5 Ways To Help Students Overcome Math Struggles and How To Overcome Them

Most students fear math and essentially face math struggles more than other subjects. This also makes them doubt why I struggle with math so much. It is one of the most common problems students face and a factor that makes students discourage math. Math struggles and fear are not new; most students have a pre-notion that math is complicated and solving math problems is a challenging task. They have to do a lot of practice to improve their performance and a math teacher can help them to become more confident in this subject. But first, a math teacher should consider questions like “Why do students struggle with math?”. How can I help middle school students overcome their math struggles? There can be many reasons for their math struggle. Some might have low interest, motivation, or lack of proper guidance.

5 ways a teacher can help students overcome math struggle

1.  Lack Of Critical Thinking

Students are very good at visualizing, but sometimes they struggle to do it when it comes to math. It shows a lack of critical thinking and reasoning skills. It has been observed by math teachers that some students face problems in understanding mathematical concepts because they might have poor critical thinking skills. This leads to math struggles among those students and shall be resolved by building their interest in the subject.

So, the first thing is to improve students’ critical thinking skills by practicing simple and engaging activities daily. Students will also learn to analyze the question mentally and find solutions.

2. Weak Math Foundation 

If a student is not clear with the math basics, he/she would struggle with math in each grade. Sometimes, the student gets promoted to a higher grade but their basic math concepts are not clear.

These students have a high chance of making basic mistakes even in the simplest math problems. A math teacher can find such students and provide additional assessments or practice questions to improve their basics.

3. No Proper Guidance

Many students face problems in understanding or learning math. It might happen that students may feel hesitant in asking his/her question in class.

When students cannot solve the queries, they develop fear and anxiety about the subject and cannot solve even simple questions. This lowers the confidence and self-esteem of the students, and they start struggling with math.

So they need proper guidance in the class where a teacher can notice their fear and help them come out of this. The teacher can do this by creating an interactive environment in the class. This will encourage all students to participate in solving the math problem.

This will help them to improve their performance in math. In this case, the teaching pattern of the teacher plays an important role to ensure that each student understands the topic and concept easily and can relate it to real life. 

4. Lack Of Practice

There can be many answers/reasons to this common question – Why do students struggle with mathematics?

One of its prominent reasons is the insufficient practice of the topics. Many students easily understand the concept but cannot solve the question due to lack of practice. When students do not practice math problems, it causes issues for many students while doing math as they tend to forget the logic used behind solving problems.

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Any student who wants to clear their concept should practice it thoroughly by solving practice problems. Daily practice of solving math problems helps students gain a deeper understanding of the concepts and increase the speed of solving the question.

When students avoid practicing, teachers should help, support, and encourage them by practicing the concept regularly.

Teachers can also encourage students to self-assess by giving practicing questions according to the topic. It will make it easier for students to understand the concept easily.

Above everything, practicing is the best way to improve students’ performance in math.

5. Inefficient Teaching Techniques

How students grasp the subject depends upon the way the teacher teaches the subject. The teaching method plays a very important role in understanding the subject. Sometimes, a student wonders why I struggle with math, even after following teachers’ instructions.

The reason for this struggle can be teachers’ inadequate teaching techniques. Sometimes students face problems understanding the topic because of the lack of understanding between students and teachers. Teachers should pay special attention to the way they teach students.

Math teaching should be in the way students easily understand the concept and apply it in real life. If students can grasp the topic in class, they can easily remember it after class.

The teacher needs to modify the teaching methods to understand the gap(student-wise) and teach students accordingly. Every teacher should follow the teaching method suitable for different students.

How To Overcome This Issue?

When teachers find the answer to this question, they can also find measures to overcome students’ problems. However, teachers can try these basic ways to help students struggling with math.

1. Practice Daily

The most promising way to overcome this problem is a regular practice. Math requires much practice to develop a good understanding of any topic or concept. Indeed, practicing daily will make students familiar with mathematical concepts and make it easier to solve problems.

Teachers should focus on encouraging problem-solving practices for students. Teachers should make students solve practice questions regularly to improve their understanding of concepts and bring fluency to their problem-solving skills. Daily practice can also help clarify the concept and give a deeper understanding of the topic.

2. Relate Math To Daily Life

It is the best way to overcome the math struggle. By relating math to the real world, teachers can help students easily understand mathematical concepts and their use in daily life. It will also make their understanding more robust.  

When students use math in daily life, they’ll understand the actual application of the topic and concept more clearly. Although it is not easy to apply math in real-life, small steps can help you use math in daily life.

For example, teachers can ask students to calculate the bills or calculate the discount percentage on things by themselves whenever they go shopping with their parents.

This way, they can learn to calculate math quickly. It might not be easy early, but it will become easy once students start practicing math.

3. Engage Students in Puzzles

It is one of the best ways to make math learning and understanding struggle free. Teachers can try to do fun math puzzles and games to help students overcome math struggles. 

With these activities, students can have fun and can also grab knowledge. When they solve a puzzle, the brain gets active differently and can find different ways or the right approach to solve math problems. Teachers can find a variety of math puzzles to improve students’ understanding of math.

4. Follow All the Steps Required to Solve the Problem

It has been seen that many students skip the steps while solving the question or do not mention them in the solution.

When students do not use proper steps while solving the question during practice, it affects their understanding of the question and concept.

They might start struggling in math when they don’t remember the skipped step.

So teachers must ensure that students use the proper steps while solving the question. It is important to write down every step while practicing the math question.

When students write every step for solving the question, they can also understand and learn the whole question easily. It is also easy to memorize the process or approach to solving questions.

Also read: How To Use Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems

Takeaway

This goes without saying that students need to practice math regularly, regardless of whether they are struggling. Solving different mathematical problems regularly would help students understand and grasp the basic concepts of the subject. Therefore, as a teacher, you can help students to practice to avoid any math struggles in the future. Math is a very interesting subject. If the basics of the student are clear and he gets proper guidance from the math teacher, he will surely excel in this subject without struggle. Following the given solutions to this issue, one can overcome the fear of math and do wonders in this subject.