Teacher For a Day

Do you have an extremely independent child who doesn’t want your help with homework? Do you wonder if they understand what they are learning in school or if they are even doing their homework? Here is a great way to find out while giving your child all the control, or at least letting them think they have all the control!

Give your child the independence they need in middle school. Let them do their homework on their own but find out how they are doing with out making them feel like you are checking up on them. Sneaky! This idea can be applied to any subject but is most useful for any middle school general math class.

What You Need:

• Pencil
• paper
• Math textbook.

Step 1: Ask your child to be the teacher for you. Tell them that you want to learn from them and understand what they are learning in class. Most children will love this idea because they get to be in control and it is always fun to stump mom or dad. Ask them to create a test for you to take. A ten or twenty question test is usually a good start. You may want to brush up on the skills that the test will cover, so you don’t embarrass yourself. Encourage your child to create a test with a variety of questions from the unit they are currently working on. Remind them that the tests they take in school are neat and easy to read. The test they make should be the same.

Step 2: Let your child pick any ten to twenty questions that they want to test them on. The test should include a variety of equations. All the questions shouldn’t be alike. When they are finished, take the test and do the best you can. It may be a good idea to make one or two intentional mistakes to be sure that your student teacher is paying attention during their corrections.

Step 3: When you are finished taking the test, return it to your child, and ask them to correct it for any mistakes. The process of correcting the test will be a great way to reinforce all their current math skills.  They will need to work through each equation themselves in order to check your work. This is something they should always do when they are taking a test at school, before handing it in for grading. It is also a great opportunity for you to see what they are learning and how easily they correct your “mistakes”.

Step 4: Ask them to talk you through your mistakes, explaining your errors. This is an additional way for them to commit their skills to memory.

Your child will love to teach you a thing or two for a change, and they won't even know that they are practicing math themselves!