Discuss With Your Tutor and Solve Math Problems Instantly

The Fact Behind Math Problems

Math is a big hurdle for students as many of them try to solve tricky math problems without knowing the relevant concepts properly. It is a different subject and it demands concentration and step-by-step understanding. It sharpens students' logical reasoning skill. But studying Math is not a good experience for everybody. Most of the students go from one class to another without getting a concrete idea about different concepts and hence, they face difficulties in solving tough mathematical problems. They lose interest in Math and end up with disappointment.

4 Steps to Learn Math

Math seems a tough subject to many students, so every student needs a proper guidance to learn Math step-by-step. Some useful tips to improve problem solving maths skills are discussed below.

• Understanding the problem is required to solve any tricky sum. Students need to focus on the problems to get solutions.

• Each Math question gives some known and unknown information. Students are required to identify these information to get the right solution.

• Practice can make a student better in Math, so students should practice each topic as much as they can. Several websites offer free worksheets. Students can download and practice these whenever they need help.

• After completion of the entire syllabus, students need to revise it thoroughly. Without revision, students may forget the concepts and formulas and can face the same learning difficulty again.

Discussion With Tutors Is a Great Way to Solve Math Problems

Students can discuss their learning problems with the tutors. It is the easiest way to get comfortable with Math. Students can clear their doubts in a step-by-step manner as subject experts can give a fair idea on each topic. They help in enhancing student's confidence and give several worksheets on each topic. Thus, students can do more practice and get a good command over each topic. Additionally, discussions with tutors can reduce exam anxiety.



Online Math Help Improves Student's Mathematical Skill

Online tutoring makes learning any subject easy and comfortable. Students can opt for online assistance for any subject including Math. Several positive features of online learning keep students' stress free. With this service, students can schedule their tutoring session anytime from home. Thus, they can save their time and energy and additionally, the virtual environment of online session allows students to clear their doubts unhesitatingly. So students can enhance their mathematical skill by scheduling required numbers of sessions with their preferred tutor.

The Effect of Good Solved Math Problems in Education

There are probably an infinite number of math problems. When you are studying math in elementary or high school, you have no idea of the huge world of math that exists at the college and post-college levels. Additionally, when you're studying elementary-level math, its sometimes hard to make the connection between seemingly-insignificant math problems and the ultimate power that math has to solve problems in real life.



Think of medicine, for example. Students who started out the same as you and I, learning about square roots and fractions in elementary and junior high schools, have ended up using math to solve major health problems such as polio and tetanus. By turning health problems into math problems, collecting data and turning it into numbers, public health workers and epidemiologists figured out what was causing these diseases. Then, they found the problem solving maths and figured out how to get rid of the diseases.

Without the beginning elements of addition, subtraction, algebra, geometry, calculus, and statistics, this could not have happened. Mastery of finding solutions to math problems allowed scientists to solve health problems and relieve human suffering. By performing statistical analysis of the numbers, they developed vaccines for these problems. All of this would be impossible without math.

At the college level, students usually see those seemingly meaningless math problems, like how much bread Joe can carry if his bicycle has a basket that is 1 foot by 1 foot, turn into real-life issues. If you study social science, you'll do research using math. When they get to graduate school, the statistical part of the math problems is often done with SPSS. However, the student has to understand what the data is telling her/him and know how to input it into the program in order for it to work.

Improving your house is also another area where you will encounter math problems. If you want to repaint one or several walls, you have to figure out many issues. Though this may seem pretty simple, you still have to know how to add, multiply, divide, subtract, and do basic algebra. Its for this reason that everyone in the United States is required to achieve at least a basic competency in math. People who study education are aware that all aspects of our daily lives involve math in many ways.

For a lot of people the simple words "math problems" always go together and seem like a negative thing. We think of the word "problem" as something we want to get rid of. It would be better if we called them "math puzzles" instead. Isn't that more inviting? Math puzzles would be something fun, playful, or exciting.Problem has a negative connotation, whereas puzzle sounds mysterious and exciting, something you just want to delve into to figure out how to put it together. And that's what math is about.

When we do math problems, we take various parts of the puzzle, various concepts, and we put them together. That is the mystery part and provides the frame for the puzzle. In real life we always have some elements of the puzzle, like the speed of a vehicle and how far the vehicle is going to go. That's the information that we have to put together with the concepts. We can put the concepts together with the information and that's how we complete the puzzle. This is what math problems really are.

Using Kindergarten Math Games to Advance the School Curriculum

One of the ways that five year olds learn best is through interactive play. That is why it is important to provide plenty of stimulating activities that foster this learning and growth. Math is a more difficult subject to introduce through interactive play, although many of the concepts learned are recurring in the natural world. To offer engaging activities that follow suit with the math curriculum, many teachers are turning toward online math games. These games make kindergarten maths more fun and rewarding, plus take kids outside of their comfort zone and encourage them to use math concepts in a variety of ways.



Kindergarteners are actually very interested in learning, but often become distracted and have a hard time focusing on the information. Not to mention, with short attention spans, kindergarteners may seem like they come in with a blank slate each morning. Fortunately, playing online math games is a wonderful way to enhance what is being learned in the kindergarten curriculum. These practical games can be integrated into a classroom setting, tutoring session or at home for a routine study night. They are also useful tools for winter and summer break times when your child won't come near a book, but you worry about him or her forgetting the material.

Choosing the Appropriate Math Games

It's important that you do not confuse adaptive learning games with standard games. The big difference: Adaptive learning software is more than just for entertainment; the games offer real educational value. To make sure you choose the best kindergarten math games, there are a few factors to look for. First, select programs that are designed to meet the individual needs of the child. A short questionnaire is filled out and helps the intuitive software fill in the gaps where the child is struggling. The results of the games are used to track progress, and kids don't move ahead to a new chapter until they've mastered the current lesson.

Also look for online math games that are part of a larger program that allow parents and teachers to track the progress of the kindergartners. The games should offer a variety of online lessons that include age-appropriate material for five-year-olds, including counting, number comparisons and number sequences. These kindergarten math games are not just for kids who need an extra push, but also for advanced students who welcome additional challenges. Depending on the child you're working with, you can also take advantage of more advanced lessons that delve into first and second grade topics.

Kindergarten Fun in Every Program

If you're curious to know what makes kindergarten games so much fun, think about the things that five-year-olds enjoy the most. From pirates to pets to sea animals, kindergarten games include fun characters that present the material. Most of the time, kids don't know they're learning, and the end result is a confident child who is eager to test out his or her new skills. As a parent or teacher, it's important to review the child's progress and be familiar with the material being learned so that you can build on the concepts. For example, ask a student to count out ten yellow pencils.

In the process of playing kindergarten math games, kids are also learning how to navigate a computer and develop critical thinking and problem solving skills. Instead of putting on a game for entertainment value, offer an educational tool that will challenge the mind and instill confidence in your child. Most adaptive learning programs will allow you to test out the games for free, so be sure to take advantage of these rewarding opportunities for both you and your kindergartener.

Kindergarten Math Lesson Plans

Math lesson plans for kindergarten students makes learning math concepts simple, fun and experiential. It provides a solid foundation for children with each lesson either introducing a new math concept to students or developing the fluency in them in performing various math skills. Lessons are tackled with creative and interesting examples that come in colorful illustrations and photos. Below are some of the topics included in this publication:

Counting, Addition and Subtraction

Kindergarten students are introduced to the practice of skip counting and the skill of matching number symbols with their corresponding words. Activities are provided to help them gain a better grasp of addition and subtraction. One example is using numbers to demonstrate and solve story problems that illustrate these math operations. In addition, kindergarten students will expand their skills in using the number line to represent numbers and model addition problems.

Patterns, Sorting and Ordering

Comparing and ordering sets of numbers can be challenging but these will be simplified for students with the help of cardinal and ordinal meanings. They will also be taught how to recognize counting and non-counting patterns in objects. Remembering rules involving these concepts will be easier as they will be the ones to translate simple patterns into rules.



Presenting addition as a process of "putting together" or "counting on" is one of the key concepts lesson plans will give kindergarten students. This will help them see addition as a simpler process, while making them see the world around them in a different light.

Collecting and Measuring

Through engaging in activities that present everyday objects, students will learn the skill of collecting and counting data. One example is using a tally sheet while taking a survey and, later, producing a graph with their collated information. Kindergarten students will further their skills in observation with activities related to measurement, particularly comparing and ordering measurable attributes of objects. This topic is taken a notch higher with the presence of word problems, which students will learn to solve through measurement and comparison of objects.

While kindergarten students will be asked to identify time and tell how long or how short objects are, lessons in measurement go beyond these activities. A good example is creating recipes for snacks, thus requiring them to quantify and measure ingredients.

Geometry and Symmetry

Shapes may not be new to kindergarten students, but the discussions applied in a lesson plan will give students a good introduction to the language of geometry. They will learn to interpret and describe the objects around them, especially with the lessons on two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures. The discussion of the latter, for example, will help children understand how objects around them move or operate. Lessons in this section will also lead them to the exploration of symmetry and spatial reasoning. The world of geometry will help kindergarten students enhance their critical thinking skills as they tackle problems involving shapes and spatial reasoning.

Kindergarten maths becomes a series of fun and creative activities as students learn about numbers and figures with respect to their environment. With this education material, kindergarten students indeed become better detectives as they develop both their skills in critical thinking and their sense of wonder and imagination.

Bridging the Mathematics learning gap

The learning of Mathematics is so different from 20 years ago, that the MOE Mathematics curriculum now focuses on problem solving as its primary goal. In 2009, when the use of calculators were permitted during the PSLE Mathematics Paper Two, it became obvious that the learning of Mathematics does not just focus on computation skills any more.

Importance of Heuristics in Mathematics

Today, students no longer learn Mathematics by memorizing, rote-learning or drilling. How well the child learns Mathematics does not relate to “practice makes perfect”.

Instead, they must be able to connect, reason, model what they have learned in class and apply Heuristics to solve problems.

The teaching of Mathematics has shifted from white board learning to inquiry-based learning, whereby students discover facts, concepts and relationships by themselves.

Other than Problem Solving Skills, the following are also important thinking skills that the students must adopt:

    Observation
    Visualization
    Hand-eye co-ordination
    Analytical thinking
    Logical Reasoning
    Judgment
    Categorization
    Memory



The following is an illustration of how children can be trained with multiple thinking skills: 
Q: Which picture is correct?

                                                           


Thinking skills and processes involved in solving this problem:
a)    Correspondence skill
1.    What is the mass of a Monkey?               7 units
2.    What is the mass of a Chicken?              5 units

b)    Addition skill   
1.    What is the mass of a Monkey and a Chicken?    7 units + 5 units = 12 units
2. What is the mass of 2 Chickens?            5 units + 5 units = 10 units                                                                  
c) Judgment skill
1.    Is a Monkey and a Chicken heavier than 2 Chickens?
 If yes, then the answer is a tick.            Ans: 

Where is the learning gap in problem solving?
Students may understand certain concepts that have been taught, yet may still be
unable to do well in problem solving. In order to bridge this gap, students must apply
the following strategies when solving word problems:

Step 1 Understand the problem
    Students must comprehend the text and understand what is the question asking and what is required to solve the problem.

Step 2. Devise a plan
    Students must be able to identify the correct strategies to use in solving the problem. There are many problem solving Heuristics, and the Model method serves as a good tool to allow students to visualize a solution when solving the problem.

Step 3 Model and carry out the plan
    Students will draw a model, list a table or apply the correct heuristics to solve the problem.

Step 4 Reflection
    Students must reflect by substituting the answer into the problem to meet the conditions stated in the problem.



Quote: From a Facebook posting by Education Minister Mr. Heng: “a question requires a pupil to work through a few steps to get the final answer. And even if he doesn’t get the final answer, if he gets the first few parts right, he understands his materials and gets points for it.” Unquote.

Therefore, the focus is no longer about just getting the right answers but on the process of how the students derive at the correct answers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     
This article is contributed by Edison Innovative Pte. Ltd., the Master Franchisor for eiMaths. We are a Singapore-based Mathematics program focused on creative thinking and problem solving skills to identify and bridge your child’s learning gap in Mathematics. Visit us at www.eimaths.com.

4 Types of Heuristic Method in Maths

Traditional math places emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge. Heuristic method, on the other hand, places more importance on the manner of discovery on the part of the students. The difference of the two is the performance of the student. Heuristic method allows the kid to discover the lesson on his own. It's about the manner of acquiring the information. In the long run, the kid will be able to go about the problem to achieve the solution. He will be less dependent on prior knowledge. He will do away with memorization and fact tables. That is what traditional method failed to instill in kids - the ability to discern problems and issues independently.

4 Types of Heuristic Method in Maths

1. Representation

This is most suitable in word problems. Kids are used to equations. They tend to get lost in the problem when faced with too many words. That's where representation enters the picture. Kids do best when there is a visual representation. After reading the problem, make a list. Itemize the given numbers. It summarizes the information given and gives the kids a clearer picture of the whole problem. By singling out the numbers, kids will get to identify the pattern and they will be able to provide the needed answers systematically.

2. Making a calculated guess

It's the subsequent guessing and checking on the part of the kids. It'll help them narrow down their options. This is especially useful in problems with missing information. Instead of thinking of so many possibilities and wondering whether these will work or not, the kids get to narrow down their choices. Once his guess doesn't produce the intended effect then, he can try the next one. It helps the kids bring together a systematic list of possible choices and achieve the correct one in just a short period of time. It's all about patterns and sequences.

3. Going through a process

Kids learn best through experience and this type of heuristic maths method does just that. Kids will be asked to do the problems using actual objects. He can use balls or sticks to represent the items in the problem. This allows the kids to explore their options in an actual situation.

It's not all about the problems or words swimming in their heads. They can bring those concepts to the real world. What happens when you put this and this together? What happens when you put it this way instead of the other way around? They could try out their options. Find answers to their inquiries themselves. They get to understand the changes happening. What is the scenario before you added this to the pile? What happens after you placed it on the pile? By analyzing their actual objects, they could understand the before and after concepts.

4. Restating the problem

Not all kids think alike. Some can grasp the facts faster than the rest. By changing how the problems are presented, kids will achieve a certain level of understanding that is not present before. They can view the problem in a different perspective. Use items that they can recognize or tap into their interests. Once they started viewing it in a different perspective, they'll be able to know how to work it out. If the problem is too broad, breaking the problem down into simpler parts can help the kids understand better.

What do Children Learn in Maths Activity Class?

Children these days are taught many subjects for the purpose of high end learning right from the beginning of their school days. However, maths has a special purpose in every child’s life and while the subject can be quite demanding at times, it is extremely beneficial in the near future. A lot of preschools and kindergartens have introduced maths activity class due to the fact that it ensures learning and also gives a child the ability to think on a large scale. Due to the importance of this subject, teachers are always highly recommended to teach it with great care and dedication to the children.

Brain Enrichment

As far as the maths activity class is concerned, it allows children to think of all sorts of possibilities. The best part is the fact that they learn to use their brain for everything and the fact that they learn to properly utilize it is something that cannot be taught easily by another subject in general. This is amongst one of the most significant reasons for teaching mathematics to children in kindergarten as well as preschool. A child’s brain has a lot of imagination and creativity hidden in it and in order to bring that out adequately, the learning of maths is definitely required.

Out of the Box Thinking

Moreover, children get the ability to be able to think out of the box in maths activity class. This is due to the fact that maths is a vast and an extremely diverse subject that opens doors to a lot of new opportunities as well as concepts. While children learn all of these concepts, they also see how they can use these in real life. This is only if a teacher pays attention in teaching them about how to do it without making it entirely difficult for them.

Learning Numbers

Maths contains numbers and these are generally new for a child who has just started to learn maths in school. It does take a lot of time for children to get used to numbers but with the help of maths activity class, it has now become quite possible since this class is all about teaching children all there is about maths and how it can be understood. Sometimes children may understand it quickly, but the other times, it may take some time for them to get used to it in the process. However, the results are most definitely positive as the main reason for holding a class dedicated to this subject is to show children how important and fun it can be.

Time Management

Maths activity class also shows children the many ways through which they can manage time. Time management should be taught to children right from the beginning so that they do not have to face any difficulties during tests and important examinations in the long run. It is through time management that people get ahead in life and it can be taught very well with maths. Therefore, the purpose of holding this class is to also teach time management to children in a short period of time.

Is the Maths Activity Class worth it?

A lot of schools these days have introduced this class and the results have been tremendous as many children have learned a lot of things regarding maths. Many studies also show that the activity class for maths is also responsible for making children interested in mathematics right from the beginning, which is definitely a great thing as the subject becomes crucial in their lives later on. The activity class is held on a day to day basis in most schools in different parts of the world and has been made a proper part in the routine of all preschool and kindergarten students.