Math Homework
Help for Parents and Families
Helping by Asking Math Questions
Parents’ role is to ask questions and let children figure out how to do the math so THEY make sense of mathematics. Children may solve problems in many different ways. Ask your child to explain what she/he did and show why the solution makes sense.
What if your child comes home with a math problem and says, “I don’t get it?”
Your job is to think of questions that will engage him or her in the problem:
- What is the problem about? Tell me in your own words.
- What did you do in class to get started?
- Can you make a diagram or draw a sketch? Drawing pictures of the problem is a great strategy for problem solving.
- What assumptions are your making?
- How do you know you are solving the right problem?
- Could there be any missing or extra information?
- Can you solve a simpler version of the problem?
What if your child comes home with a problem partially done and is stuck, and doesn’t know what to do next?
Your job is to ask questions that will help him or her get unstuck:
- What have you already tried? What steps did you take?
- Can you tell me what you know so far?
- What is the important information you need to solve the problem?
- Did you check your arithmetic?
- Can we break the problem down?
- Do you notice a pattern?
What if your child comes home and says, “I don’t have any homework” or “I’ve already done all of my homework?”
Your job is to take a few minutes and go over the homework with your child:
- Does your answer make sense?
- Could there be more than one answer? How do you know?
- How do you know your answers are correct?
- Is there anything you might have overlooked?
- Did you do all the parts of the problem?
- Did you check your arithmetic?
- Did you label your answers?
- Did you show all of your work?
- What do you think you are supposed to learn from this homework?
- What new questions or problems might you pose and explore?
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From the book: Helping with Math at Home (Heinemann Press, 2006).
Videos About Math in General
- Parents Supporting Mathematics Learning Video
Teachers and administrators give advice to parents and guardians supporting their child's learning in math from The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). - Common Core Math Explained in 3 Minutes
The term "new math” is a misnomer; the math strategies suggested under Common Core have been employed in high-performing schools across the country for decades. - Great Kids Milestones Math Videos
Videos featuring students demonstrating what success looks like in math, grade by grade.
Homework Help Resources
- Khan Academy Common Core Math
Go to the grade desired, the topic, and drill down to the video level. There are extra problems and practice, but the videos give a step-by-step to understanding. - LearnZillion
Intended for classroom use, LearnZillion has video-guided lessons for a variety of math ideas. - Dr. Math
Look for answers to common math problems with this extensive forum. - Be a Learning Hero (Grades 3-8)
Link to a wide variety of how-to resources, videos, and homework help sites based on the kind of problem you need.