7 Proven Ways To Help Kids Learn Math & Remember What They Learn
If your student struggles in math class, there's a chance it could be because of the strategies or theory u...
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Last Updated on August 31, 2021 by Thinkster
Some kids seem to have an intuitive understanding of math problems and how to use critical thinking to creatively find solutions. For other students, the math doesn’t come so easy. This not only results in less than stellar grades, but it can also have a substantial impact on your child’s overall confidence and self-esteem.
Whether your child already understands math or needs a little help to succeed, a math tutor app may be just the thing to get them more engaged in the learning process.
You may be thinking, “Is there really an app for this?” Yes, there is!
These days, there seems to be an app for everything – from entertainment and games to time management and even learning. There’s an app for everything.
In this context, “app,” of course, stands for an application. These can be used on a multitude of electronic devices from your desktop and laptop to tablets and mobile platforms. Apps are a great way to provide accessible tutors in a location-independent setting for busy parents and students.
You may not think that an app is the right tool for your child’s education but a math tutor app – and Thinkster’s customized math tutoring program – is an excellent way for our dedicated tutors to provide help for your student.
A math tutor app could be the key to your student’s math success because:
With an online math tutor app, your student will experience the benefits of having a dedicated tutor, but with more flexibility than the rigid hours of operation of a typical math center.
The Thinkster online tutoring program provides your student with a tutor that knows your student’s strengths and weaknesses and tracks your student’s progress daily.
Your student will still be able to build a relationship and a comfort level with one specific, experienced tutor. But, you do not have to drive to a particular location to get this tutoring, so it can be scheduled at your convenience and completed in the comfort of your own home, or even in the car on the way to practice, in between games or while traveling.
Your student is likely already spending time on a computer or tablet each day. In fact, they may prefer using these devices to communicate with their friends and work on homework projects.
Today’s children are more comfortable with electronics than any generation before them, and the use of these devices is becoming more pervasive with each passing year. Because your child uses these devices regularly, they may be able to relate to concepts and lessons in an app-based platform much more easily than they do inside of a physical classroom.
The gamification and reward aspects of our math tutor app also increase your student’s engagement with the platform. Engagement increases time spent learning and this leads to more practice and more success for your student.
Using a math tutor app also provides your student with a quality experience in online communication, teaching them how to use the internet for functions outside of social media and entertainment. Comfort with technology and online communication skills will be even more necessary as they progress through school and enter the workforce.
Building these skills early will be critical to overall life success.
The customized worksheets our tutors provide your child allow them work on a specific math concept until they’ve mastered it. Classroom learning typically follows a certain pace-possibly leaving your child behind or with a rudimentary grasp on that concept. But our online tutoring program tracks your student’s progress and only moves your child ahead when they are ready. Specialized learning is the latest concept in education and a mathematics course lends itself perfectly to this emerging trend. In the future, students will have more choice about where and when to engage in learning. The app engages them in this forward-thinking now.
Going at their own pace takes some of the pressure off your student, allows them to learn comfortably and reduces some of their stress. Your student can spend as much time as needed mastering specific concepts. Your student can also choose to work ahead when they feel comfortable. This type of education allows for increased confidence once a student is given enough time to master a concept.
With Thinkster, your student is given a personalized plan after an initial assessment gauges their existing knowledge and skill level. One-on-one coaching sessions, along with the customized math worksheets, start at their current skill level. The program uses multiple approaches to accelerate your student’s learning. We determine practice-level proficiency based on how well your student does on the math problems that they are assigned. Once they show proficiency at this level, we use the concept of “fade-over-time”. It’s a simple concept that allows us to determine if your student has been a deep understanding of the concepts. When they are offered similar problems after a few weeks of working on other concepts and they continue to show the same level of proficiency, we then understand that they have achieved “concept-proficiency” in the math problems they are solving. Taking this even further, we test them again in a tutoring session after a month along with other math topics and concepts that they have learned. When they show proficiency again in solving these problems without any difficulty, the math tutor app determines that they have achieved true mastery of the concept. This is not much different from the way a student moves through the different levels of colored belts when they learn Taekwondo or Karate – migrating from a white belt to a black belt over a period of time. “Mastery” for us is thus similar to achieving a Black Belt in a particular math concept.
One of the greatest things about an online math tutor app is that a tutoring session is available to you on your schedule. You do not have to get your student to a specific location at a specific time, and your student can learn at a time, and in a place, that best fits your family’s schedule. What better way to ensure your student is ready to welcome a new math concept.
Not all students do their best work in a classroom environment. Learning at home provides an extra level of comfort to your student, where they can learn and work in an area that is free from distractions that will supplement their traditional math course.
For shy students, the app provides a level of anonymity that allows them to ask the questions they may not feel comfortable asking in a classroom full of their peers. This is especially important if there is a problem they really do not understand and need to ask multiple questions to solve the math problem. They can then take this knowledge back into the classroom with confidence.
Another benefit of a math tutor app is that your child can get feedback on their math work right away – like having a private tutor or your very own, available at the click of a button.
Thinkster provides the added benefit of a dedicated online tutor and video tutorials that can walk your student through the solutions. Your student will know immediately where they succeeded and what they still need to improve.
As the parent, you can also check your student’s progress regularly through the parent app dashboard. You can also contact your student’s tutor by email or text if you need to discuss something in more detail with them.
If you feel overwhelmed with the math your student is learning, an online tutoring program that includes a math tutor app can help. Not all parents were successful in studying math growing up, and many of the problem-solving methods have changed (let’s face it, not all of us had a graphing calculator).
Having online assistance from someone with years of tutoring experience can take the pressure off you as a parent.
Thinkster provides math homework help and test prep assistance outside of regular course work. Our elite math tutors are trained educators with extensive knowledge of current math curriculums. This experience, combined with their awareness of your student’s strengths and weaknesses, provides the best learning environment for your student to master their math techniques.
You won’t have to worry if they’re prepared for that next test or not – with Thinkster, you can be confident that they are. Your student too will experience more confidence and higher self-esteem knowing that they can handle what’s on the test. No more of that sinking feeling when they enter the classroom.
Learning through an online math tutor app and program provides your student with additional life skills outside of gaining just math knowledge. All the aspects of our program come together to teach your student accountability, independence and confidence in their abilities. Plus, they increase their digital skills, as we discussed above.
The daily grading and regular feedback provide a level of accountability to your student that they may not be used to. They know their highly experienced tutor is waiting to give them feedback or has already given them feedback, so they are accountable to this person to keep moving forward on a daily basis.
Also, a measure of independence is involved as your student is not required to do math lessons at a specific time. Independent study skills will serve your student well now, and in the coming years in both high school math and as an undergraduate. Seeing progress and getting rewards give your student the self-motivation needed to work on their math problems without you having to tell them to.
Seeing their success on a screen and knowing how far they’ve come on their own will surely build your child’s confidence. Knowing that you gave them the tools for success will also be deeply rewarding for you. If you want to see how the Thinkster math tutor app can help your student succeed in math, give our program a try for 7 days with our free trial.
