When the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to abruptly switch to distance learning, many parents found themselves taking on a teaching role鈥攊ncluding helping their children with math, a subject many adults face with dread.
Even grownups who were math whizzes when they were in school may find themselves perplexed by modern math curricula, which often downplay the importance of pure number crunching in favor of deeper conceptual understanding.
But in this time of disrupted traditional instruction, it鈥檚 more important than ever for parents and teachers to work together to support their children鈥檚 math learning.
Such collaboration doesn鈥檛 require turning parents into math experts, classroom teachers say. Some useful steps families can take:
- Staying in touch with the teacher (and nudging older students to seek help when it鈥檚 offered).
- Encouraging children to talk through their math assignments as a check on understanding.
- Embracing informal math thinking, such as through games that focus on counting or patterns.
Creating 鈥楶ositive Math Identities鈥�
Most important, educators say, is keeping in mind that we are in a uniquely stressful time for families and for educators. According to a survey of school district leaders conducted by the EdWeek Research Center, 88 percent of district leaders say their schools are engaged in distance learning at least part of the time鈥攁nd that鈥檚 likely to rise as coronavirus cases surge this winter. Many families are still struggling to make remote instruction work, particularly if they don鈥檛 have access to computers, the internet, or adults in the home who can supervise distance learning.
That means the children who are showing up for remote learning have varying levels of support. If it takes a little longer for a lesson to sink in under such challenging circumstances, that鈥檚 OK, too.
鈥淚 cannot have the same expectations for all my kids and every family because it鈥檚 just not fair,鈥� said Marian Dingle, an elementary teacher in DeKalb County, Ga., who has focused her career on math instruction and equity. 鈥淚s math instruction really important, or is it just survival?鈥�
In this time of disrupted education, it鈥檚 even more important for teachers and parents to work together to support students. But when it comes to math, too many parents worry鈥攎any say unnecessarily鈥攖hat their skills aren鈥檛 up to par. Educators offered several suggestions for ways that teachers can build a strong partnership with families.
- Keep the lines of communication open. Both parents and teachers should be encouraged to talk with one another, not just about subjects that may need work, but on skills that the student is doing well.
- Prompt parents to talk to their children about math. Modern-day math instruction currently prioritizes conceptual understanding of math, rather than just grinding through pages of calculations. If parents don鈥檛 understand the math themselves, they can ask their child to explain to them what they are learning.
- Do the work. Many students and families are still struggling to access distance learning, and educators need to understand that. But if possible, students need to attend class and take advantage of any extra learning opportunities that are available to them.
- Embrace the struggle. Parents may wish to jump in to help their child who is having problems with an assignment, but it鈥檚 normal for students to struggle at first with new concepts.
- Use technology where it makes sense. Many schools use math platforms that offer extra practice opportunities for students. Some teachers are also encouraging students to upload real-world assignments involving math. Technology tools can make math more engaging.
- Allow 鈥渟pace and grace.鈥� These are extraordinarily challenging times, for children, parents, and teachers, and adding one more project on families can be overwhelming. Games, household activities, puzzles, and other fun activities can help support math learning as well without adding another burden to stressed families.
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Trena Wilkerson, a professor of math education at Baylor University and the president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, said, 鈥淲e need to give parents and students and families a little space and grace.鈥� Where parents can lend 鈥渃ritical鈥� support is in helping their children develop a positive math identity, meaning they believe they are capable of success in the subject, she said.
But for many parents, that鈥檚 a challenging task.
Jen Kulak, a mother in suburban Philadelphia, is trying to keep the importance of encouragement in mind. On an average remote learning day, Kulak鈥檚 daughter Maureen whips through her 5th grade math lessons. But when Kulak slows her daughter down and asks her to walk through each problem, she spots gaps in her child鈥檚 math knowledge that distance learning has failed to fill. For example, her daughter has computational skills鈥攂ut struggles to figure out how to use those skills to solve word problems, particularly if they involve multiple steps.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to look into getting a tutor because there鈥檚 just some fundamental stuff she鈥檚 not getting,鈥� said Kulak, whose daughter attends school in the North Penn district. And there doesn鈥檛 seem to be much time spent on review; the class just moves on to the next set of assignments.
鈥淭he hard part is, I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 the teaching methods, if it鈥檚 remote [learning], if it鈥檚 the kid, if it鈥檚 everything together,鈥� Kulak said.
Still, she said, 鈥淚 try not to be too hard on myself, and I鈥檓 trying not to be too hard on Maureen.鈥�
Jules Devito, who lives in Riverhead, N.Y., remembers her own struggles with math in school when she works with her son Callum, a 2nd grader in the Riverhead Central district. Math instruction through distance learning is fairly brief, she said, and the students don鈥檛 always have enough time to get their questions answered.
鈥淲hen I sit down to help him, all of a sudden, he can鈥檛 count. I say, 鈥榊ou know you literally just did it with your teacher鈥攈ow can you not know what 4 plus 5 is?鈥� 鈥�
Like Kulak, Devito said she鈥檚 not sure whether there鈥檚 truly a gap in knowledge or if her son might just be a little impatient doing extra work with her when he鈥檇 rather be playing.
Devito鈥檚 main concern is that she doesn鈥檛 want her child to end this year hating the subject.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 even want to ask the school and the teachers more because there鈥檚 so much on them already. They鈥檙e already so overworked and confused like everyone else,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just one year, it鈥檚 only 2nd grade. He鈥檒l catch up, we just have to make it through this year.鈥�
Technology as a Tool
While these parents offer a mixed view of remote math instruction, they鈥檙e both doing one essential activity: encouraging their children to do the work. Some early research suggests that can make a difference in children鈥檚 math progress during these unusual times.
, developed by economists at Harvard and Brown universities, has been tracking the impact of the pandemic on multiple facets of American life. To get a glimpse of school impact, they鈥檝e used anonymized data collected from Zearn, a K-5 math curriculum that offers both in-person and online learning. Zearn serves 1 in 4 elementary students around the country.
Soon after the pandemic started, there was a dramatic shift in who was using the platform: Usage and progress among children in schools located in low-income areas plummeted, while children in higher-income areas ramped up their participation and progress in the platform. That gap has now closed somewhat; there鈥檚 only a 10-percentage-point difference in usage among children in high and low-income areas.
But even when the gap was the largest, some schools in low-income areas bucked the trend, said Shalinee Sharma, Zearn鈥檚 founder and chief executive officer. She believes one factor was the strength of parent outreach in those districts. Some districts in low-income areas managed to get a message to parents that they should focus on getting their children on the platform regularly.
Mastery Schools, a network of charter schools serving 14,000 students in Philadelphia and Camden, N.J., was one of the systems that managed to maintain math participation in the spring. While there was a noticeable dip in students logging on during the first week of closures in March, the system quickly recovered to its previous levels of usage in the following weeks. Nationally, other schools serving similarly low-income areas saw a dip in usage that stayed low.
Some of Mastery鈥檚 outreach was simply about making sure parents had one point of contact to get questions answered about their child鈥檚 education in general, not just math, said Ashley Baldwin, the network鈥檚 deputy chief of science, technology, engineering and math. 鈥淭he communication was already there,鈥� she said.
And the network was also able to push out an important message to parents: Keep your child actively involved in the math platform. 鈥淚f nothing else, do this,鈥� said Katelyn McGrath, the director of elementary mathematics for Mastery.
Sharma believes that more districts are seeing the value of focused parent outreach. Districts such as West Baton Rouge in Louisiana are pointing parents directly to Zearn resources online. Educators from Hartford, Conn., schools have made home visits to encourage use of platforms such as Zearn and iReady.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 make people become math teachers. What a parent can do is say, 鈥楽weetie, did you log in and get a badge on Zearn?鈥欌�� Sharma said. (A badge signifies a completed set of practice problems.)
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what technology enables. A parent can monitor progress, but not get into, 鈥榠s the math right or wrong?鈥� That鈥檚 what we can let a computer do.鈥�
Technology, in the form of short video clips, can also be used by parents to share examples of how well their children understand a lesson. 鈥淚 spent some time talking with families about how they could be partners with me in documenting what kids are doing and trying,鈥� said Kateri Thunder, a prekindergarten teacher and math specialist at Charlottesville, Va., schools. She鈥檚 talked with families before about sharing their child鈥檚 progress, but with the explicit encouragement to parents to create short videos of their child at work, 鈥渟omehow that communication was different this time, and successful for us.鈥�
Allow Students to Struggle
Finally, parents can also allow their children to struggle a little bit, resisting the urge to come to the rescue, said Kurt Salisbury, the coordinator of secondary mathematics for Midway ISD in Waco, Texas.
鈥淲e want them to develop their problem-solving skills. That鈥檚 a skill that鈥檚 transferable,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you solve the problem for them, you鈥檝e hurt their long-term growth as a mathematical thinker. We really want students to be thinking about mathematical ideas, not just doing computational stuff.鈥� And that鈥檚 a balancing act for teachers as well.
Joanna Stevens, a high school math teacher in Garrard County, Ky., borrowed an idea from another teacher: At the beginning of the school year, she asked students to learn a new skill, like a card trick or a new dance.
Then she asked the students to describe how they taught themselves that skill. Most talked about how they had to watch videos more than once, practice multiple times, or even look for other resources to help them. The point, Stevens said, is that learning new math skills will take the same effort; families can help reinforce that point to their children.
鈥淚鈥檝e tried to relate that to parents. They might have to watch the lesson twice. They might have to watch a Khan Academy video. We have to focus on the persevering,鈥� she said.
And, like NCTM鈥檚 Wilkerson, she said that this year requires a lot of grace, and a lot of communication.
鈥淚 know it鈥檚 hard, it鈥檚 stressful, and it鈥檚 not fair. We just have to try,鈥� Stevens said.
