4 useful steps to solve word problems in math

After your children have grasped the essence of numbers, they will usually be presented with word problems to assess how well they have understood the lessons. Most children would find it challenging at first. They don't just have to deal with the numbers. Rather, they have to combine everything they know. Your reading and comprehension skills will be tested. They will have to use their analytical and cognitive skills. To top it off, they have to make sure that they have acquired a deep understanding of the numbers of different mathematical applications.

But the good news is that they don't need to feel overwhelmed. We have reduced a list to 4 useful steps that you can train your children to help them with their word problems.

4 steps in math word problems

1. Understand the problem.

This is the most important part. Children need to understand what the math problem refers to. You can help your children by posing the problem in a different way. Use various objects with which you are familiar. They will be able to better understand when they can relate to the topic. A common tendency is for your child to get lost in the sea of too many words. You can try breaking the problem into simpler parts. Once they understand the first part of the problem, they can move on to the next. In this way, they will know what the problem refers to as a whole.

2. Choose the most effective approach for you.

What is the approach to which they respond best? You can try the various methods in heuristic mathematics. Is it the visual representation, the calculated estimate, going through the process or the reformulation of the problem? Although that last bit is more appropriate in the first step to understand the problem. The approach is chosen based on the child's preferred choice and the requirement of the problem.

3. Solve the problem.

After choosing the approach, continue testing it with the problem. See if it is appropriate and how well your child uses it. But your child has to know the approach completely in order to use it. You can refer to the detailed description of each approach in our previous posts. https://citomateriaal.nl/redactiesommen-groep-5-6-7-en-8/

4. Review your solution.

Did you get it right? Are there redundant steps? What needs to be done to avoid these redundancies? Is it the focus? Can you use a different approach? It would be better?

These are just some of the questions you need to think about to improve your child's learning ability and make sure he understands what to do in later word problems.