Why are there so many word problems!?

You might notice that your children's math homework is full of word problems, which can be challenging to any young learner. Part of the Common Core Standards for Mathematics includes the ability to solve word problems starting in kindergarten. The more that we as teachers and parents can do to help strengthen their problem solving skills, the better equipped our kids will be to face any type of problems on their own.

Why are there so many word problems? To truly understand something, we must be able to contextualize it. Math word problems take strategies from class and apply them to real life. Word problems help with abstract thinking, logical reasoning, and help strengthen their problem solving abilities which transfer to many other areas in life.

Word problems are often difficult to navigate for students and their parents. Following are a few ideas to help strengthen your child's approach to tackling word problems.

Start with a Plan. No matter what tricks or strategies your child has learned to approach problem solving in math, there should always be a plan. For kindergarteners, drawing a picture or diagram of the question is a great place to start. Looking for key words is part of the problem solving process, but it's more important that your child has an understanding of what the words mean in context. For example- seeing the word "each" in a problem could mean either multiplication or division. Ask your child to write out a plan or describe in words what they think is the best way to approach and solve this problem.

Read it like a story! If you think about it, word problems are kind of like tiny stories. They have characters, a setting, a problem, and a solution. Asking your kids to retell the word problem without the numbers forces them to think about the context of the problem- and that's the whole point! We want them to understand what's happening in the scenario given in order to figure out the best way to arrive at the answer. The problem should be read closely (more than once) for understanding. This is the most important part! It is critical that students understand the problem before they can begin to solve it.

Look for tricks. Look for tricky sentences where one 'key word' might not mean what it normally does, or information that you can eliminate because it doesn't relate to the problem.

Always Go Back. When a kid finishes a word problem, they want to be DONE! Teachers always ask them to "check their work" but most kids don't really understand what that looks like. Encourage your child to go back to the problem, reread it, and think about their answer. does that answer make sense based on the context of the problem? This is a place where number sense is really important.

Support the Productive Struggle. This is probably the most important (and most difficult) thing that you can do as a parent to help your child become stronger at solving word problems. Let them sit with a problem for longer than what feels comfortable for a normal word problem. The more practice they have with trying to work out solutions, the better they will be equipped to persevere when faced with a difficult problem at school. This is a very important skill in math and in life! (for more information, see the linked article below)

Practice! The best way to become better at anything is to practice repeatedly. Give your child plenty of opportunities to practice problem solving, both in the real world and on paper. This will be fairly easy because of the nature of our math program- there are plenty of opportunities for children to practice in class and at home with word problems that are relevant to their work.

Remember that Math is Everywhere*. Try to pay extra attention to the times where you actually need to solve a word problem. Vocalize the problem and see if your child can help figure it out. If you can make a real world connection to a word problem, show your child. Any real life application of the math they are learning helps tremendously to make sense of some concepts that can be abstract. Doing so can help your child learn to use math in practical ways and see the value of learning these important skills.

(*See Bedtime Math link below!)

Learning how to problem solve can be daunting. It's a skill that takes time to develop and perseverance to succeed. If your child is stuck, trying any of these ideas or doing any type of extra practice at home will only help to strengthen their problem solving skills and increase their confidence in math class.