Helping a kid who made a math mistake
A strategy for helping a kid who loves math work through hard problems, especially when they've made a mistake but haven't realized it
Mathematics is a series of “I don’t get it” to “I get it” moments.
During each step of the way, the next step seems impossible, like the mathematics had been written in an alien language.
Then slowly but surely the kid who loves math works through the examples, maybe watches a video (or two or many), and then “A ha!”, they’ve gotten it.
Do problems together
If you are able to do problems together with your kid, when they are young and you still understand/remember the math, you should do problems with them.
There’s a big chance that you will probably see the answer before they do.
They’ll start working through the problem and you’ll know the answer.
They finish the problem and lo and behold, they got it wrong.
What you do next matters not only for their math development but also their general confidence.
Bite your tongue
It’s easy to say, “You got it wrong” or “Try again” or “You made a mistake here” or “Why did you [something related to the problem]”.
The issue with this is that if the kid didn’t see the mistake while working through the problem, you pointing out their error robs them of the opportunity to figure it out themselves.
Yes it’s extra work for you.
Yes it means the math work takes more time (and if it’s school homework this is hard on everyone).
Yes it means that perhaps weren’t paying attention or missed something from the previous examples.
However, it’s a great opportunity to expand their math universe and solidify what they know and don’t know.
The solution: Have them walk you through how they did the problem
You should have them walk you through the problem and explain a) their steps, b) why they chose that step, and c) how t.
You should have them walk you through every single problem.
You should have them verbally recount, step-by-step, what they did and how they did the calculations.
Ideally they should catch the mistake themselves on the first pass
If they still don’t catch the mistake, as them to go slower
Rather than pointing out the error, have them go through it again slower.
(Sometimes you should also do this with exercises with correct solutions)
That way they can’t tell whether you think they got it wrong or right when you ask them to go slower.
Why this works
By having them verbally walk you through the problem step by step, it
helps them to verbalize their process
helps them to redo all of the calculations
helps them to go slowly since they are speaking
helps them to review the problem
Double Checking Skills
Ultimately, what this helps them do is develop their “double checking” skills. So in the future they can run through this process by themselves when they are double checking.
So this is a great strategy for helping a kid who loves math work through hard problems, especially when they've made a mistake but haven't realized it.
Try it soon and let me know how it goes!
Until next time,
Sebastian