Making Maths Count at High School

What is it about high school maths that has so many kids struggling with their homework?

Is it the fact that the secondary school syllabus moves at quite a rapid pace?

Is it simply that many kids are less willing to ask questions in a class full of their peers?

From our experience, it's a bit of both.

High school can be a big jump for kids...and Maths and English classrooms are often the places where children's strengths and weaknesses start to become obvious.

Maths is the kind of subject that requires a child to have solid foundations.

It is a 'step-by-step' subject  - meaning that to understand a new concept, kids need to have mastered the one that was taught before it.

Typically, difficulties often start to emerge for high schoolers in Years 7, 8 and 9 as the concepts of Maths start to beome more complex. Algebra, Equations and Polynomials are very new, and for some, not so easy to grasp.

The frenetic pace of high school environments, compounded with adolescent sensitivities can cause issues for students who are uncertain.

They are reluctant to ask questions in the classroom, because they do not want to expose their weaknesses to their peers... and yet, if they don't ask, their teachers do not know that they are struggling until a poor test result reveals the truth.

I am often asked about the best ways to encourage children's confidence in maths.

For me, a child who leaves primary school with a solid understanding of the skills and concepts of basic maths has a great head start.

It sounds boring - but knowing about times tables, fractions, decimals and having the language skills to comprehend the question is vital thoughout a child's maths education, as well as in life beyond school. 

This content is not re-visited in high school, so if you have a primary schooler, make sure that these maths fundamentals are in place before they move on to high school. 

(I felt so strongly about this that we even created a specific skills program at Kids First called Maths Fun-damentals - and boy, is it making a difference to many kids' maths!) 

If your child is at high school and is struggling with maths - don't expect them to ask their teacher for help...it is most likely that they won't!

If your child's maths is really starting to fall behind, or if maths is making them anxious - get professional help from a teacher who knows the NSW syllabus and has been professionally trained to break the concepts down so that they can be understood by your child.

It might mean a bit of an investment in after school tuition, but it does pay off and it's enormously satisfying when your teenager finally announces, as one of our Kids First secondary maths students did the other day ...

'Maths is not that bad now.'