Math is one of the most dreaded and difficult subjects in school. It has always been a parent’s problem how to encourage and how to make things easier for their children especially with Math concepts. This might be a cliché but it is true – “Practice makes it perfect”. It will even be greater if you can practice it with speed test. Why use a speed test? This is important to entice your child to excel in any Math concept (addition, multiplication, subtraction, and division). Initially, it may seem like you are putting or adding more pressure to your child but the benefit of a speed test will pay off in the end. It will provide children the confidence to work around difficult Math problems and will build their strength on their Math skills.

How to start and use speed test with your kid

When your child has already acquired the skill of recognizing numbers and has already learned the concept of addition, you start first with an untimed test. Once she is comfortable with the untimed test, you can begin to introduce the timed test. Speed test should be done in a pace otherwise pressure will set in and learning will be more difficult for them.

Use window cards or flash cards – You can either buy ready-made flash cards or you can make one with your kids. You can involve your kids in making these window or flash cards so they will be more interested in them because they know they took part in making the cards. Have them do the tracing in a board paper and supervise them in cutting the dotted lines. You can have it covered with a plastic if you want to use it for a long time. Put the equations in the front and the answers at the back of the board paper.

Once you are ready with the window cards, you can begin with your speed test. Let them answer the equation in the flash or window cards and make them beat their own time. This will eventually help them pick up their speed and in no time you will see that computing Math problems is like a swift breeze for them.