How to Improve your Maths

You might remember a while back when I posted an article called: Improve your mental maths, where I wrote about some simple tips to improve your maths mentally.

Looking back, there is a lot more to write about mental maths and I might publish a second blog post in the near future about more tips you can use. 

At the moment however, I'm going to write about how you can get better at mathematics in general and not just in your head.

For many people, maths is a dreaded subject simply because of the difficulty a lot of people find with it. It doesn't have to be though, and by using these tips, I'm sure your maths will start to see an improvement.

1. Practice

The main thing you can do which is going to help more than any other piece of advice on this list, is to practice, practice, practice. I can't stress enough how essential it is to practice. Whenever you see people who are good at something in particular; for example some who plays a musical instrument, won't have become brilliant overnight, things do take time and effort to see the results. This is no different for maths, so try to schedule yourself some time for it.

A brilliant thing you can do would be to incorporate maths into your daily life. For example: when shopping you could do the costs in your head, doing discounts and taxes, counting people and working out percentages of certain categories (like male:female ratio etc), and time maths - which incidentally could help with your time-management skills.

2. No calculator

I'm not stating that using a calculator is a bad thing to do as there are many instances where we cannot mentally calculate something. However, using a calculator too often will only get you more used to not doing the calculations for yourself. Sure, you're getting the answer - but do you really know how. 

When you're next faced with a math problem, instead of whipping out the calculator and punching in the numbers, try doing it for yourself. Over time you'll start to see problems become easier to solve.

3. Learn the Multiplication table

The multiplication table is a really great resource to use for becoming better at maths. It helps with multiplication, division, and addition - but mainly multiplication. Start by learning individual number sets. For example; your three times tables, then your four times tables, then five, six, seven, and so on...

Use the 20x20 multiplication table, which at first may seem daunting, but by doing a bit each day though, it won't look anywhere near as scary as it first did. Don't forget to be patient, you won't learn the table over night. You've just got to remind yourself that persistence is the key.

4. Enrol in a math class

Whilst it is certainly within your capabilities to teach yourself maths and become quite proficient in the subject, there is nothing like having a teacher (someone who knows what they're doing) for help, instruction, and guidance. 

A teacher will have a syllabus to stick to and will make sure that you get regular homework. Homework sounds bad and isn't everybody's favourite thing to do, but it does help you to cement things into your mind.
Going to the lessons will allow you to review maths fairy frequently as-well, so coupled with homework and revision, it should prevent rustiness. 

It's also a great opportunity for you to get some one-on-one help and advice. The great thing about maths is that there are multiple ways of doing certain problems, meaning you can use the method that feels most comfortable for you. Maths teachers will be able to advise you of some of the more effective ways to deal with particular maths problems.

5. Learn math terms

Make sure that you get to grips with mathematical terms. Having an underpinning knowledge of these terms will allow you to grasp the relationships they have with each other a lot easier than someone who doesn't know what these terms are. 

You don't have to learn all of them, but having an understanding of the common mathematical terms will be extremely beneficial for you. Some examples would be things like: average, circumference, diameter, area, volume, common denominator, cube root, factor, denominator and numerator, acute and obtuse angles, polygon, prime number, prime factor, radius, ratio, right angle, and whole number.

6. Use simple steps

When becoming familiar with a certain thing, try to organise a small, clear, simple set of instruction sheets for yourself to review and use. Using your instruction sheet, do a few practice questions. You'll notice that the more you do these questions and the more you refer back to your set of instructions - the easier and more ground into your mind it will become. 
This will mean that when you come to doing these problems without your instructions to refer to, because of the practice you've been doing, you will already know the steps you are going to take to solve the problem, and won't need your instruction sheet anyway. 

Compiling instruction sheets for individual problems and topics will be very beneficial for improving you maths. When you no longer need the sheets, don't throw them away. Keep hold of them and put them somewhere safe (like a folder) and review them from time-to-time. If you don't do maths frequently then you will start to forget how to do things, but having these clear set of instructions on-hand will mean re-familiarising yourself wont be too much trouble at all.

7. Write out problems

When solving problems, unless you're trying to become a lot better at mental maths, write down everything you do. This includes all formulae and working out. Make sure that it's not only written out in full, but that it is written neatly allowing you to know what's happening with a simple glance. 

While it is a lot more tempting for you to skip over bits and do them in your head, only writing down the answers, it isn't nearly as beneficial for you as writing them down in full is. It causes you to slow down as you're having to take the time to write the problem out, and causes you to think about the problem more. It also defines them in your memory.

It's great for going back and checking answers as you're bound to have one or two (or more) wrong when learning. If you've done it in your head, how will you know where you went wrong - you won't. If however, you've written out all of your workings and the procedures you used, and it's clear to read - it will make finding and correcting your error a lot simpler.

8. Don't learn things late at night

I know there will be lots of people who smile at this, knowing to-well how hard it is to effectively learn something late at night. Your brain has been active throughout the whole day and at this time of night will want some rest, so by making it continue working when it's already fatigued, would not be doing yourself any justice whatsoever. 

You'll find that you will start to notice small errors slipping into your process, which you know full well could have simply been avoided, but because your brain is tired, it's not able to tackle the problem all guns blazing like it normally would. 

It's not uncommon to start feeling your eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and to start reading the same line two or three times before dropping off to sleep.

Mornings are the best time of the day for concentrating on something, when your body has recharged its batteries and is ready to face another day. You will notice a difference when studying early in the morning rather than studying late at night.

Summary

These are some simple effective tips that will definitely help you to see an improvement in maths, and if done frequently and properly, I can guarantee that an improvement will be made. 

So to quickly sum up a few points: make sure you practice and review regularly, learn things when your concentration levels are high, write out the process you use, get yourself a teacher if possible, learn mathematical terms, try not to use a calculator where possible, learn the multiplication table, and make things simple for yourself. I hope this post has been of use to you. :)