How often has your child said, “I don’t like math!” “I just don’t get math!” I can’t learn math!”

Compared to reading, parents are more tolerant of problems in math. But math is very important in children’s lives and future careers. Many of the fastest growing occupations require math through algebra and even calculus.

Math is the most cumulative subject in school. Therefore, if your special needs child falls behind, he is particularly prone to developing “gaps” in knowledge that will haunt him in future years.

Elementary teachers do a poor job of teaching math

Math is the most poorly taught subject in school, particularly in elementary school. Research has proven that elementary teachers are uncomfortable with math—not only with teaching math, but with using mathematical principles in their own lives. In fact, many elementary teachers suffer from math anxiety themselves. Therefore, most elementary teachers are not good influences on the mathematical learning and attitudes of their students.

The combination of a teacher’s poor understanding of mathematical concepts, inadequate knowledge of teaching methods in mathematics, and limited knowledge about modifying teaching approaches to reach learners with atypical learning profiles can create dismal results for special needs children. 

Tip #1

Stress to your children the importance of mathematics in their lives and careers.

Jobs in science and technology require a strong knowledge of math, and play a vital role in the advancements that give us our standard of living. Students who understand mathematics have dramatically more career opportunities than students whose math abilities are weak.

The level of math sophistication is much greater for today’s students

Because the nature of math education has morphed dramatically since most parents went to school, often parents find themselves beginning to struggle with math concepts when their child reaches middle school.

If a special needs child has struggles with math, parents need to face the harsh truth that they may not stand in the ideal position to help their child themselves, particularly when math becomes conceptually difficult. Due to the history in the US of poor math teaching, parents may have limited knowledge of mathematics and may not appreciate the central role math plays in the lives of today’s citizens.

Tip #2

If you are finding that you do not completely understand the work your child is bringing home, you should bow out of the “direct teaching” role. Direct teaching involves explaining concepts and procedures to your child, much as a teacher or tutor would. If you don’t fully understand the math you are teaching your child, you and your child run the risk of ingraining inaccurate beliefs and inefficient habits that can take months to undo.

Math anxiety is rampant in the U.S.

Did you know that at least 66% of adults have strong negative feelings about math! This is largely due to poor teaching adults received in school. These negative feelings are easy to communicate to your child. When children feel negative about a school subject, they unconsciously engage in self-sabotaging behaviors such as tuning out in class, not doing their homework, not asking questions when they don’t understand, and not practicing the concepts and skills enough to make them automatic.

This starts a vicious cycle of failure…as the student “back away” from learning math, he or she begins to fall behind in learning, and this creates even more dislike and avoidance. Eventually, what’s called learned helplessness sets in.

This enemy robs a child of their power. This beast whispers in a child’s ear phrases such as “you’re stupid” “you’ll never learn this stuff” “who are you kidding, you don’t need this” and the ever-present “this is boring”

These self-destructive messages tear at a child’s resolve, limit what he or she can learn, and reduce future educational and career options.

Tip #3

If you have negative feelings about math, make a conscious effort to change these feelings, and encourage your children to feel positively about math. Praise your child’s efforts, especially when the going is tough.

Math has to “make sense” in order for your child to want to learn it

Students respond to a program that puts understanding and enjoyment into math. They benefit from meaningful learning experiences that overcome frustration with “math that just doesn’t make sense.” They learn concepts and computation more quickly from real life situations.

Tip #4

Show children how math is used in their lives.

At stores, have them develop mental arithmetic skills by adding up the cost of a few items, by estimating sales tax, or by figuring out the cost of one can of soda from the price of a six-pack.

Put some fun into math by playing games while riding in the car or standing in line. For “Guess My Secret Identity,” give your child clues such as, “When divided by three, I’m equal to your age,” or “If you add 22 to me, I’m the length of a football field.” Be playful and creative and have your child make up riddles for you to solve.

“Summing in all up”

Special needs kids want to succeed in life and their parents want to do everything possible to help them succeed. If you are among the majority of parents who have negative attitudes toward math, feel your math skills are inadequate, and express your feelings opening to your child, I urge you to make every effort to eliminate these tendencies from your parenting repertoire!

Even if you have, up until now, suffered from the power-robbing demon of math self-doubt, your children can learn math skills and can appreciate the wonderful role math plays in their lives. But they can’t do it without your support and encouragement!

You can’t rely on your college education to suffice for the rest of your career. If you want to stay at the peak of your earning potential, you will need to continue your education throughout your career. This can be done in a formal or informal setting. Informal education is very important. It may never show up on your resume, but it helps you stay up-to-date. Formal education has the added benefit of letting you work toward some type of recognition (degree or certificate) that employers are likely to reward. In some jobs, you can move to a higher pay-scale by adding a degree.



In this article we are going to look at some tips and methods for both formal and informal education. It is by no means exhaustive, but it may give you a few ideas about how to continue your education that you may have overlooked in the past.

The primary concept behind tests and exams is to measure the candidate’s knowledge and ability to comprehend. The questions differ as some of them measure factual knowledge while some test conceptual skills. Questions may be in varied formats like true or false, multiple choice, short answer, essay or reading comprehension.

Various kinds of questions on the examination require various kinds of responses. There are those which will take some time to figure out, while some are quicker to answer. You might find some kinds of questions more to your liking than others. That’s why it’s necessary to find out the kind of questions you might encounter on the test version you’re taking so that you can practice a lot with that specific kind.

Develop a specific method for each kind of Oklahoma teacher certificationquestion. Do not invest too much time on any one question.

Multiple choice questions and true/false kind questions test your recalling power to knock out irrelevant options. Guessing on the unknown questions can help you at times if there is no negative repercussions. Objective types of questions may be studied with the utilization of flashcards.

Our knowledge and understanding about the topic helps in solving the complex questions like short answers, essays or reading comprehension.

Critical ideas that you know are part of the material, must always be included in the answer even if you are not sure about a particular detail. A method to increase your score on those specific kinds of questions, would be by demonstrating your knowledge on basic topics related to the question.

Lots of Oklahoma teacher certification tests consist of questions which have various value in points assigned to them. In most cases multiple choice questions are worth much less in point value than questions where you have to make use of your own words or questions which are much more complex. It is important to use most of your test time solving questions which carry more point value.

On the date of the examination itself, be sure to scan through the whole test, answering problems which are familiar to you first. After that, go back through the test and figure out the problems that need more effort or those that you’re uncertain about. With this method, you’re sure to maximize the amount of problems you complete within the time allowed.

Study Guides expressly crafted to assist you to study the subject material are among the handiest methods for getting yourself ready for the Oklahoma teacher certification. They often contain practice tests and other sorts of resources which can get you familiar with the way in which the examination will be given.