YOUR CHILD IS STRUGGLING WITH MATHS AND YOU CAN’T FIGURE OUT WHY…

So, your child isn’t doing well at Maths and is constantly “confused” and “behind”.

Before you jump to the conclusion that he or she is just not “good at maths” or “not that smart” please consider this…

Studies show that the average learner takes in less than 20% of each lesson at school.

What? Less than 20%?

Something here just doesn’t add up when taking into account that learners should, at the very least, be achieving marks of 50% and higher…

So what’s going on?

I’m sure that as a parent you have witnessed how a child can hear you but not listen to what you are saying…

“Will you please pack the blue towels away in the top left cupboard?”

Ten minutes later (when the chore is yet to be done) your child asks, “What did you want me to do again? Pack whichtowels where?”

Well this is exactly the same problem which manifests itself in class.

And it all comes down to LISTENING SKILLS.

Listening skills are a crucially important part of effective learning.

Hearing is the physical ability, while listening is a skill.

Listening skills allow one to make sense of and understand what another person (or teacher) is saying.

If your child can’t remember a simple instruction such as “blue towel, top left cupboard”, no wonder he or she is struggling to keep up or make sense of the work covered in a mathematics lesson.

The ever-so-popular “I’m confused” in actual fact means “I didn’t listen the first time round so you need to explain it again.”

Here’s the good news!

Your child is NOT stupid and he or she has the potential to do VERY well in Maths. 

He or she, however, most probably just has very poor listening skills!

So what’s the solution?

So if listening is a skill, then it needs to be developed and, more importantly, maintained.

And we are here to help with just that!

For your first step, we advise that on your way to school each morning (or at another convenient time for you) you ask your child/children a little “Listening Skills” Quiz of between 5 and 10 questions each.

Here are examples of “trick” questions that you can use to test if your kids are really listening to you!

1. How many animals did Moses take onto the ark?  Moses didn’t take animals onto the ark, it was Noah.

2. What was the colour of Napoleon’s white horse?   You’d be surprised how many kids don’t listen to the “white” part.

3. If a plane crashed on the borders of France and Spain, where would the  survivors be buried?   You don’t bury survivors.

4. Some months have 31 days, some have 30 days but how many have 28 days? All months have 28 days

5. You take two apples from 7 apples, how many apples do you have?  2 apples

6. Do you say  “3 and 4 is 8” or “3 and 4 are 8”?  Neither because 3 and 4 is 7!

7. As I left the Hilton Hotel 2 German tourists, 5 Japanese tourists and 3 Swedish tourists were entering, how many people in total left the hotel?    One – you.

8. You drive a coach 2 miles with 3 passengers, at the first stop 1 passenger gets off and 5 get on. At the second stop three people get off and no one gets on. What is the name of the bus driver?  YOUR NAME – You are the driver!