Parent Tips of the Week
Week 8 To be successful in mathematics, students need to develop the ability to reason mathematically. To do so, students need to think about what they already know and then connect this knowledge to the new ideas they are learning. Many students are not used to the idea that what they learned yesterday or last week will be connected to today’s lesson. When students understand that connecting prior learning to new ideas is a normal part of their education, they will be more successful in mathematics. Your student can maximize their learning by:
- ● Actively contributing in whole class and study team discussions.
- ● Explaining what he has learned to someone else.
- ● Completing all assigned problems and turning in assignments in a timely
manner.
- ● Checking and correcting problems on assignments (usually with their study
partner or team) based on answers and solutions provided in class and online.
- ● Asking for help when needed from a study partner, team, and/or teacher.
- ● Attempting to provide help when asked by other students.
- ● Taking notes and using his/her Toolkit or Learning Log when recommended by the teacher or the text.
- ● Keeping a well-organized notebook.
- ● Not distracting other students from the opportunity to learn.
Week 7There will be some topics that your child understands quickly and some concepts that may take longer to master. Big ideas take time to learn. This means that students are not necessarily expected to master a concept when it is first introduced. When a topic is first introduced, there will be several practice problems to do. Succeeding lessons and homework assignments will continue to practice the concept or skill over weeks and months so that mastery will develop over time and long-term learning will occur.
If your child still needs extra practice on some topics, either current or previously learned, make sure that you go to the cpm.org website and look for Parent Guides and Extra Practice under Textbook Resources. You can select the current or past course and look at the table of contents to find the topics you need. You will also find the Checkpoint problems there. They are also useful for review and practice of concepts.
Week 6
Your student may have told you about working with new team members. In a student-centered classroom, teachers have students change teams periodically. This allows students to collaborate with others. Research has shown that students who work in a collaborative problem-solving situation show higher achievement, increased retention, greater intrinsic motivation, higher self-esteem, and a better attitude toward teachers and school, to name a few. If you would like further information about team work, it can be found at www.cpm.org, “Synthesis of Research”.
Week 5
Mistakes are an important step in the process of learning. Don't let your child give up when she makes one! Encourage your child to persevere, try another strategy, think outside the box, or talk problems over with someone. Sometimes it is hard to watch our children make mistakes, but struggling helps brains grow, and for your child to become smarter and more resilient. Very successful people often report that many mistakes were made along the way to their success, and these mistakes were an important and much overlooked part of the journey. Your student does not need to be fast at math, so speed should not be a goal. She just needs to think deeply about it. This should also be the goal when responding to math questions. Encourage your child to think about his answer. Does it make sense?
Week 4
Practice and discussion are required to understand concepts in mathematics. When your student comes to you with a question about a homework problem, often you may simply need to ask them to read the problem aloud, and then ask what the problem is about. When you are working problems together, have your child talk about the problems, stating what she is thinking as she works. Remember to have your child practice on his own too.
Below is a list of general questions you can ask your child to help if she gets stuck:
- ● What have you tried? What steps did you take?
- ● What didn't work? Why didn't it work?
- ● Explain what you know right now.
If your student has made an attempt at starting the problem, try these questions.
- ● What do you think comes next? Why?
- ● What is still left to be done?
- ● Is that the only possible answer?
If your student does not seem to be making any progress, you might try these questions.
- ● Let's look at your notebook, class notes, and Toolkit. Do you have them?
- ● Were you listening to your team members and teacher in class? What did they say? Be sure to include other appropriate questions. Remind them to use the index, glossary, Checkpoint materials, homework help, Math Notes boxes, and their Learning Logs. All are useful tools in the process of learning.
- WEEK 3
Changing Math: Parent's Roles
Parents
• Discuss with your children the importance of mathematics for their future.
• Instill in them the idea that they can learn mathematics.
• Encourage your children to study and take notes.
• Ask questions about what they are doing in class.
• If your son or daughter asks for help, ask them questions that will lead to their figuring out how to do the problem themselves.
• Be aware of current research about learning mathematics.
CPM offers resources for parents and students at its website www.cpm.org. You might find it useful to take a look at the following sections:
- ● Learn About CPM
- ● Student Support
- ● Parent Support In the Learn About CPM section, you will find an introduction to CPM, more information about the program, research supporting the program, and more information about the curriculum. In the Student Support section, you will find help with homework, resource pages that connect to the lessons, links to technology, and extra practice problems. In the Parent Support section, there are suggestions of ways to help your student, parent guides to lessons, and tips for learning. There are also videos of students in the classroom that will give you an idea of what your child’s math class might look like. If you have questions about CPM, an excellent resource is at www.cpm.org/support.
Welcome to College Preparatory Mathematics, CPM. Your student will be involved in interesting and stimulating mathematics this school year. To help you understand what is happening in your child’s math class, you will be receiving a Tip of the Week.
CPM believes all students can be successful in mathematics as long as they are willing to work and ask for help when they need it. We encourage you to contact your child’s teacher if you or your student has additional questions.
During class your child will often be working in a small group called a study team. Study teams are designed to encourage students to engage in mathematical conversations. Collaboration allows students to develop new ways of thinking about mathematics, increases students’ abilities to communicate with others about math, and helps strengthen their understanding of concepts and ideas by having to explain their thinking to others. Each student in the study team has an assigned role with a clear set of expectations, which are listed in the student text.
Because students are expected to work together to solve problems, the main role of the teacher is to be a supporting guide. Instead of just showing a process and having students mimic it, your child’s teacher will be introducing the concept of the day and then circulating the classroom, listening to team discussions, asking questions of teams, and initiating a closure activity at the end of each lesson to ensure the intended math content has been addressed.
The main objectives of Chapter 1 are to introduce the course to the students, allow them to apply previous learning in new ways, and review ideas from previous math courses. You will notice boxes titled “Math Notes”. Math Notes boxes contain definitions, explanations, and/or examples. Your student’s teacher will explain how these notes will be used in class. The homework is given in a section titled “Review and Preview”.