Teaching math to your homeschooled kids can be frustrating. After all, you already “speak the language,” and your child doesn’t.
Variable and exponent and formula have been a part of your vocabulary for so long that it’s hard to understand why it’s hard for your student to understand…
Once upon a time, I was a homeschooled kid who was right there my parents. During the day my mother would teach History, English, Geography and Science and at night my Father would set up the white board and attempt to teach us Algebra.
Nothing sunk in. On the first problem, I would learn that x was equal to 6, but the very next problem, x would be equal to 14.
“Huh?”
After a weeks of frustration and growing tension between me and my father, there was a break through…
My father made a small adjustment in the way he taught and…
Suddenly, math was easy.
Just for the record…
- I didn’t become any smarter
- We didn’t switch curriculum
- We spent the same amount of time teaching and doing practice problems
This little trick can quickly and easily wake up the “Math Whiz” in your child
Actually, it’s better than that. Once you master this technique, you can help your child become a “whiz” in every subject.
The technique is called “Point of Reference.”
Think about how we learn. Learning is really just creating a relationship in our minds between something we understand and something we don’t. Once you understand how “x” (something you don’t know) is like “y” (something you understand) then you’ve learned it.
There’s not mystery left. X is like Y and you’re not sure how you could have missed that before.
If you want great examples of how it has been used, all you have to do is pull out your bible.
When Jesus was gathering his disciples, how did he communicate exactly what it was that they would be doing?
He didn’t walk up to Simon and Andrew on their fishing boats and say, “Come with me and I’ll make you disciples.” They didn’t know what a disciple was. It was outside of their experience.
If you know your scripture, you’ll remember that he said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men…” And they left their nets and followed him.
They didn’t have to think about what he could have meant because he spoke to them in their own language using experiences that they could instantly refer to.
During his time on earth, almost every lesson that Jesus taught, whether it was to a crowd or just for his disciples, Jesus used a point of reference that they could relate to.
So how can you use point of reference when you’re teaching your kids math?
Well, you know your kids best. What subjects do they relate to? What kinds of activities can they spend hours at without noticing the time?
Think, how does this math problem relate to his or her favorite game or sport?
Think hard enough and you’ll find something.
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