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A few things I’ve learned about learning math — for the students trying to get better at it, and for the parents helping them get there. None of this is complicated. Most of it is just stuff nobody tells you.
Congratulations for deciding to get help for your student. A few things I've learned about supporting them through this.
Read more ↓Don't worry about why you need help and don't blame yourself — it doesn't matter. Here's what does.
Read more ↓These are mistakes I've seen students make for forty years. Every one of them is fixable once you see what's really going on.
Read more ↓A calm, methodical approach beats cramming every time. Here's the strategy.
Read more ↓Congratulations for deciding to get help for your student — these days we call that being proactive. You don’t want them repeating a course if there’s any way to avoid it.
Whatever caused the problem, the important thing is to protect them from feeling inadequate or stupid. We’re talking about self-esteem here. Maybe they didn’t do the homework, maybe they were out sick when the new material was explained, maybe they leaned on AI instead of learning to work the problems themselves, or maybe the class was just so boring they couldn’t pay attention. It doesn’t much matter which. We are all born with the capacity to do mathematics, and a struggling student should be encouraged to learn what they’re asked to learn — not shot down for a supposedly inadequate performance.
As your student’s tutor, I’ll email you after each session to tell you how it went, what we worked on, and anything else I noticed about their situation. Please ask me any questions you have — you’re not being nosy, you’re protecting your child and making sure your money is well spent. Every person I tutor is different, and I rely on your feedback to help me do a better job. Those communications are a big part of how I learn to help your child the best way I can.
I’m so glad you found your way here. Don’t worry about whyyou need help in your math class, and don’t blame yourself — it doesn’t matter. What matters is getting you back on track and rebuilding your confidence.
Teachers tell you what to do; tutors help you do what the teacher is asking for. I’m here entirely for your benefit, and a few things make that work best:
Tell me when an explanation isn't landing.
Always let me know if something I said didn't make sense, and don't let me move on until you're satisfied you understand. Ask for a different kind of explanation. You have your own way of learning, and that feedback helps me teach you faster — which means less of your time spent getting the grade you want. (You're busy, you probably don't get enough sleep, and there are things you'd rather be doing.)
Use your calculator.
If you're allowed one — and I hope you are — use it for every calculation. Mental math tends to produce errors.
Know your allowed notes cold.
Find out exactly what notes, if any, you can use on assignments and tests, and get familiar enough with them that you can find what you need fast.
There's no such thing as "not a math person."
Everybody is a math person — we're born that way. The world isn't divided into math people and language people. You're both. It comes with being human.
You haven't hit a wall — you just haven't gotten there yet.
"Hitting the wall" is a harmful idea: the belief that you've been lucky so far but now you're stuck for good. You're not. With a little guidance you'll break through, and each success builds on the last. Don't say "I can't do this problem." Say "I can't do this problem yet."
Mistakes are a good thing.
Never apologize for one. Looking at a mistake and spotting the error is the best way to make sure you don't make it again — and honestly, you pretty much have to make every possible mistake before you've mastered something. Math should be a path, not a barrier.
These are mistakes I’ve seen students make for forty years. Every one of them is fixable once you see what’s really going on.
Not 9.Here’s why. −32 actually means −1 × 32 — I call that the invisible one. And since exponents come before multiplication in the order of operations, you square the 3 first to get 9, thenmultiply by −1. So the answer is −9.
To make it equal 9, you’d need parentheses: (−3)2. The parentheses mean −3 is used as a factor twice. Without them, −32means “the opposite of 3 times 3.” Try it on a scientific calculator and see.
Not 4x − 3. You have to multiply the 4 by the x andby the 3 — that’s the distributive law. The right answer is 4x − 12.
Here’s the tempting wrong first step: 2x + 10 − x − 3.
It’s wrong because of the negative sign sitting in front of the second set of parentheses — I call it the invisible negative one. When you clear those parentheses, the expression becomes 2x + 10 − x + 3, because −1 × −3 = +3. Any way you can explain that to yourself is fine, as long as you remember the sign flips.
Then combine like terms — the x’s together, the plain numbers together — to get x + 13. (And you don’t need to write the 1 in front of the x.)
A calm, methodical approach beats cramming every time.
Don't cram the night before. You're more likely to rattle yourself than learn anything new.
Scan the whole test first. Do every question you can answer quickly, then come back for the rest.
On a second pass, attempt the ones you think you can crack in a minute. If you can't, skip again and move on.
Show your work — partial credit is real, and written steps help you catch your own slips.
Check that you answered the question that was actually asked, and include the right units.
Leave a few minutes to look back over anything you can verify.
Book a free intro call and Deb will figure out exactly where to start.