Why kids struggle in 8th grade math when everything was going so well in 3rd
I often come in contact with 2 types of parents at work. The first parent tells me that their 3rd grader is doing so well in math that they don’t think help is needed and the second parent tells me that their 8th grader used to do so well in math but is now struggling. In reality the two parents are facing the same issue 5 years apart.
To understand what the real issue is, think of math the same as learning to read. Grades 1 to 5 are all about learning the math alphabet (letter ‘A’ is addition, ‘B’ is subtraction and ‘C’ is multiplication etc.). Grades 5-7 are about putting the math letters together to form math words (combine 2 or more math concepts to solve simple math problems). From grade 8 and onward, math is about using those math words to read and understand math novels (use all the concepts learned in math to solve real life problems).
As you can see, without the math alphabet, it’s very hard to make math words and near impossible to read math novels. The sad thing is, many times, bright kids don’t end up learning the math alphabet because it’s not properly taught at schools – a teacher might have an off-year and not spend enough time on fractions.
So when a parent of a 4th grader comes to me and says that Maggie is doing really well in math, I do my due diligence and sit down with Maggie to make sure that she really does have all her math alphabets. I check to see her understanding of fractions (and make sure that the teacher is not just giving her As) so that Maggie doesn’t slide in the 8th grade just because her Mom had thought an ‘A’ means ‘All is well’.
Grades 1 to 5 are the most important and yet also the most treacherous years in a child’s math education. It’s very easy for a child not to learn a few of the math letters properly yet got passed on with good grades. It’s much harder to fix the problem when Maggie is in the 8th grade.
Just like cavities in teeth, kids don’t struggle with math overnight. To prevent math struggle in 8th grades, guard math alphabets with vigilance.