Read This Before Hiring a Math Tutor or Joining a Math Learning Program
As a parent, you recognize the value of a solid education in shaping your child's future. Some children may...
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Last Updated on August 31, 2021 by Thinkster
Your child could spend ten hours studying for an upcoming test.
They could complete all the questions in their twenty-page study guide. Then review their work and try the questions again.
They could spend time after school with their teacher to get extra help with a few topics.
But at the end of the day, how your child performs on a test depends on how confident they feel.
Multiple studies have found that confidence plays a key role in how students perform.
Professors Lazar Stankov, Suzanne Morony, and Lee Yim Ping at the National Institute of Education in Singapore studied 600 students in multiple schools to see how confidence affects performance.
They found that all students who believed they’re skilled in math actually performed well on math tests!
Professor Lazar noted: “From this study, we know that confidence is a much better predictor of students’ achievements than any other non-cognitive measure. In fact, it acts in a way that it overcomes everything else; so confidence is very important.”
Another study followed engineering students and yielded similar results. Researchers first gave students a survey to understand their emotional and mental state for an engineering course. Then, they compared these surveys with exam scores.
The study showed that confidence influenced student performance by as much as twelve percent!
And more studies and research show a similar trend: Higher confidence results in better performance!
So, how can you ensure that your child becomes more confident in the classroom so that they perform their best?
That’s easy…
Hire a math tutor!
There are numerous ways that a math tutor has a profound impact on your child’s classroom participation, math problem comprehension, and test performance.
Is it very obvious that your child tends to get super frustrated when doing math homework?
Maybe they’re working on math word problems and keep saying over and over, “I don’t get it! This makes no sense!”
Cue the huffs and sighs.
Cue the tears.
If your child hits a roadblock and struggles to understand a question, they probably fixate on how they feel instead of working through the problem.
So, what’s going on?
Isn’t your child learning how to solve math word problems in school?
Well… yes.
Technically, they do learn it in the classroom… but there’s a big difference between learning and truly understanding a topic.
If your child needs some help and guidance working through the material, it could be time to hire a math tutor!
With a Thinkster Math tutor, your child has the opportunity to learn at their pace.
Your child’s tutor customizes a learning plan and supports your child with the specific topics and concepts where they need math help.
This way your child received the exact support and help that they need to understand math topics.
Whether it’s with schoolwork or topics that your child has not demonstrated mastery in yet, your child’s learning plan is hyper-personalized to the areas where they need the most support.
Thinkster Math mom Fiona shares more on her experience with her son’s tutor –
“We started using it in July 2019. At the time my son was only able to count to 20 and add +1s. He really did not have a proper grasp of the meaning of number value, place value, and adding from his head. Now he can add really well, use associative and commutative properties like a champ and just has way more confidence in math. He no longer shuts down at the thought of a new concept and is really building a foundation of learning math principles. His tutor is awesome and she truly has the patience of Jesus himself. He loves her and so do we.”
Do you remember the days before Google searches and the steps you would have to take to find the answer to a question?
Head to the library… use a catalog to find books… look through book after book to find the relevant information and answer…
Well, this long wait for an answer is what it feels like if your child sees a math tutor only once or twice a week.
What happens when they need help that day with solving questions?
What happens if they do answer questions, but do so using strategies completely incorrectly?
Your child needs timely help to solve problems successfully, make quick progress, and improve their performance.
What happens when your child doesn’t get this quick feedback?
Well, first they start to become frustrated.
This frustration can then lead to stress and anxiety.
All of these result in the opposite of confidence-building! If your child feels unsure about how to answer questions, they’re not going to feel confident.
And feeling unsure for a long period of time really cripples confidence. You want to make sure you eliminate this feeling quickly!
With a Thinkster Math tutor, your child knows that someone has their back 7 days a week. Once your child solves questions and submits an assignment, the tutor sends corrections and feedback by the next day.
If your child needs help solving questions, they can also refer to video tutorials and raise comments in their assignments. Within the comments, they can share their frustrations or that they have trouble answering the question. This gives your child a comfortable space to vocalize their fears and let the math tutor know that they need help.
Our tutors are also able to see every mistake that your child makes with our patent-pending Active Replay Technology.
Your child shows their work on the screen as they solve questions. They can use their finger, stylus, or mouse to scribble and show the strategies they use to solve the problem. If needed, they can erase their work and start the question all over again.
And even when your child erases, our program captures their entire problem-solving journey!
When the math tutor reviews the assignment, they can hit a play button and see how your child answered the question.
So, if your child isn’t able to vocalize that they need help just yet, that’s okay! Their Thinkster Math tutor can still see it through their work!
When the tutor corrects the work, they show how not to make the same mistakes again. They also cover the question and concept during their scheduled one-on-one whiteboard tutoring sessions.
This timely help and feedback ensure your child gets a quick response to set them on the right problem-solving path again. Because of this, they feel much more confident as they answer their next set of questions.
I’m going to guess that your child hates taking tests!
Most kids do! Studies have shown that 10-40% of kids have test-taking anxiety.
Outside of being really good on the material that they are tested on, one way your child can improve confidence is by working with a math tutor.
Sure, a tutor can reinforce tips your child has likely heard many times (“read questions slowly and multiple times” “focus on one question at a time”…)
But your child is going to feel even more ready when they work with a Thinkster Math tutor.
How?
Why?
Because our tutors take the time to really ensure your child understands concepts and learns multiple problem-solving strategies.
How do they make sure this is done?
Data-driven insights every day for hyper-personalizing learning plans! Our tutors use powerful tools like AI and ART to ensure your child’s learning plan is appropriately modified and relevant to the exact topics and strategies your child needs to review.
Daily attention and feedback from the dedicated tutor make the 1:1 tutoring sessions that much more impactful! It helps the tutor come very prepared to the tutoring sessions with specific questions and problem-types to review with your child.
The tutor also works with your child to ensure they truly are proficient with different techniques.
This is because our tutors want your child to understand that there’s more than one way to successfully solve a math problem.
Take a simple 9 + 8 addition problem.
Sure, you can start from 9 and jump a number line 8 times to get to 17… but there are other ways to manipulate the numbers and solve the question.
Our CEO Raj Valli shares other techniques –
https://vimeo.com/215070644
When your child can solve problems using different methods and strategies, they can think more flexibly. They become more confident with their ability to use different problem-solving methods, which can help your child feel more prepared for their upcoming test!
And Thinkster Math students have shown amazing performance improvements on tests by working with an elite math tutor!
Just take a look at this student’s performance! Her test results were in the “danger zone” before working with a Thinkster tutor. Now, she’s 80% above her peers in her state!
If your child doesn’t feel confident in the classroom or when taking tests, their performance in math will show it!
Your child can work with one Thinkster Math tutor to gain a boost of confidence in the classroom and become a math champion. In fact, the desire to boost confidence is one of the big reasons that parents join Thinkster!
You can check out more reasons parents choose Thinkster for math tutoring and sign up to get your child their own elite math tutor!
