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If you’ve ever wondered: How can I successfully help my fourth grader with math? This article is for you!
Author
Amber Watkins
Published
July 18, 2023
If you’ve ever wondered: How can I successfully help my fourth grader with math? This article is for you!
Author
Amber Watkins
Published
July 18, 2023
If you’ve ever wondered: How can I successfully help my fourth grader with math? This article is for you!
Author
Amber Watkins
Published
July 18, 2023
Key takeaways
Helping your child with math is similar to a building project; with the right tools you can successfully provide 4th grade math help.
Your attitude towards math is contagious. If you remain positive, you will help your child maintain a positive outlook on math.
Taking advantage of online resources like math apps can help your child succeed in math.
Last year your child was introduced to their first multiplication facts. This year in fourth grade math, they must build on what they’ve learned. This can be a scary time for two reasons. First, it is common for students to progress to the fourth grade without fully mastering basic multiplication. Second, other challenging topics like fractions will be introduced.
Don’t fret, with the right tools you can successfully provide 4th grade math help while building your child’s confidence and enjoyment in learning.
The first tip when providing math help for 4th graders is to remember your attitude is contagious. If you show feelings of angst, frustration, or fear, your student will develop the same feelings toward math and you can unknowingly “tear down the house.” What can you do? Try to remain positive! Here are 8 ways to have a positive experience helping your 4th-grade student with math.
Math help for 4th graders can be simpler than you think. It just takes time, patience, and a bit of creativity. Take a look at our tutor recommended goals and try them out with your 4th grader this week.
Fourth grade math help begins at the right time. Taking a break after school is refreshing, but try to begin working shortly after to keep your fourth grader in the “school mentality”. This will prevent your student from losing motivation to do school work.
Goal: If possible, begin helping your child with homework within 30 minutes of them getting in from school or if your child is homeschooled, by the end of their last class.
Drawing pictures is one of the best ways to provide math help for 4th graders. Pictures are less intimidating than words and are especially helpful when solving fourth-grade word problems, problems with fractions, and problems using area models. It’s like drawing the plans for a house; it can help your student see what they are trying to work on.
Goal: Next time you are reviewing 4th-grade math problems with your child, draw a picture to illustrate the questions. If you’re stuck not knowing what to draw, reference sample fourth-grade math problems as a guide and mimic what you see. Fourth-grade sample problems can be found in your child’s class notes, worksheets, or online in their class portal.
Regular practice of skip counting will help your fourth grader solve multiplication problems with ease. How do you skip count? When your student skip-counts by 5, they would say, “5, 10, 15, 20, 25…”
Goal: Have your child skip count using different numbers each day. First, practice skip counting by 2, 5, and 10; these are generally easier to learn. Next practice the more challenging numbers like 4, 6, 7, and 8.
“What is the product of 5 and 2?” The word product signals us to multiply these two numbers. However, a student who doesn’t remember what the word product means would have a difficult time answering this question. How to help? Review math language with your child. The more math terms they can remember, the easier word problems will become.
Goal: Review these vocabulary words and what operation they signal: either to add, subtract, multiply, or divide. Then use them in different math questions to see if your child can remember what to do.
One of the best ways to make 4th-grade math help enjoyable is to learn something new together. This allows you to model how to learn and how to positively deal with mistakes. It also helps your child see learning can be fun.
Goal: Before your next study session, learn this Nine-Times Tables Trick:
Here is a great way to check if your 4th grade math help is working. Next time your child completes a problem correctly, switch roles. Pretend your student is the teacher and see if they can “teach you” how to do the problem. While they are teaching you, they will be cementing what they are learning.
Goal: Try to switch roles once per study session to allow your student to teach what they are learning.
As you provide math help for 4th graders, you may feel you need some extra support. That’s where their teacher comes in. Ask your child’s teacher what topics your student is struggling with and ask for recommendations. You may be surprised that they often just recommend more practice!
Goal: Search for practice problems that cover 4th-grade math topics such as fractions, rounding whole numbers, place values, using math operations, drawing and identifying lines and angles, and measurement conversions. You can find practice problems on math apps or by simply googling math problems for fourth graders.
The final tip when providing math help for 4th graders is to incorporate technology in your lessons. Watching math videos that cover fourth-grade math topics helps your child learn difficult topics such as adding and subtracting fractions, multiplying using area models, and long division in an enjoyable way.
You will also find using a math app is a very effective way to supplement classroom instruction. Our app for math help provides 4th-grade math help in a way that makes math enjoyable, rewards effort over being right, and scaffolds learning. Plus, it keeps you updated the way a private tutor would, without the private tutor costs. You’ll get access to a dashboard that displays your child’s participation and progression on math topics they struggle with. Check out our math app today.
Goal: Check out our math app to see if this could provide your child the extra help with math they need.
We know helping a fourth grader with math can be hard so we’ve provided a few frequently asked questions many parents have when their child needs help with math.
You can help your 4th grader with math by choosing the right time to study, drawing pictures to solve problems, practicing skip counting, reviewing math language, learning multiplication tricks together, and incorporating technology in your lessons.
Fourth graders should be excellent multipliers, so they should know multiplication facts by heart. They will also learn other fourth-grade math topics such as fractions, rounding whole numbers, place values, using math operations, drawing and identifying lines and angles, and measurement conversions.
Lesson credits
Amber Watkins
Amber is an education specialist with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She has over 12 years of experience teaching and tutoring elementary through college level math. "Knowing that my work in math education makes such an impact leaves me with an indescribable feeling of pride and joy!"
Amber Watkins
Amber is an education specialist with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She has over 12 years of experience teaching and tutoring elementary through college level math. "Knowing that my work in math education makes such an impact leaves me with an indescribable feeling of pride and joy!"
Amber Watkins
Amber is an education specialist with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She has over 12 years of experience teaching and tutoring elementary through college level math. "Knowing that my work in math education makes such an impact leaves me with an indescribable feeling of pride and joy!"
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