Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Multi-Age Home Schooling - Starting And Practicing Algebra

As I’m sure you know algebra and mathematics in general, needs a lot of practice if your child/pupil (whatever the age) is to completely own the subject. Of course you can easily find books and even interactive online lessons or courses that can help you a lot but you must be prepared to practice – if not, you will fail.

It is difficult to learn the hundreds of theories and equations only by reading them to your child/multi-age pupil; algebra is not a poem you know.

What you need to do is have a plan. It’s quite easy actually: you need to make every step slowly but surely. You open the book and start with the fist theory/equation by making a lot of exercises until your pupil understands the theory completely. It can take between a couple of hours to a couple of days. Remember that it is important to have patience with home based schooling.

By following this simple plan you’ll notice that the pupil will begin to understand every concept and become very good at algebra. He may even start to like it.

The next important thing you need to consider is teaching the basics at first, practice them a lot, and only when your child completely understands them, move to medium equations. Many people mess this part up and the results are accordingly.

Algebra and mathematics in general are vital to a person’s development as it helps them solve problems or apply strategies which will help them later in life, so be sure to get it right.

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