Since we know that Math is a necessity for functioning independently in life, the sooner our children get it, the better.  In our view, mathematics is divided into three main areas: Understanding of all the concepts, word problems and math facts mastery. Today in part two of our series on ways to accelerate math concepts we are looking at word problems. 

Word Problems

Word problems are another fundamental area of math and are simply the application of the understanding of math concepts.  Along with the conceptual understanding, you have to be able to hold the information in your short-term memory in order to know what operation(s) to use to solve the problem. One factor that has been a huge deterrent to a child’s ability to complete a word problem is the auditory processing level. 

Parents are often confused when their child with full understanding of a concept has such a struggle with answering a word problem.  It makes more sense when you realize that your ability to hold pieces of information for a short time and manipulate that information in your mind takes that foundation ability called auditory processing.  When this developmental skill is low, word problems are often a nightmare. 

The solution seems contrary to traditional approaches.  Many curriculums teach strategies for solving word problems that often fail when the problems become more complex.  Instead of strategies we recommend working on the child’s auditory processing ability.  This will not only help with successfully accomplishing word problems but will increase the child’s ability to stay on task, follow directions, comprehend what is said and read and many more functional abilities that will help the child through school and life. 

Scroll down to the bottom of this auditory processing information to get your Free Test Kit. If you start increasing this skill, the struggle with word problems will greatly diminish.