Parents as Partners in Teaching Mathematics

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Nina SmithNina Smith

Math Teacher grades 3-5 and Math Specialist grade K-8
Marcy Open School, Minneapolis Public Schools
MCTM Region 5 Director

Recently I met with a very frustrated parent. What was the source of her frustration? She simply wanted to help her child with math homework. This seems like it should be a simple task, but for many parents it has become a nightmare. In this particular instance, the student was stuck. When the parent attempted to show her daughter how to do the math the way mom had learned it “back in the day,” her daughter responded with “That’s not the way we are supposed to solve the problem.” Both of them were stuck, exasperated and angry. Parents do not understand the drawbacks to teaching their children mathematics the way they learned it. After all, it worked for them, didn’t it?

By attempting to change the culture of teaching mathematics from memorization to teaching for understanding, we have left the parents out of the loop. Here are 4 ways to help build parents as partners in teaching.

  1. Answer the question, “Why can’t we just teach students the way we learned?”

“Data from the 13 million students who took PISA tests showed that the lowest achieving students worldwide were those who used a memorization strategy – those who thought of math as a set of methods to remember and who approached math by trying to memorize steps. The highest achieving students were those who thought of math as a set of connected, big ideas.” (Jo Boaler-see article below)

As educators it is our mission to teach mathematics as a sense-making discipline. Here is an article to help you have this conversation with parents:

http://hechingerreport.org/memorizers-are-the-lowest-achievers-and-other-common-core-math-surprises/

  1. Be clear with both students and parents around your homework expectations and routines. When it comes to homework I have a few explicit rules.
  • Students are only to work for 20 minutes a night. This is to ensure my students do not get too frustrated or overloaded. It also becomes a formative assessment for me. I know instantly who grasped the material from the day before and who is still building understanding.
  • Students are not allowed to write the dreaded letters IDK. They are expected to ask a question if they are stuck. In order for this to be successful I must provide examples and teach students how to ask a questions.
  • Teachers need to explain to the parents their role in homework. I communicate with parents the goal of homework is to review what was practiced in class that day and questioning can be their best tool to support their child at home.
  1. Ask parents to support their child’s learning by helping the child figure out as much as they can for themselves.

Helping children talk through their thinking is the best way to support them to construct “Ask questions that guide, without telling what to do. Good questions and good listening will help children make sense of mathematics, build self-confidence, and encourage mathematical thinking and communication. A good question can help a student clarify a problem and support different ways of thinking about it. You do not need to know how to do the problem to support your child’s learning.” (Connected Mathematics Project) Here are some websites to give parents an idea of what questions to ask:

  1. Provide parents with resources for activities and games they can play at home with their child that reinforce math concepts.

There are many fun math-related board games like Q-bitz, Yahtzee, Set and Tenzi. There are also many websites with activities that parents can use in the car, while doing dishes or just part of everyday dinner conservations that keep math alive. Here are some of my favorites: