Get Back to Basics to Teach Basic Skills

To teach or reinforce basics, get back to basics! In this day of ever increasing technology, it is still beneficial to give it all up for at least a few minutes and get back to basics.

I'm sure you have observed that in schools these days, as in other parts of the world, technology is king. Our kids are constantly bombarded with ever more technology to complete simple tasks that we somehow accomplished without technology. There are computer and hand held video games and systems and even television programs dedicated to teaching and reinforcing math, english, social studies and science facts. Not that I am against any of these, I'm NOT! But there is a time for everything. And if the use of these advanced technologies has not helped your child learn or improve basic skills, then it should not be more of the same.

If technology has yet to yield the results you crave, do something different! Consider going back to the basics. Turn off the television, computer, and video games. Sit your child down in a quiet area with (dare I say it?) paper and pencil, and maybe a textbook (what is that?) and have him say and write the particular basic fact that you want him to learn. Have him do this 10 times, alternating sitting and standing while speaking (and writing, if he is able). After 10 times on a particular fact, say the Pythagorean Theorem, then and only then should he do the same with another fact. Limit his practice of this type to 4 different facts per day.

Tell him that you (or your designee) will quiz him either orally or in writing on his knowledge when he is finished. Quiz him and reward him for his successes with verbal praise. If he doesn't do so well, praise him for the effort, and work on the same facts the next day. Even if he does well and you move on to another set of 4 facts the next day, quiz him on the previous days' facts. You and your child can come up with a reward, if you so choose, after he receives a satisfactory "grade" on a quiz after at least 6 days of such quizzing. Since he is working daily and receiving daily feedback, his confidence is improving even if he is still not performing as well as you would like. As his confidence continues to improve, so will his performance, and with more work, he will work to achieve his potential.

For a 38 page book of strategies, visit http://HelpYourChildAchieveInMath.com.

Discuss Homework to Improve Achievement

One simple way to help your child with math is to look over and discuss his math homework with him daily even if you don't know the material.

It is important that you work with your child to improve his math ability and one of the best ways to do this is simply by being involved in the work that he does at home. You don't have to know the answers, either, just have some interest. Have him explain to you what he did and why. If he is having trouble and you can't help him, encourage him to call a friend from class and have that friend explain to him her process for completing the same problem or problems. After he has spoken to this friend, ask him to describe her process for solving the problem to you and how it's different and the same as his.

Although this method requires some time, it is effective at teaching your child to persevere. It also teaches him that you are interested in what he's doing, not just in the final outcome (i.e. his grade).

Go to http://HelpYourChildAchieveInMath.com to purchase a 38 page book of strategies to help your child with math.

Let Service Be A Part of Progressing

When we have a goal that we are focused on achieving, like becoming more knowledgeable in math, sometimes we overlook service as a means to accomplish our goals. If we can let service be a part of progressing to the next steps in goal achievement, I am positive that we would reach our goals faster.

How can you serve and learn math? Help someone else to learn what you already know! Even the student who is the most inept in math, still has some skill set in which he is apt. Maybe he is great with geometry, multiplication, or money. Maybe he has a unique way that he learned to count. He can pass his strengths on to the next person by giving them the tips that he has learned to succeed in that skill set with.

Whom do you help? Anyone you can! Maybe a neice or nephew, a neighbor's 3 year old, a sibling, or even a parent. Just look around and take your pick. There are always people in need of help and people who are willing to help you accomplish your goals. I've read that you can accomplish anything if you help enough people to accomplish something. Get out, look around, and offer your help to others. Who knows but that another person in that person's circle of friends will want to help you?

A 38 page book of tips is available for purchase at http://helpyourchildachieveinmath.com.

Deadlines Propel Us to Success

Setting deadlines is an integral part of success. Successful people in all walks of life and businesses set deadlines to accomplish tasks.

An important part of setting and achieving any goal is to set deadlines. I read somewhere that a goal is just a dream unless there is a deadline affixed to it. We must put a time limit on when we should accomplish our goals otherwise we may have the same unconquered goals forever. I know people who have had the same seemingly simple goals for years (coming up on decades). Now this is not to say that once you affix a deadline to a particular goal that you will automatically reach it--sometimes you will fall short. Neither is it to say that having long term goals is somehow undesirable. What it means is that although you can accomplish goals without deadlines, you are more likely to accomplish those goals if you have set a prescribed timeline to do so.

After you've set your goals to help your child with math (or in any other endeavor), make sure that you attach a deadline. For example, if the goal is relatively easy, like learn the 2's timetables or memorize the Pythagorean Theorem, then you can set a deadline of 2 to 3 days to accomplish the task. If you've set a seemingly insurmountable goal, then break it down into smaller, achieveable chunks. For example, say you child's goal is learn fractions. Well, that encompasses learning vocabulary, parts of a whole, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions with the same and different denominators, mixed fractions, etc. Break this up by focusing on particular facet of the whole thing like learning fraction vocabulary. This is relatively easy and an achieveable deadline can be up to 2 days by working only 10 minutes per day. Once your child has accomplished that task, then set another mini-goal and deadline for learning fractions.

By setting deadlines and checking that the deadlines have been met, you are now able to set new goals and deadlines and get more accomplished than you'd previously thought possible. The key here is to set realistic deadlines though. Make sure that you look at your and your child's schedule to determine how much time you can allot to meeting the deadlines and if needed, delete some time from other activities. Commit to spending at least 10 minutes per day on meeting the particular deadline and you will be well on your way to math and life success.

"How to Help Your Kids Achieve In Math," a 38 page guidebook, is available at http://HelpYourChildAchieveInMath.com

How to Pinpoint Areas to Improve

When starting any project, including helping your child with math, it is important to know WHERE to begin. If you are going to set and achieve goals, then it is imperative that you pinpoint where to start.

To determine what area you should focus on, use: 1) your assessment, 2) your child's assessment, and 3) your child's teacher's assessment of his needs. Let's start with number one, you. You should have a general idea of what area your child is lacking in through your helping him daily and his frustrations with the work, reviewing his graded work, and questions you've asked him, either through informal testing or oral questions. Based on your observations in these areas, you can determine what you think you should pinpoint.

Your child should be actively involved in the process, too. He, afterall, knows better than anyone what he doesn't know. He may not be entirely sure what skills will help him the most, but he knows in what areas he's lacking. Use this. Ask for his input. Ask him what he feels would be most helpful for him to learn or get better at first, then take that into consideration.

The saying two heads are better than one really is true, and in this case three heads are better than two. Your child's teacher plays an integral role in this puzzle. Share with him you and your child's concerns about his mathematical abilities. Then ask him what he feels would most benefit your child in order of importance.

Once you have these three viewpoints, you can determine one or two things to begin to work on. Be careful that you don't overwhelm you or your child by taking on more than three areas to improve at one time. You and/or your child may become so frustrated and give up. By keeping the number of skills to work on down to one or two, you have the time and energy to focus on a small number, and are more apt to achieve your goal of improvement in these areas. You will also be more likely to choose more skills, once these are learned, to improve upon.

To purchase a 38 page guide to help your child achieve in math, go to http://HelpYourChildAchieveInMath.com

How to Set Goals, Step-By-Step

If you are one of the people that look at setting and achieving goals as a mystery that you haven't been able to solve, then help is on the way!

First, choose a specific part of your life that you would like to improve. Let's say you want to improve spending quality time with your child. That's specific. How often would you like to spend QUALITY time with your child? Maybe with your schedule you can realistically allocate 10 hours per week. Now let's brainstorm some things that you can do in those 10 hours. Read, play games, talk, do math. Yes, math!

How long should you spend doing math out of the 10 hours you've allocated? This depends on the needs of your child. If she is doing well in math, maybe 20 minutes, by playing games or reviewing facts. If she is not doing well, maybe an hour, by playing games and reviewing facts, too. However, you may need to add some time for remidation (about 20 minutes). You can spend time playing online math games, answering workbook or textbook problems, reading books about math, or even viewing instructional math videos with your child. An hour is not much time, but it will help your child get or stay ahead in math or improve in it.

To order a 38 page book of strategies called "How to Help Your Child Achieve In Math" visit http://HelpYourChildAchieveInMath.com.

Set Goals To Achieve Success

Many people make resolutions for the new year, although its efficacy is questioned. Resolutions can be summed up in another way: goals. If you have studied any successful people, you have found how they relate the importance of goals in their lives. So if it is important for successful people to make and keep resolutions, or goals, then it should be important for your child (and you).

For the sake of performing better in a particular school subject, say math, have your child set 2 goals that she will achieve for the month of January. The goals can be simple or difficult. Make sure that she sets goals short, monthly goals and long term, yearly or semester, goals. However, if she is just starting out, it is easier to set and achieve short term success on the way to the long term success. This is the method that many weight loss programs use. They want people to see results fast so that they stick with the program. And you want your child to see results quickly too, so that she will continue to set goals and achieve success.

As for you, the parent. You should also set 2 goals for the month of January related to how you will help your child succeed. These, like hers, can be small or gargantuan. Just set your goals and work on achieving them.

I recently heard a statistic that captured my attention. If you write down your goals, you are 80% more likely to achieve them than if you just think about them. Wow! Something as simple as writing down a goal can help you fulfil it. So make sure that as you are setting these goals, you are writing them down. It also helps if you can see the goals on a daily basis. So have both you and your child post your monthly goals in a highly visible area like the refrigerator or near a bathroom mirror or door. Read them and be reminded everyday of what you want to achieve. Then do it!

To purchase a 38 page book of strategies on how to help your child achieve in math, visit http://HelpYourChildAchieveInMath.com