Math Tutoring Ideas

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

Hello!

I wanted to see if I could pick your brains on ideas for math tutoring for my dd. She is in 2nd grade and is struggling a bit with Math.

When I talked with her teacher about it and the need I thought my dd had the teacher was very helpful but there is only so much she can do. The school did select to put my dd in tutoring at the school which I thought was great only to find out it was for Lanaguage arts and not math. DD is doing great in Langauge Arts - averaging around a 94%.

I am a single mom and cannot afford Sylvan or a company like that. This place down the street from me is a drop in facility wanted to charge me $225 a month. As much as I wish I could put her in one of those programs I simply cannot afford it.

So I need to come up with a creative solution. I do work with her on her homework when she has problems. We do extra problems at night too. But... I am mom and sometimes when we are working together she gets really upset when I correct her. I also don't want to "punish" her by making it not fun.

So.... I thought maybe I could try and find a good math student to tutor her. This preferably would be a teenage girl (the cool people in dds world). How do I do that? I am relatively new to my community and only know people at the Elementary level. DO I just call the local High Schools?

What about a math computer game?

Any ideas or experiences you have would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks

 

[friend of pooh]

How about trying a local college? Maybe even a community college? Craigslist?

 

[laurie31]

I highly recommend Math U See. It helps kids who are visual learners grasp the abstract concepts of math. http://www.mathusee.com/

I think you could use it to supplement the school lessons at home, or you could just get the blocks and do her school homework with them (or...just use the IDEA of blocks and use legos or something cheaper that you already own). The idea of blocks sounds "babyish" but my 7th grader is using them for algebra now. She couldn't grasp why 2x - 2 wasn't x until she SAW with the blocks that 2x meant there were 2 x's not a 2 AND an x.

As for the tutor, I think that's a great idea too. I would think you could call the local high school. I used to tutor a boy in English when I was in high school. My teacher just asked me if I wanted to, so I presume his mother had called the school. If there's a college nearby that would be great to try too. Good luck!

 

[Abbie]

The local high school is a great idea. However, you might find yourself directed to the county board that keeps a list of tutors available.

I belong to a yahoo group (online) that is called a "community cafe". It's like Freecycle but for services. You could join and post a request for a teen girl that might be interested in tutoring. I've had great luck there finding services like painters, plumbers, contractors, dentists, etc. You ask the question and others in your local community will respond with their suggestions, it's a great resource!

 

[Lanshark]

Keep a good relationship with her teacher and find out why she was selected for LA tutoring. Also find out the criteria used to get her help in math. Manipulatives help when teaching certain concepts. A number line can be of great help. If there is a School Box in your area you may find some cool manipulatives or fun math games. What exactly is she struggling with? Addition with regrouping, subtraction with regrouping or word problems.

 

[Plantlady]

There's a website called "tutpup.com"

My 9 year old practices his times table on it. It has all levels of math. It's a race. Our school also uses "studyistland.com" you have to have a school password to get on.. but, it has games, ect... my kids do it at home as well.

In our house, we do math for fun, in the car, at the dinner table, ect. If numbers aren't clicking, try looking at the numbers in another way. Show her the numbers all around her.

You can also request her to be tested, to see if she qualifies for special education services. Then she would get extra help in school.

 

[MM27]

my school does studyisland too but your school has to sign up for a subscription for it. It is actually a test prep site.

I would contact a local college and see if they have any students that are willing to tutor her. Contact someone in the education department. When I was in college we got "points" towards the honor society for education if we did community service type things. High school students might work too.

Have you asked the teacher if she is available for before or after school help? In my contract we have to be available two days a week before or after school for students/parents. Many teachers don't actually announce that, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

 

[bhaluvindisney]

Math computer games

http://www.toonuniversity.com/free/math-games-1st-3rd.asp
http://kids.aol.com/homework-help/junior/math
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/math.html
http://www.ixl.com/ *some free...some cost*

As for math tutoring
I'd call the local high school or college
Call your school district offices and ask them
Ask the principal what they would suggest
Ask if there is tutoring available at school for free or a nominal fee per month

My children are older but we rely on www.tutor.com for things they need help with.

Is your daughter struggling in math all the way around or is there a particular part of math *like skip counting or subtraction* she is having a hard time with??

I am a teacher and have taught 2nd grade. My students played on those websites whenever we had time in the computer lab. It helped them quite a bit.

 

[allicat]

Double check with the school-maybe there was an error and she can be tutored for math.
What math program do they use in school? Where I work, teachers often tutor students outside school and they know the curriculum, so it works well.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

I highly recommend Math U See. It helps kids who are visual learners grasp the abstract concepts of math. http://www.mathusee.com/

I think you could use it to supplement the school lessons at home, or you could just get the blocks and do her school homework with them (or...just use the IDEA of blocks and use legos or something cheaper that you already own). The idea of blocks sounds "babyish" but my 7th grader is using them for algebra now. She couldn't grasp why 2x - 2 wasn't x until she SAW with the blocks that 2x meant there were 2 x's not a 2 AND an x.

As for the tutor, I think that's a great idea too. I would think you could call the local high school. I used to tutor a boy in English when I was in high school. My teacher just asked me if I wanted to, so I presume his mother had called the school. If there's a college nearby that would be great to try too. Good luck!

Legos -- great idea! We have plenty of those lying around. Thanks for the Website.

How about trying a local college? Maybe even a community college? Craigslist?

I have never used craigslist. Is it possible to post something like this?

The local high school is a great idea. However, you might find yourself directed to the county board that keeps a list of tutors available.

I belong to a yahoo group (online) that is called a "community cafe". It's like Freecycle but for services. You could join and post a request for a teen girl that might be interested in tutoring. I've had great luck there finding services like painters, plumbers, contractors, dentists, etc. You ask the question and others in your local community will respond with their suggestions, it's a great resource!

Can you PM me how to join something like that? Thank you so much!!

Keep a good relationship with her teacher and find out why she was selected for LA tutoring. Also find out the criteria used to get her help in math. Manipulatives help when teaching certain concepts. A number line can be of great help. If there is a School Box in your area you may find some cool manipulatives or fun math games. What exactly is she struggling with? Addition with regrouping, subtraction with regrouping or word problems.

I found out she was selected for LA tutoring mainly because there was a spot available. The program is directed at two populations. 1 - English Language Learners 2-Students who are doing well but could do better with extra help. She fell under category 2.

I am not sure the school even offers math tutoring after school like LA. She is having problems with regrouping both addition and subtraction. She gets the jist of one step word problems. She struggles a little bit with the two step ones (Like where you have to add two numbers and then subtract that total from a third number to get the answer).

There's a website called "tutpup.com"

My 9 year old practices his times table on it. It has all levels of math. It's a race. Our school also uses "studyistland.com" you have to have a school password to get on.. but, it has games, ect... my kids do it at home as well.

In our house, we do math for fun, in the car, at the dinner table, ect. If numbers aren't clicking, try looking at the numbers in another way. Show her the numbers all around her.

You can also request her to be tested, to see if she qualifies for special education services. Then she would get extra help in school.

Thanks for the websites! I too have been looking for ways to make it fun. During her money unit we played a lot of Monopoly.

my school does studyisland too but your school has to sign up for a subscription for it. It is actually a test prep site.

I would contact a local college and see if they have any students that are willing to tutor her. Contact someone in the education department. When I was in college we got "points" towards the honor society for education if we did community service type things. High school students might work too.

Have you asked the teacher if she is available for before or after school help? In my contract we have to be available two days a week before or after school for students/parents. Many teachers don't actually announce that, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

I know her teacher is working with her in a small group, with other students having trouble with math. But I will ask her for further assistance.

Math computer games

http://www.toonuniversity.com/free/math-games-1st-3rd.asp
http://kids.aol.com/homework-help/junior/math
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/math.html
http://www.ixl.com/ *some free...some cost*

As for math tutoring
I'd call the local high school or college
Call your school district offices and ask them
Ask the principal what they would suggest
Ask if there is tutoring available at school for free or a nominal fee per month

My children are older but we rely on www.tutor.com for things they need help with.

Is your daughter struggling in math all the way around or is there a particular part of math *like skip counting or subtraction* she is having a hard time with??

I am a teacher and have taught 2nd grade. My students played on those websites whenever we had time in the computer lab. It helped them quite a bit.

Her main trouble now is regrouping with addition and subtraction. I don't want to let this go -or think that it will fix itself in time. I would rather take a proactive approach so that she can have a strong foundation in Math. I think it is better to deal with now - then in a later grade when she really has not learned anything.

Thank you for the websites.

Double check with the school-maybe there was an error and she can be tutored for math.
What math program do they use in school? Where I work, teachers often tutor students outside school and they know the curriculum, so it works well.

They switched to a new math curriculum this year. This is part of the problem I think. The new curriculum assumes they learned things in 1st that the old cirriculum did not cover. I will inquire about teacher tutors!

 

[IDoDis]

I use Math-U-See as a Tier 3 intervention math program. However, I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a supplement to your school's program. The way it teaches math is most like a complete 180 from the program your district uses which in the end, could totally confuse your DD.

I know several teachers who tutor for extra money. I tutored last summer. My DH was a tutor when he was in college. Contact your local college/university's Dept. of Education and see if they can direct you to a tutor. Often college students have to log in so many hours working 1:1 with a student trying a specific intervention. If I were you, I'd contact an instructor/professor in the math department at your local college of ed for a referral or check at your child's school.

 

[bhaluvindisney]

As a teacher I absolutely HATE teaching regrouping. The way we learned it was borrowing or carrying. Regrouping is such a difficult way to teach kids that you are taking 1 group of 10 away but giving 10 the next one by adding a 1 in front of it. I teach like this


674
-459

I taught my kids if I have 4 pieces of gum and you want 9 can I give you 9? No so we need to go next door and borrow from that neighbor. So you borrow from the 7 and it becomes a what?? 6 that's right. Then you add a 1 in front of the 4 and it now makes what? Add a 1 to the front of the 4 and it's now 14. Now what is 14 take away 9??? 5 you're right and then we went on from there.

For addition I teach it like this

67
+59

so what is 9 plus 7??? 16? Yes so write the 1 over the 6 and the 6 under the 9. That gives them a sort of visual with 16 it's just that the 1 isn't next to the 6. Then I teach them to add 6+1+5 and since there are no more neighbors to give to the whole number gets written down. So 12 gets written down because we don't have any other neighbors. It's a hard concept and sometimes the only way to get it to click is to keep doing problem after problem after problem until it clicks finally and it eventually will. You may have to deal with tears and frustration but eventually it will click and she'll just "get it".

I HATE regrouping and the theory behind it. You can do regrouping with her with manipulatives like blocks or candy it's just harder to teach it that way and the end result is the same as teaching her borrowing and carrying.

Hang in there mom. She'll eventually get it and it will click.....you just might have to deal with the tears and frustration until she does. I'd really talk to the teacher or the team or the teacher and principal to figure out how to best help her. I know it's hard to deal with *I'm a single mom too so I get it* but eventually she'll understand. And when she does.....you'll be so excited!

I hope some of this helps. I haven't checked it out much yet but a few of my team swear by www.funbrain.com as it has all sorts of subjects by grade. You might take a look there as well.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

my school does studyisland too but your school has to sign up for a subscription for it. It is actually a test prep site.

www.studyisland.com can be purchased online by anyone. It costs around $50. I wouldn't use study island for a second grader.

For word problems, Singapore math is great! There are a lot of websites that you can google. AL teachers here use this method with their students. It shows students how to break down a word problem. It is a shame that all of our teachers haven't been trained in Singapore math.

aaamath.com is another great site.

 

[disneybam]

Another good site for practicing math concepts is:

http://aaamath.com/

 

[soupy11]

Check out www.kijiji.com or www.craigslist.com like others have said. A local college or high school student might be working privately for cash. I used a math tutor for myself and paid about $14 per hour.

 

[JimmyPicker]

As a teacher I absolutely HATE teaching regrouping. The way we learned it was borrowing or carrying. Regrouping is such a difficult way to teach kids that you are taking 1 group of 10 away but giving 10 the next one by adding a 1 in front of it. I teach like this


674
-459

I taught my kids if I have 4 pieces of gum and you want 9 can I give you 9? No so we need to go next door and borrow from that neighbor. So you borrow from the 7 and it becomes a what?? 6 that's right. Then you add a 1 in front of the 4 and it now makes what? Add a 1 to the front of the 4 and it's now 14. Now what is 14 take away 9??? 5 you're right and then we went on from there.

For addition I teach it like this

67
+59

so what is 9 plus 7??? 16? Yes so write the 1 over the 6 and the 6 under the 9. That gives them a sort of visual with 16 it's just that the 1 isn't next to the 6. Then I teach them to add 6+1+5 and since there are no more neighbors to give to the whole number gets written down. So 12 gets written down because we don't have any other neighbors. It's a hard concept and sometimes the only way to get it to click is to keep doing problem after problem after problem until it clicks finally and it eventually will. You may have to deal with tears and frustration but eventually it will click and she'll just "get it".

I HATE regrouping and the theory behind it. You can do regrouping with her with manipulatives like blocks or candy it's just harder to teach it that way and the end result is the same as teaching her borrowing and carrying.

Hang in there mom. She'll eventually get it and it will click.....you just might have to deal with the tears and frustration until she does. I'd really talk to the teacher or the team or the teacher and principal to figure out how to best help her. I know it's hard to deal with *I'm a single mom too so I get it* but eventually she'll understand. And when she does.....you'll be so excited!

I hope some of this helps. I haven't checked it out much yet but a few of my team swear by www.funbrain.com as it has all sorts of subjects by grade. You might take a look there as well.

My sons school uses funbrain also.

I'm with you on this, some of the ways they teach this new math just makes it more difficult for kids, because it just seems like there are extra steps or something.

My son started struggling with math a couple of years ago, and it was because of the new math. I just sat down with him, broke it down, did it old school, explained why I was doing what I was doing.

So, he then knew the "new" way and the "old" way, and something just clicked in him, and he got it.

Math is now his best subject. One thing with math, the rules never change. 1 + 1 is always, always, always 2. So once you know the rules, you should be ok.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

As a teacher I absolutely HATE teaching regrouping. The way we learned it was borrowing or carrying. Regrouping is such a difficult way to teach kids that you are taking 1 group of 10 away but giving 10 the next one by adding a 1 in front of it. I teach like this


674
-459

I taught my kids if I have 4 pieces of gum and you want 9 can I give you 9? No so we need to go next door and borrow from that neighbor. So you borrow from the 7 and it becomes a what?? 6 that's right. Then you add a 1 in front of the 4 and it now makes what? Add a 1 to the front of the 4 and it's now 14. Now what is 14 take away 9??? 5 you're right and then we went on from there.

For addition I teach it like this

67
+59

so what is 9 plus 7??? 16? Yes so write the 1 over the 6 and the 6 under the 9. That gives them a sort of visual with 16 it's just that the 1 isn't next to the 6. Then I teach them to add 6+1+5 and since there are no more neighbors to give to the whole number gets written down. So 12 gets written down because we don't have any other neighbors. It's a hard concept and sometimes the only way to get it to click is to keep doing problem after problem after problem until it clicks finally and it eventually will. You may have to deal with tears and frustration but eventually it will click and she'll just "get it".

I HATE regrouping and the theory behind it. You can do regrouping with her with manipulatives like blocks or candy it's just harder to teach it that way and the end result is the same as teaching her borrowing and carrying.

Hang in there mom. She'll eventually get it and it will click.....you just might have to deal with the tears and frustration until she does. I'd really talk to the teacher or the team or the teacher and principal to figure out how to best help her. I know it's hard to deal with *I'm a single mom too so I get it* but eventually she'll understand. And when she does.....you'll be so excited!

I hope some of this helps. I haven't checked it out much yet but a few of my team swear by www.funbrain.com as it has all sorts of subjects by grade. You might take a look there as well.

Thanks for the tips! I think too we need to review our basic fact to build up her foundation!

The only thing being a single mom means to my dd is that I can't be two people! Also I do not have the advantage of two possible incomes inorder to be able to afford one of those programs. But I think with my research and the schools help we will weather this storm as well.

My sons school uses funbrain also.

I'm with you on this, some of the ways they teach this new math just makes it more difficult for kids, because it just seems like there are extra steps or something.

My son started struggling with math a couple of years ago, and it was because of the new math. I just sat down with him, broke it down, did it old school, explained why I was doing what I was doing.

So, he then knew the "new" way and the "old" way, and something just clicked in him, and he got it.

Math is now his best subject. One thing with math, the rules never change. 1 + 1 is always, always, always 2. So once you know the rules, you should be ok.

It is good to know that others have been in this situation and come through a OK!