6 Warning Signs Your Child Needs Help With Maths

JP Gulliver Maths

Maths is one of those subjects that needs to be learned in the right order. If kids miss out on a step, it can make everything that follows a bit harder to learn. But as all parents know, children aren’t always forthcoming when it comes to what they’re struggling with. If maths is starting to become a problem, tutoring could be the answer.

Here’s 6 signs that your child may need some help with their maths.

Lack of Confidence

A lack of confidence can be the precursor to everything else discussed in this article. Children can lose confidence quickly if they don’t understand something or get a poor test score. This can make them hesitant to give things a go or ask for help, meaning results will continue to spiral and keep knocking their confidence down even further.

If you notice your child lacking the confidence to give their maths work a try, some maths tutoring could be the answer.

Avoidance of Work

Keeping homework tucked away at the bottom of their school bag and telling you they don’t have any is a classic sign of avoidance. Avoiding work is generally caused by a lack of confidence – if they don’t feel like they’re any good at maths, they don’t want to do it. They’d rather focus on something else they feel skilled at.

Children can be embarrassed about poor results or not understanding certain maths concepts, so if your child is constantly trying to avoid their maths homework it could be time to boost their confidence with some quality maths tutoring.

Declining Report Cards

We often say that focusing on learning and improvement is more important than results, however if the bad report cards are piling up it becomes difficult to ignore. While report cards don’t give you a complete view of how your child is going, it’s definitely a good indicator. It may alert you to certain areas they’re struggling with.

If your child’s maths results seem to be on the decline, there’s no need to panic, but it’s important to understand why. If it’s a case of a few knowledge gaps, maths tutoring is a great way to get them back on track.

Not Wanting to Try

If a child feels like nothing good comes from their efforts (such as constantly getting poor results and no encouragement), it diminishes their willingness to try. A great comparison is a child’s love for video games. At the end of each level they’re rewarded and praised for their efforts. Trying hard at maths only to get bad results and a scolding from their parents doesn’t motivate them to work harder.

It’s also hard for children to learn if they’re not giving things ago – mistakes are an important part of the learning process. A lack of confidence gives kids a fear of feeling silly is they give a wrong answer, when in actual fact, they should be praised for having a go.

Not Understanding Practical Uses for Maths

If your child is constantly saying “I’m never going to use algebra anyway!”, it’s probably a sign they are struggling to grasp the work they’re doing at school. And while they may be right about never using algebra, it doesn’t mean they can stop doing the work! Algebraic problems like the ones in their textbooks may never be used, but the principles of algebra are present in many aspects of modern life.

If your child can’t seem to connect their maths work to real world applications, some maths tutoring could be a great way to give them a different point of view.

Excuses and Blaming Others

We’ve all heard the excuses, and probably made them ourselves when we were at school. What we may not know though, is the excuses for why work hasn’t been done or why results are declining may be a good indicator that your child needs help.

Students will often blame others, such as teachers or peers, however playing the blame game could be a sign they’re struggling and don’t want to admit it.

At Big Improvements Tutoring we aim to provide a supportive, encouraging, secure environment for your child to get back on track with their maths. If you think your child would benefit from a positive, individualised private school tutoring, click the link below to book a free session today!