Math Test Mishaps

Are you the type of parent that watches your child complete their math homework the night before a test so that they can earn an "A" and come home with a grade that is "unexpected"? If this is you, then you might have to change your mindset when it comes to test-taking, specifically in the area of math.

Math, similar to physics and chemistry, is an "application based subject". It's important to understand more than the material that has been presented in class in order to do well on tests.

After over a decade personally helping students with math, here are some reasons why students fail to earn that "A" on the test:

1. Forgot to follow the directions (sometimes even reading them)! Yes, you would be surprised. I've seen students in Algebra that mistakenly mix up the positive and negative sign and walk out of the test telling mom and dad they aced the integers test.. Not a good idea.
2. Poor penmanship. Some students think that they are already in medical school by the way they write. If his or her teacher cannot read what has been written, they cannot grade it either. When the skills become more cumbersome, students will try to collapse numbers that are not aligned in different columns so that they finish before everyone else. This is not a way to do well on tests.  
3. Perplexed by Vocabulary. If your child is taking a test and cannot distinguish between the LCM and GCF and encounters a word problem, they are in a world full of hurt. 
4. Homework: OPTIONAL. Even though your child has a great social life and a calendar filled with more extra-curricular activities than the valedictorian for Harvard, homework helps. 
5. Math Basics. I am not saying that you need to complete 100 facts in 2 minutes, but you need to know all of them well enough to meander through calculations.  

Be aware of these signs of a student who may not be at their potential in math. If you would like more information about Math Study Tips, Math tutoring or enrichment, contact us at: info@learningridge.com or you can call us at (404) 964-8533.