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It’s hard to imagine that we’ve struggled with math for over 320 centuries. But new research says we’ve been dealing with numbers, equations, and formulas for that long.  Recently discovered markings on animal bones show that humans have been counting, subtracting, and multiplying things since the very beginning.

This ancient history of math has been happening since around 30,000 BC. So why, after all this time and effort, do 6 out of 10 kids still struggle with math?

The answer to the question, obviously, isn’t that simple. But we’ll do our best to break it down and give you an idea. If you have a child seemingly struggling with math, here’s everything you need to know.

Why So Many Children Struggle With Math?

The fact that 60% of kids don’t work hard to acquire even basic math skills isn’t the most worrying thing. It’s the fact that nearly all of the kids who fall behind early on won’t catch up.

Nearly a quarter of Americans are functionally “innumerate.” Never heard of the word before? Well, just like the word “illiterate” describes a lack of writing and reading skills, “innumerate” means the inability to comprehend basic math concepts.

So, why can’t so many children excel in math? Is there something preventing them? New research has pinned down three main reasons:

1. No Building Blocks – Many kids who struggle with math haven’t been given the necessary building blocks at an early age. If a child isn’t exposed to basic concepts from the get-go, they may never be able to understand more advanced math.
2. Math Anxiety – This problem is more serious than you might think. Studies have shown that 93% of US citizens suffer from math anxiety. The fear of numbers and equations makes kids less willing to learn and damages their self-esteem.
3. Learning Disabilities – Dyscalculia is a learning disability that affects how children understand numbers and calculations. It makes it difficult for them to concentrate and comprehend math problems, leading to a complete lack of interest in the subject.

5 Signs Your Child Has Math Problems

It’s easy to miss when your child is having difficulty with math. The causes we outlined above are broad, so it’s better to look for more specific signs so your child can find success in their math education.

Here are five indicators that your child has math problems:

1.   High Grades Except for Math

Let’s start with the most obvious signs first. Logically, if your child has math problems, their score in the subject will be lower than average. But it’s also likely that they will do well in other subjects.

So the next time your child brings home a report, check each subject thoroughly and talk to the teacher if you see any discrepancies.

2.   They Talk Negatively About It

Another obvious sign of math problems is when your child talks negatively about math. They may express frustration or disappointment every time the subject comes up.

It’s also common for children to make comments about how they “hate” a certain subject or will “never understand it.”

3.   Having Difficulties With Time Management

The average child has 6 hours of leisure time each day. If they have trouble planning time, adhering to schedules, or judging time increments, there’s a chance they can’t comprehend complex math problems.

Now, this particular sign can be hard to spot because it’s so subtle. But if your child is always taking longer than expected to complete homework, that could indicate something else.

4.   Mental Math Problems

Seeing your child count on their fingers may be fun at a really early age. However, if the habit continues into the upper elementary levels, it might be time for some intervention.

The ability to quickly calculate math equations in their head is a key element of success in the subject. If the child is looking at their hand and doing small finger moves as they count, it could mean their math skills need to be at the expected level.

5.   Difficulty Paying Attention

We live in the age of short attention spans. For years, scientists have claimed that golden fish now have longer spans than most humans. While we can’t back that claim 100%, there’s no denying that many children have difficulty concentrating in school.

That said, if your child has trouble sitting still during math lessons or quickly loses interest in the topic, they may have difficulties understanding it.

5 Ways to Help Your Child Deal With Math Problems

So, as a parent, what can you do to help your child with math? Now that we’ve established the problem let’s look at five solutions to deal with it.

1.   Praise the Effort, Not the Smarts

Who doesn’t like a pat on the back? Praising your child for their hard work and perseverance will help boost their confidence. But you need to commend them for doing and not being something.

Praising their natural intelligence and “genius” won’t have the same effect. A 2007 study revealed that students who get praise for being smart often fail to put in any effort on harder tests and give up easier than their peers.

2.   Effects of Math on Everyday Life

Math is everywhere! From running errands to following a recipe, your child will use math daily. Encouraging them to see the importance of math in the real world could help build their confidence and understanding of the subject.

Of course, all of this depends on the age. Explaining the statistics and equations involved in a stock market may be useful if you have an older child.

1. Practice With the Child Daily

This may seem a no-brainer, but it’s worth mentioning. It’s important to practice math with your child every day. As the developmental psychologist, and best-selling author, Rebecca Fraser-Thrill explains, parental involvement:

• Nurtures academic achievements;
• Helps develop social skills;
• Increases self-esteem.

That’s why you should always set aside a few daily hours to help your child practice math.

4.   Acknowledge Failures

No one likes failure, but it’s an inevitable part of life and sometimes results in failing in school. The only way to help your child deal with it and succeed is by acknowledging their shortcomings and helping them learn how to use failure as an opportunity for growth.

It’s also important to remember that it takes time to learn any new skill. With patience and encouragement, your child will eventually master math.

5.   Hire a Professional to Help

If your child still has difficulty grasping the concepts, you can hire a professional to help with the basic lessons and homework. And you can find math help at levels.

As a matter of fact, some services can help with math homework, even if you’re a college student. So no matter how old your child is, there are professional services that can help them deal with math.

The Proactive Approach is the Only Approach

So, what have we learned? Math is an essential part of life, and it’s important that your child learn how to deal with it. The only way to do this is to be proactive and take the necessary steps to help them understand and develop their skills.

Praise their efforts, show them how math is used daily, practice with them, acknowledge their failures, and hire a professional to help if necessary.

This proactive approach is the only way to ensure your child succeeds and develops a strong understanding of math.

Why does a child need to be creative, conditions for discovering creative potential, how to introduce a child to creativity, identifying abilities by age, effective games and ideas for discovering creative abilities.  According to psychologists, creativity is useful at any age.

That being said, it is easier to develop the creative abilities of a child than in adulthood. So, let’s explore the features of the development of creative abilities in children of primary preschool age.

Why is creativity needed at all?

Creativity and creativity are synonymous. According to psychologists, there are several reasons to include creativity in a child’s life and develop this skill. It:

• Benefits for the psyche – such therapy calms, helps to get rid of stress, negative emotions, aggression.
• Help with learning – therapy unloads the brain, develops empathy. Having calmed down, a person can find a way out of a difficult situation, make the right decision.
• Way of self-expression. With the help of creativity, the world is known, and a person knows himself. In this area, you can experiment without fear that someone will misunderstand you or judge you.

Conditions for the development of creative abilities

In order for creative skills to develop successfully, several conditions must be met:

1. Classes in the physical development of the child in a timely manner and at the right age.
2. Inclusion of creative activities at a younger age.
3. Creating an environment conducive to the development of creative abilities – an emotionally calm microclimate in the family and the team, creating an atmosphere for creative search.
4. Support from parents.
5. Classes are only in the form of a game. Children’s psyche is arranged in such a way that at a younger age information is perceived and remembered only through the game. There is no point in having boring classes.
6. Continuous development – the use of various methods. Every achievement should be praised.
7. Classes should be carried out regularly and systematically. Even if the child is sick and misses kindergarten or a circle, you need to continue to study at home.
8. Help from adults, timely and dosed.
9. Patience for the creative “torments” of the child – if the baby is sitting on a project for a long time, there is no need to push him.
10. Stimulating the child, with possible failures, the baby does not need to be scolded, but you need to support and praise.
11. Young children are willingly involved in the creative process because of their curiosity, desire to know the world and interest in themselves.

How to introduce a child to creativity

Here are some general tips that parents can heed if they want to develop their child’s creativity:

It is important to find a hobby that interests you. There are many facets in creativity that can be successfully developed – modeling, collages, drawing, jewelry, needlework, etc. The task of parents is to direct creativity in the right direction. Some children may already have a strong passion to express themselves creatively they will need an outlet to explore those passions.

Creativity should be gradually introduced into the life of the child. Perhaps the child will like some direction, and he will want to repeat something. Therefore, it is worth visiting exhibitions, master classes in various areas, museums, expositions and more.

You can not criticize the work of the child. If something doesn’t work out for the baby, you don’t need to “cut his wings”. If he wants to create, let him create.

Every parent should understand that there are no incapable and uncreative children. Every child has some talent, you need to find and develop it. The wrong approach on the part of parents, school, society can “kill” a child’s creativity and desire to create.

Ideas for developing creativity

Creative skills and creativity need to be developed. Only a small percentage of children from a young age have the ability to be creative and creative. Therefore, the task of parents is to independently deal with the child before sending him to some circles. A few ideas:

1. Drawing. From a young age, you can give children pencils, paints, paper, craft glitter. Children are very easily drawn into drawing, because the result they get surprises them. From the age of 3-4, drawing becomes meaningful, the child can already express his thoughts through drawing.
2. Sculpting, in addition to creative skills and creativity, also develops fine motor skills of the hands, and also trains memory and visual perception. The result obtained in the craft encourages children to experiment.
3. Application. The essence of the lesson is to cut out the figures and stick them on paper. Suitable for developing a sense of color, shape, rhythm, symmetry. Along with this, children learn the planned organization of work.
4. Unconventional drawing. Older children are no longer interested in drawing just with pencils and paints. They choose non-traditional drawing methods – paraffin candles, cotton buds, combs, toothbrushes. Such activities contribute to the removal of children’s fears, develop self-confidence, and help to achieve inner harmony.
5. Music, reading and literary creativity. These disciplines overlap. The older the child, the more serious musical and literary works he should study. The singing is also very interesting.
6. Theatrical activity. Children are very interested in transforming into various characters. But the older the child gets, the more difficult it is for him. Therefore, the optimal age for visiting the theater circle is 3-4 years. Then it is more difficult to liberate the child.

Creative skills can be developed at any age. The main thing is to choose the right classes and exercises.

At what age should you consider allowing your child to join social media? Most social media platforms require children to be at least 13 to create an account. Your child may not be ready at 13, but that’s OK. Here are some things you should consider to determine your child’s readiness to have social media accounts.

Risks of Joining Social Media

Many risks come with having social media that can make parents rightfully weary. Some digital predators can take advantage of your child’s innocence. If your child’s account isn’t set to private, they can gain suspicious followers who may leave inappropriate comments or send messages to your child.

This is dangerous for many reasons, and you should educate and warn your child of all the dangers they might face when they have an account on social media. You can never completely eliminate a photo from the internet once it’s posted. Ensure your child knows how pictures and posts can come back to haunt them in the future, like when applying to jobs or colleges. Online predators are everywhere, so educate your child on how to identify and block exploiters and what not to post on their socials.

Social media can also negatively affect your child’s mental health. Regardless of how old your child is, limit their screen time and monitor how it’s impacting their emotional development. Too much social interaction online can make children feel more isolated and alone, leading them to feel depressed and socially anxious.

Cyberbullying is also a prevalent and genuine concern for parents. Your child may even develop unrealistic expectations of body image from the things they see on social media.

Prepare Yourself and Your Child

There are a few things you can do to prepare yourself and your child for when they are ready to have social media accounts. If you think your child is too young now, ensure they understand why they aren’t ready. Discuss an age limit after which they’ll be ready, and give them something to look forward to so they don’t go behind your back.

Discuss the risks of social media and help them understand the consequences of dangerous behavior. Set boundaries and rules for your child’s online presence. Ensure you know how to use the platform they want to access so you can show them the ropes. Keep all location features turned off and show them how to set their profile to private. You can set parental controls on most platforms to supervise your child’s account until they are older.

This might be an excellent way to compromise and give your child the opportunity to show you they can be responsible online. Set a good example on your own profile, too, and ensure your child knows that you trust them and are monitoring them for their protection, not to invade their privacy.

You may also want to evaluate your own technology habits. Many adults struggle with having a healthy relationship with technology. According to one study, 76% of Americans said they check their email and messages while on vacation – a time when they should be focused on making memories with their families.

When kids see their parents constantly checking their phones, it can set the wrong example and lead them to pick up the same habits. If you can’t go an hour without checking your social media accounts, how can you expect your kids to stay off them?

How to Gauge the Appropriate Age

What age is appropriate for kids to join social media? Although many platforms have a baseline age to create an account, every child’s journey is different. There are many risks to consider, but your personal preference as a parent is the deciding factor. If you’re curious whether your child is ready to join social media, consider taking these factors into account.

Is your child open and honest with you? Will they share information and come to you for help with issues they might experience online? If you have open lines of communication, you will be more likely to trust them with an online presence. Do they come to you with other problems they face? Are they respectful and do they follow other rules and guidelines you have set in your household?

What is your child’s perception of body image? Do they have a healthy relationship with their body? Does your child have an understanding of cause and effect? Do they display abstract thinking that can help them consider the consequences of their actions? If you and your child have open lines of communication, have a healthy body image, and are good at following rules and guidelines, it might be time to let them create an account if you’re comfortable with it.

Joining Social Media

Parenting comes with some hard decisions – and deciding whether your child is ready to join social media is one of them. If you believe your child is old enough and mature enough to trust them with an online presence, discuss the risks and prepare them the best you can. You can learn and grow while finding ways to encourage your child’s social life without social media. If it doesn’t work out, you can always revoke their right to have an account until they’re a little older and wiser.

Author bio:
Cora Gold is the Editor-in-Chief of women’s lifestyle magazine, Revivalist. She strives to live a happy and healthy life with her family by her side.

Follow Cora on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Teachers are underpaid — a fact that many of them face when they set out into this career. The lack of funding and value placed on their profession are the glaring reasons why educators continue to grapple with the measly pay they get every year.

But even if they are not properly compensated for the work that they do, many teachers still choose to stay in their field simply because they love teaching. This passion and dedication are also what drive them to be creative to make more money and save it for a rainy day.

If you’re a teacher who wants to alleviate the financial burden that comes with this profession, consider these seven ways to do just that.

Online or In-person Tutoring

The simplest way for teachers to make extra money is to tutor. It would be easy for educators to venture into one-on-one tutoring since it involves the same skill set you use for classroom teaching. The only difference is that tutoring focuses on one student and doesn’t follow a strict curriculum.

Tutoring is also less demanding since you only have to meet an hourly minimum and allows you to work whenever you can, especially when it comes to online teaching jobs.  What’s more, this side job can help you improve your teaching skills based on the experiences and interactions that you will encounter.

Write a Reference Material Online

Want to share your knowledge about a subject you’re teaching with other educators or students? Write a book about it! Specifically, an eBook or a publication made in digital form.

This sideline allows you to hit two birds with one stone: helping other people learn while increasing your income. The greatest advantage of writing an education or reference material in eBook form is that you don’t have to worry about finding a publicist for it.

There are a variety of online platforms that allow you to upload and sell your work on your own and at the price you want, with some deductions going to the platform.

The difficult part of this venture is the writing process, which could take weeks or months to finish, and the marketing phase. Still, releasing reference material online is a good way to make passive income since the reference eBook will likely sell itself once more people come across it.

Be A Freelancer

Like tutoring, freelancing also offers the benefit of having a second source of income and allowing you to work whenever you can. The difference is that being a freelancer lets you do other things aside from teaching.

If you’re good at writing, then you can take up the side hustle of producing articles and blogs. Your video and photo editing abilities could also come in handy in this field since a lot of companies and individuals are looking for creatives that have these skills.

Turning your creative hobbies into side jobs allows you to improve your non-teaching craft while also helping you generate additional income.

Teach Summer School

If you don’t have any summer plans lined up and want to pull in some extra revenue, consider signing up to teach in summer school. The pay depends on your location; some might pay more than the normal rate, while others might give just the same as a normal school day.

The great thing about teaching in summer school is that it only lasts for a few hours and the classes are usually smaller. It also presents the opportunity for creative teaching, wherein educators can diverge away from the curriculum and teach the material however they see fit.

Use Teacher Discounts

Take advantage of discounts given to teachers during the back-to-school season and the World Teachers’ Day celebration. Retailers usually offer markdowns during these times, especially for school supplies.

Some shops even give year-round discounts for educators. Search for these markdown sales online and cross-reference them with their original prices and other stores to make sure you’re getting the best deals.

Organize School Fundraisers or Donation Drives

Fundraisers and donation drives can supplement the school’s budget for extracurricular programs, supplies, and even facility upgrades. With this financial addendum, you won’t have to use a significant amount of your earnings for school-related expenses, resulting in your ability to save money for yourself.

While it seems difficult, teachers meet a lot of people through their profession, thereby connecting them to potential supporters within their communities. These people — students, parents, and other teachers — will be more than willing to help out when you reach out to them through a fundraising or donation drive.

Track Your Expenses

Another practical way to save money is to stay on top of your expenses. Doing so will help you review your spending habits and determine where you can cut back. Keeping track of your expenses also makes it easy to apply for reimbursement or tax deductions wherever they are applicable.  You can use this free tax calculator to get a better idea on how certain deductions will impact your overall tax return.

Final Thoughts

The fulfillment that comes with teaching isn’t always enough to supplement the low pay that educators receive every year. That’s why many teachers turn to part-time jobs to compensate for that insufficient income. With that said, consider the opportunities listed above to make extra money for their personal and teaching needs.