Elementary Math: 3 Questions to Ask your Tutor

Math is a core subject and is important for students to understand from the very beginning, mainly because it’s a topic that builds upon itself over the years. Children who don’t have a good foundation in math could find themselves frustrated as they go through their K-12 experience. Many math students work with a tutor to help them improve upon their math skills and make sure they are ready for the next step in each math course. It’s important for students and their caregivers to speak with their tutor, as well as their classroom teacher, on a regular basis to make sure that everybody’s on the same page.

Is more practice needed?

Some students will have plenty of math homework but the problems assigned may not all be on the topic that the student needs the most help with. In some cases, there might be one type of computation that students need to practice through repetition to build confidence and help them understand how to solve tricky problems, especially when it comes to being under pressure during exams and quizzes. If more practice is needed, tutors can help students figure out which problems in particular a student needs to solve, and even provide them with more practice problems.

Is more time needed?

Many math students could achieve very high scores on exams if they had an unlimited amount of time. Unfortunately, in most cases students will be given a time limit, whether they are doing a pop quiz in class or taking the all important college entrance exams. Additionally, students who need more time than average, may determine they are spending all of their after-school time on math homework, not leaving enough time to dedicate to their other studies and ultimately taking away from their work-life balance.

What kind of ‘math self-esteem’ does the student have?

Being a core subject, math is one of those classes that often adds to a student’s academic stress, and may make them feel low about their overall experience in the subject over time. Different students learn differently, and so they might need to approach their homework assignments or general math study habits a little bit differently than one of their peers. A benefit of working with a one-on-one tutor, is that students can inform their tutors how they learn, and what they need the most help with to have a confidence boost, and ultimately feel good about being a math student.