Is Maths homework night a nightmare night?

If Maths homework night is a nightmare night for you or your child, it may not mean that your child has an underlying difficulty with Maths. It may be a sign of a weak working memory. Our working memory is where we hold information long enough to work on it. We need to remember a question long enough to answer it. We also need to remember where we are up to in solving a problem so that we can move on to the next step. If your child rushes through her Maths homework, without writing down her workings, it may be that she is trying to get to the answer before she forgets the question. If she is doing this, I recommend that you encourage her to have a separate column, next to her 'official' workings for jottings. This is where she can jot down the sum she needs to do for the step she is on. See an example below with official workings in blue and jottings in green:

Come back tomorrow for another tip on how to turn Maths homework night from a nightmare night to a night of chilled out satisfaction.