"NO PROBLEM" PROBLEM-SOLVING:

Use simple techniques to decode math riddles.

Does your child beg to solve math word problems? No? Well, you are not alone. Even children who have skipped a meal to finish a mystery novel - fueled by the challenge of solving the mystery - aren't always excited by word problems. It is not uncommon for students to see little connection between the challenge of a mystery book and the challenge of a math problem. However, by incorporating the suggestions below into your family's daily homework routine, parents can help their children unravel the math mystery.

Master the Language of Math

Math word problems revolve around a new language, one filled with unfamiliar vocabulary, strange symbols and a variety of formulas. Help your child learn the language of math by setting aside a file-card box with three sections, each filled with colorful index cards. Label the sections "Math Vocabulary," "Math Symbols" and "Math Formulas." Encourage your son or daughter to write each new term, symbol or formula on to separate index cards. Use the back of each card to write definitions, examples or diagrams and keep them handy for easy reference and test review.

Follow the 3 R's of Problem-Solving

Encourage your child to read, read, and re-read each word problem before beginning to write. The motto is: "Think-time" is important time, not a waste of time.

Color-Code to Break the Code

Have your child make a copy of word problems that appear in the extbook or re-write them on notebook paper. Encourage your son or daughter to highlight important data with a blue highlighter marker and to highlight the question at the end of each problem with a yellow highlighter marker. Cross through unnecessary information and circle tricky words or unusual directions to determine which words and figures are necessary to finding the solution.

Visualize the Problem

Encourage your child to form a mental picture of the events described in the word problem. Work together to capture the problem on paper by making a sketch, a diagram, a graph or a table. Stress the importance of accurately labeling each figure. Use physical models to help your son or daughter "get the picture." For example, beans or paper clips are excellent tools for demonstrating arithmetic operations or algebraic properties, while toothpicks, straws and boxes are useful for modeling geometry concepts.

Plan, Show Work, Solve, and Check

Guide your child to use the method that seems the most direct, such as working backward, solving a simpler problem, writing an equation, looking for a pattern, creating a table, or constructing a graph. Emphasize the importance of making a reasonable estimate and showing all work in an organized manner. Explain that it is important to check the answer by substituting it into the original word problem and that the last step of every math problem is to ask, "Does this answer make sense?"

-- Anne C. Patterson