With summer vacation coming to an end and another new school year on the horizon, every student is presented with a fresh opportunity to begin from zero and set the stage for a successful year in math class. Math is a subject that causes a lot of students a great deal of stress, but by following the right steps from day one, students will be able to look back on this school year as the year they became math class masters.
Build Your Blueprint for Success
Before we can succeed in math class, we need to define what success in math class will look like. The truth is that this could look very different depending on the student. Some students want to score as high as possible on every test, some students are trying to beat their previous best, and others are trying to pass the test.
Each of these definitions of success is valid, and each is achievable with the proper approach to studying. When choosing your goals for the academic year, it’s important to analyze how the last couple of semesters have gone, and only then decide what your hopes for the next few semesters will be. Be ambitious, but be realistic. Setting up achievable, well-defined goals will massively help you stay on track throughout the year.
Within these overarching goals, you may wish to set smaller goals along the way. Maybe you want to improve your problem-solving skills, participate in your first competition, or wrap your end around one particularly tricky concept. Smaller goals can be hit faster, and this helps with motivation, so don’t be afraid to aim for more than one goal at a time.
Planning Your Progression Pathways
Planning is paramount at the start of the school year. A structured study schedule is one of the best ways to start the semester right and maintain dedication during the year. To excel in math class, you will need to dedicate several study slots each week to revise and practice math.
Don’t forget that there is more to homework than simply answering the questions you’ve been assigned. You need to be able to answer the questions without needing notes in your tests, so the sooner you can do that the better. Allocate time each week to review class notes, practice problems, and look ahead to new lessons in advance.
Consistency is key to a schedule and your math learning will become easier and easier the longer you dedicate yourself to a more comprehensive study schedule. The best math students learn from several different education streams, including individual tutoring sessions, and participate in math competitions.
Education Sources & Resources
Classroom learning is crucial for children, not just academically, but socially and culturally. What’s equally important – and often overlooked – is that children explore resources beyond their textbooks. In today’s digital world, education has become more expansive, more diverse, and more accessible than ever before.
Online platforms for math learning are becoming more and more popular, and it’s easy to see why. Math is one of the few subjects that children all over the world learn throughout their education journey. The best math platforms have experienced teachers teaching the core subject matter in fun and captivating ways.
While the standout service offered by platforms is usually one-to-one tutoring sessions to plug any learning gaps in a student’s knowledge and prepare them to drive ahead and excel in math class, there are a host of additional services that can be key to opening a child’s mind and expanding their interest in and understanding of math.
Put Math Skills to the Test
One of the best activities that has been proven to pique students’ interest in math is participating in math competitions. This introduces an exciting new aspect of math that students have likely never experienced before. As well as engaging their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, math competitions challenge students to think creatively in a subject that’s often criticized for being taught in a boring manner.
There are numerous local, regional, national, and international math competitions for kids throughout the year. Schools may have limited information on these competitions, but there are other options if kids are serious about competing. Some math tutoring centers offer tailored lessons to prepare for math competitions, running through questions that are specifically chosen to reflect the kinds of problems that competitors will face on the day of the competition.
At OMC
The Online Math Center is an internationally-renowned online math tutoring center that is the perfect place for students that want to start the year strongly. As well as math individual lessons to plug knowledge gaps and preparation classes for math competitions, we offer prep classes for the Math SAT.
No matter your goals for the upcoming school year, reach your math potential by contacting OMC today.
