the CEO and Founder of Thinkster Math – and he’s also a dad who wants his 3 daughters to get the very best education possible. His commitment to improving K-12 educational opportunities for children around the world has fueled his decades-long support of non-profit educational organizations, and provided the inspiration for the creation of his innovative digital tutoring program, Thinkster Math.

Find and follow them around the web here: Thinkster Math   Facebook Page  Twitter  Instagram

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