Monday, September 30, 2013

Math Troubles

Reading the Wall Street Journal on September 25, 2013, I came across an article written by Sue Shellenbarger called, "Pop Quiz: Why Are Fractions Key to Future Math Success?"  She found that students seem to do fine with math until they are in fourth grade and meet fractions.

Some students who were having troubles with math received tutoring and then began to understand fractions. This is a sad statistic "A child's knowledge of fractions in fifth grade predicts performance in high-school math classes..."

Dr. Bob Stiegler, a professor of cognitive psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, is quoted, "If you don't understand fractions, it's literally impossible for you to understand algebra, geometry, physics, statistics, chemistry..."

So if your child is having troubles in math in 4th or 5th grade, tutoring now might save options for math classes in the future.

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