So it turns out that playing board games can turn your child into a math whiz.  According to research published in the March-April issue of the journal Child Development, number-based board games similar to Chutes and Ladders can help children, especially those from low-income families, develop number skills necessary to do well in math classes.

Disadvantaged children tend to lag behind affluent students in math at the onset of school, and this study found that most low-income children don’t have board games at home.

The children in the study, 124 preschoolers in the federal Head Start program, used a board game with a spinner and took turns moving pieces along a row of numbered squares.  They played four times, for 15-20 minutes each session, over a two-week period.  At the end of the study, the preschoolers who participated could better identify and county numbers and had a sense of which numbers hold a greater value.

“Parents and preschool teachers should know that playing number board games increases young children’s numerical understanding and lays a solid fountain for future learning of mathematics as well.” says Carnegie Mellon Prof. Robert Siegler, coauthor of the study.  –Eddy Ramirez

There are a number of students who don’t find solving math problems easy, but there is a simple strategy that might make things clearer and so give you a little more confidence when next tackling something in your math class.

The RQWQCQ strategy is not only easy to remember, but also easy to apply.

Try it and see if it works for you.

Read the Problem                                                          The first thing to do is read the problem question through so that you understand what it is that’s required.

Failure to do this puts you at a disadvantage because the chances are that you’ll have either the wrong answer or the right answer in the wrong format. Read the problem carefully and you’ll at least have the right format.

Q is for Question 
Identify what the question is in the problem. Sometimes this could be clearly given, but occasionally you’ll need to find it within the words outlining the problem.

W is for Write 
Make a note of the facts required. A useful tip here is to put a line through any irrelevant facts within the problem so that you can see what’s left that’s important. Remember however that sometimes you’ll only be given relevant facts so this is where reading comes important so you can distinguish what’s essential to the solution of the problem and what’s not.

Q is for Question
This time the question is to identify what calculations or computations do I need to do in order to answer the question correctly

C is for Compute
Write up the problem and make the computations. Check your calculations for errors and make any corrections that are needed. Once you’ve done this, identify your final answer by circling or underlining it.

Q is for Question
The final question is to ask if the answer seems a feasible solution to the problem. If you find that it’s not because it doesn’t seem to relate to the facts given in the problem, then you need to go back to step 1 of the RQWQCQ to see if you get a different answer. Should you find that because of your answer to the final question you have to return to step 1, completely start again using none of the computations that you used to arrive at the first answer. Do this until you are either convinced that however odd it seems it is right, or you arrive at an answer that is more in line with the problem given.

By using this RQWQCQ strategy, together with the formulas you have been taught, you’ll find that you can logically solve any problem given to you in your math class.

Although an entire class can sit through the same presentation, not everyone receives the information in the same way. Do you know which way you learn best? Identifying this can help you improve your learning technique and can even improve your grades.

There are three main styles of learning, and most students fall into one of these three categories: auditory learning, tactile/kinesthetic learning, or visual learning.

Auditory learners are more receptive to presentations that are oral.  Do you find that the information in class is easier to absorb if the teacher stands at the front the room and talks about a subject?  Do you find that you are quicker to understand information given on audio tape or MP3?  If so, one way of making your grades better would be to record yourself reading from the text book of any subjects that you find particularly difficult, and then listening to the spoken word – because of your learning style you may find that it makes the subjects easier to understand.

Tactile/kinesthetic learners on the other hand learn best in a hands-on environment.  They understand the physical form and being able to touch the material allows them to understand the subject matter easier.  Unfortunately this isn’t the easiest of learning styles to work with in a school setting as many subject areas don’t easily lend themselves to a tactile approach – and school resources may limit those subjects that do.  Consider how you can make a tactile model for subjects you find difficult and then use this to increase your understanding of it.

Visual learners are best with things they can see.  They much prefer the written word or illustrative diagrams to listening to a teacher speak.  Books and charts are the best educational tools for those of you who have this learning style, and therefore you ought to do well in a school environment.  Classes that provide handouts, or use an overhead projector will be your best classroom experiences, but for those where handouts aren’t given, your own notes should provide the best source of information for homework.

If you aren’t sure which learning style you have, pay attention to how you learn next time you’re in a classroom.  Familiarize yourself with each style beforehand, and then try to follow each style in turn to investigate which one of them gives you the easier learning experience.  Once you identify it, and can use this style more thoroughly in your school work, you’ll find that you’ll understand things faster and consequently should see an improvement in your grades.

When you’re in class and you’re asked to write an essay, or even a normal test paper, the first thing you must do is to read the question carefully.

Each question will have a clue, direction words, as to the kind of response you need to give in order to answer the question correctly – and even if you manage to get the answer right without having it in the right format, you won’t get as high a grade as you could have, simply because you didn’t take the time to read the question properly before you started.

The most common words you are likely to encounter on an essay or test paper are:

Compare – take a look at something against something else (the paper will tell you what you’re comparing, apples and oranges for example) and talk about how they are different, and how they are alike. You compare one against another.

Contrast – in this situation, you only look at how the items are different and what their contrasts are.

Describe – here you need to go into great detail about whatever you’re asked to describe. Break it down into its component parts, and give as much information for each part as you can.

Explain – write about something in a way that’s easy to understand, as if you were telling someone else how to do something.

Define – very similar to “explain” except you should keep it as much to the point as possible.

Diagram – this isn’t writing; this is illustrating your point without sentences. You can use words to label your diagram but your answer should be clear from looking at the illustration without needing a paragraph to explain it.

Justify – give reasons that support an issue or statement.

List – it’s what it says, it’s a list – not an essay, not flowing on paragraphs, just a list.

Outline – this is just the salient points of something set out in a well organized format.

Summarize – take what you know about the subject and write about it in a concise manner. It should contain as much relevant important information as possible, but should still be relatively short.

Trace – this is like a written time-line.Take the subject area back as far as you can, and then write about it up until the event or present day (depending on the topic). Some of the above words are very similar but they have subtle differences so be sure to learn exactly what each one means. Identifying the right word in your next essay or test could make the difference between an excellent, or average, grade!

Writing is a very important form of communication. If you want write well you’ll do well in school, college and in your career. If you can’t write well then you will miss many opportunities in life. Writing well requires that you learn a variety of techniques used for different writing purposes. We suggest that you learn each of the following writing techniques.

1. Narration

The narration technique for writing is used when telling a story. The elements of a story include the setting, time, problem, resolution to the problem, a main character and often supporting characters. A novel is an example of a long story and a children’s book would be an example of short story. Movie and play scripts are also examples of narrations.

2. Description

A description is a simple yet very important writing technique. You will most frequently find descriptions in magazines, books, newspapers and many other forms of writing. The purpose of a description is to help the read use the senses of seeing, hearing, feeling and smelling to experience what the writer experiences. Descriptions help the reader to understand things about which the writer is writing.

3. Persuasion

The technique of persuasion is used in writing to try and change the reader’s point of view on a particular subject or topic. In this writing technique the writer presents in a compelling format facts and opinions in order to convince the reader. Persuasive writing is most commonly found in editorials, newspapers, magazines and political publications.

4. Exposition

The purpose of exposition is to inform, explain, expound or clarify the writer’s ideas and thoughts. While similar to descriptive writing, exposition provides the reader greater detail and depth of understanding about the writer’s thoughts and ideas. Expositions are most commonly found in newspapers, magazines and books.

5. Comparison and Contrast

The purpose of the writing technique is to show the reader the similarities and differences about a something. Comparison is used to show or explain how what is alike or common. Contract is used to show what is different. When asked to compare and contrast the Civil War with World War II the writer would show the similarities and differences between these two wars.

Employing the correct writing technique that helps you accomplish your purpose will enable you to communicate more effective and become a good writer.