Parents
SecondSchool was set up to answer the following questions from parents
- Why is my child who is otherwise very bright, having trouble with Mathematics and Science?
- My child is not very good at Maths? What do I do?
- Why is Maths and Science becoming harder for my child every year even though he is going to the same school and going for tuition as well?
- My child is already doing well – getting 95%+ marks. But I don’t think she is really understanding the subject?
- If he is struggling now, will he ever be able to appear for entrance exams and do well?
If these also apply to you, do get in touch with us at the numbers provided or through email.
Some of our answers are below
Why children struggle with Maths and what is a solution?
Very early in their academic career many children decide that Maths (and Science) is not for them. There is a study of ‘Math Anxiety’ which indicates that children can easily drop into a negative cycle of Avoidance – Anxiety – Failure if they have even one major negative experience with the subject. On the other hand the positive cycle of Pursuit – Confidence – Success is rare and children who achieve it also may drop into the negative cycle over time.
The size of classes in school is too large for individual attention. The present system of tuitions is more oriented towards rote learning. The only way to stay in the positive cycle is through understanding and that does not happen well enough. Our focus in SecondSchool is Deep Understanding and through that to get to better marks.
If you are interested in Math Anxiety, there is a detailed article that you can access from the home page.
Why does Maths (and Science) get harder over time even for students scoring well?
In the early years, even without understanding something, problem solving is possible since the number of problems presented is limited and once it is memorized, all other similar problems can be solved. This often leads to a false sense of confidence as well.
In higher classes, the number of problem types increase. With this comes the difficulty in memorizing each problem type. Studious students manage, but they no longer enjoy it. So they get their marks but they know that they will not continue.
Again the answer is to understand the subject.
The future seems full of entrance exams. What will happen there?
It is unfortunately true that the entrance examination situation in the country is getting more competitive every day, with entrance tests to even get into premier coaching institutes. It is likely that if your child is interested in getting into engineering or some other difficult discipline, she will in all probability have to go to a coaching centre.
This training starts from the 9th standard or so. By this time it is very late to get the basics right. At SecondSchool our objective is to get the basics right and get better marks in school. More importantly, clear basics means that entrance exams will be easier to do, and dreams for engineering or for that matter, anything involving some level of Maths or Science will become potential opportunities for your child.
To find out how we do things in SecondSchool, do visit the Methodology section of our website, or better still call us at 09654476912, and visit one of our centres to see for yourself.
