If you ever came across a middle school or a primary level student, and ask them what’s the subject you struggle with the most in your class? There is a good probability that you might get to listen to screams of “It’s Mathematics! We hate this subject “, and we don’t blame them, we might have come across a few classmates who loved Mathematics as a subject but let’s be real, majority of us struggled with Mathematics at some point or the other. What were those reasons? Perhaps we never gave it enough time, attention, and effort it requires, because we were just too afraid to even try to understand it, but once that barrier of fear is broken, and we little by little start putting efforts into it, we start to understand the concepts and we begin to realize that this was not that hard in the first place, we apply those concepts, solve questions, we get a little stroke of confidence, and just like that Mathematics is not that hard for us anymore.
Let’s discuss a few tips which might help in understanding Mathematics effectively:
1. I cannot emphasize the importance of practice in Mathematics enough, it is like the backbone of all your learning and the foundation to a better understanding of the subject. Maintain a register that is solely dedicated to your Mathematics’ practice and it is advised that you practice at least 1.5 hours daily (apart from the homework or completion of your pending work) if you wish to be able to understand the subject easily and achieve the best grades in your class.
2. Most of us understand that practice is the key to understand Mathematics, but how should we do it? What are the steps? So here are a few tips.
(i) Make sure you have a place where there are no distractions; the focus is very important when learning and practicing complex questions.
(ii) Never practice with a notebook opened; only use your notebook to understand the concepts and the relevant steps of solving the questions; once you are done, keep the notebook far away from you (keep it in another room if it helps) and practice from the book only, this way you would get a better sense of sitting in an exam where there are only questions, the solution is out of your reach, and you are the only dependent on your concepts and understanding.
3.Practicing mathematics is the only instance where we are allowed to make mistakes, and it’s okay if you make them, instead, use your mistakes as a lesson to where you need to work more and strengthen the weak concepts.
4. Self-test is one of the most important parts of mastering your concepts, when you are done with practicing, challenge yourself with similar questions from your exercise book, know your strengths, and work on your weaknesses, Mathematics will never be difficult for you.
The majority of students strive to be better at Mathematics every day, so just by following these simple steps, we might achieve that much sooner and maybe Mathematics might not be that difficult after all.
-Osama Jamal
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