Math can be a challenging subject for many children. This does not mean that your child is incapable of learning how to do Math. Math Tutors may need to get creative in order to help students with different learning styles, but it can be a fun learning process for the student and the Math Tutor.
Here are some math tutoring tips you can try out in your tutoring sessions with a child:
“Draw Out” Your Math Tutoring Sessions
Visual Learners benefit from working with charts and diagrams and drawing pictures. The perfect way to make Math Tutoring sessions more profitable for visual learners is to let them draw pictures. Using a dry erase board with different colored markers will allow the student to draw as many pictures as necessary until they understand the concept. Math tutors can also make flashcards for students learning addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables. Consider drawing pictures next to the numbers. For example, instead of writing 5+5 on the front and 10 on the back, add 2 sets of 5 apples next to the numbers with ten apples on the back.
Turn Your Math Tutoring Session into Story Time!
For the Verbal Learner, staring at pages of numbers is a nightmare. Verbal learners benefit from being able to use words to solve problems. The solution is Story Problems! This will take Math Tutors some extra preparation time, but it will be worth it. By turning the plain number problems into story problems you can turn the Math Tutoring session from frustrating to entertaining. When solving the problem, encourage the student to talk through their thought process. Once they solve the problem they can write out their answer using words. This type of learning will be much more meaningful and useful to the verbal learner.
Musical Math Tutoring
For Audio Learners one of the best ways to learn is by turning the subject matter into a song. Again this will take some preparation. Math Tutors don’t need to worry about composing a masterpiece. Just a simple tune to memorize multiplication tables can help the Audio learner keep the facts in their memory. Try using a familiar song like “The Farmer in the Dell and then singing “2 times 2 is 4, 2 times 2 is 4, Heigh-ho, the derry-o 2 times 2 is 4” it is a simple tune and it will help the student remember the equation. Plus it will make the Math Tutoring session a lot of fun.
Turn A Math Tutoring Session into a Pizza Party
The Kinesthetic Learner may struggle to sit still during Math Tutoring sessions. Instead of forcing them to sit still and concentrate on a paper full of Math problems let them do some hands on activities. Using manipulatives is very effective and easy to incorporate into Math learning activities. Use blocks or small objects to demonstrate addition and subtraction. For a division problem such as 15 ÷ 3 = 5) Math tutors can ask the student to gather 15 blocks. then have the student divide the blocks into 3 equal groups so that they can see that there are 5 blocks in each group. When dealing with fractions, rather than looking at a diagram of a pie, why not use an actual pie or a pizza to talk about fractions at the end of your Tutoring Session you can enjoy eating it together!
Try out these Math Tutoring tips during your next Math Tutoring Session. Get creative and come up with your own new ideas. The most important thing is to remember that there are simple things you can adapt to benefit each different learning style and to help each individual student succeed.
