How to teach a child in elementary school to solve problems in mathematics?

If you are those parents, who regularly try to explain to the child, how tasks are solved, but nothing comes out - this article is for you.

If the child cannot solve the next math problem at the moment, first, what you should do is take a deep breath and count to three. Your child is not stupid. Even if he cannot solve this, what do you think is an elementary task. Neither are you to blame, nor your child. You cannot explain, because you do not have a teaching methodology in primary school. The child does not understand, obviously, because, that he has not mastered certain skills, necessary for solving problems in elementary school. Especially for such a case - we will consider three main reasons, which are at the heart of all problem solving in elementary school.

The first reason is children cannot read the problem statement.
You will not believe, but 50 percent of all problems with solving problems are immediately removed, as soon as you ask the child to tell in his own words, not looking tutorial, what the problem says. Children, whether to be afraid of these very tasks, whether they inspired themselves, that they are not good for anything. Just by opening the tutorial, they mutter right away: "I do not know, как это решать…» А когда вы говорите: "Good, Tell, what is this task about, what is its meaning ". Children only clap their eyes and, at best, can only repeat the first line..

Therefore, the first, what needs to be done - explain to the child, that tasks are nothing else, how certain situations, mathematical situations, which are taken from life. And before you start solving this problem, you need to immerse yourself in that world, which she talks about, imagine, what is bought or sold here, who left or who came. Именно в этом помогает ребенку серия книг “Unusual mathematics Zhenya Katz“.

Teach your child to write all these numbers on a draft., which occur in the problem. He must understand, what is this number, where does it come from how is it related to other numbers. Let him pay special attention to the question. It must be repeated almost verbatim..

This simple, seemingly, reception removes half of the problems with problem solving. Try to apply it, and you will see for yourself. by the way, one more moment, which is related to, that the child cannot understand the conditions of the problem. This moment is very commonplace: the child just does not read well. So remember this.

Second moment, which is no longer so easy to fix - lack of understanding by the child of the meaning of arithmetic operations.
Misunderstanding the meaning of arithmetic operations is at the heart of many problem solving problems. This is especially true for multiplication and division.. As for addition and subtraction, they somehow at an intuitive level still pass. However, this same trick will not work., when it comes to multiplication and division. Once these 2 actions meet children, they start to frantically grab the first numbers they come across and multiply them with each other, divide into each other, or remember those tasks, which they solved in class. It is at this moment that you can hear: “I cannot solve such a problem, we weren't shown at school, как это делать…» Конечно же родителю, unfamiliar with teaching methods, it is impossible to do it. In this case, try to study the information on the Internet yourself and try in stages, speaking out loud, solve problems with a child.

The third point - inability to draw diagrams and drawings.
There is still such a strange and inexplicable thing at school., as a short note of tasks. But drawings and diagrams are a completely different matter.. This is a visual depiction of that relationship., which exist between the quantities in the problem.

Diagrams and drawings immediately allow the child to see, what is connected with what and how is it solved. If the child can draw up a diagram or drawing, if he can explain, what value is related to another - a huge probability that, that he will not have any problems solving problems. Always ask your child to try to draw a rough outline by hand on a draft..
Working with diagrams and drawings is useful not only in elementary school for solving specific problems. She'll come in handy in high school too., a, what is most important, and in life. And if you teach a child to use this technique, he will thank you more than once.

Problem solving can and should be taught. Three tricks, which were mentioned above will help you to do this easier. But don't forget the most important thing.. Let your child's school years be remembered by his joyful communication with you - with his parents, not the daily hassle of problem solving.

To be able to solve problems is certainly good. But the love between you and your child is much more important.. Don't lose this delicate connection, which exists between you. Remember, that in pursuit of knowledge, and much worse - beyond the marks, you can lose this connection.