You may not have gotten a solid math background in elementary school.
You may not have gotten a solid math background in elementary school. Math is a cumulative subject, as each new year builds upon what you’ve learned before. To understand 10th-grade math, you will need to have mastered topics like fractions and decimals. If you are struggling with these concepts, it’s best to go back and brush up on them before moving forward with your high school studies.
You may be trying to do high school math without having learned the prerequisites.
You may be trying to do high school math without having learned the prerequisites.
- Identify the basic concepts that are required for this section. For example, in 10th-grade algebra, students learn how to solve quadratic equations by completing the square. To do this, they must know what a perfect square is and how you can factor quadratics into two binomials. If you don’t know what a perfect square is or why you would want to factor a quadratic into two binomials then you need to learn these concepts first before attempting this problem on your own.
- Explain the various ways that you can learn these concepts. Many colleges offer courses that teach beginner-level mathematics such as Algebra 1 and Geometry; however, if these courses are not offered at your school then it will be necessary for them to self-study these topics through textbooks or online tutorials provided by their school district’s website (if available).
You’re homeschooled and haven’t had a teacher to help you along the way.
If you’re homeschooled and haven’t had a teacher to help you along the way, it can be hard to get the guidance you need. This is especially true in mathematics classes—some students have trouble with math because they don’t understand how to learn from a textbook or PDFs and aren’t able to get assistance from teachers.
If your 10th-grade math homework is giving you trouble, you must find someone who can help! If not for yourself, then for your future as an adult: knowing how to do your taxes will be important when it comes time for tax season! Here are some tips on how to figure out what needs fixing for this problem area.
When you were in school, you weren’t paying attention to whether or not you were understanding the content.
When you were in school, you weren’t paying attention to whether or not you were understanding the content. You may have been daydreaming or talking with friends instead of paying attention. You may have been distracted by other problems in your life. You may have been bored by the content and didn’t feel like learning it at that moment. Or, maybe you had trouble in other subjects and decided to focus on those for now (which is fine!).
You didn’t think that you needed math and figured that you’d get by without learning it.
You may have thought that you could get by without learning math, but math is a vital skill for almost any career and it’s used in everyday life as well. The most obvious place where math is used is in sports, from baseball to basketball. But there are many more places where you’ll find examples of math being used:
- Music: scales, chords, and melodies all rely on basic addition, subtraction and multiplication. The same goes for art! Artists use geometry to create their works of art; artists also often need to understand proportions and measurements so they can properly frame the scene they’re painting or drawing.
- Cooking: measurements are an essential part of cooking—they help determine whether or not your recipe will turn out correctly! If you don’t have enough flour in your cake batter then it won’t rise properly while baking; if you don’t have enough egg whites when making meringue cookies then they won’t hold their shape once out of the oven (and who wants floppy meringue cookies anyway?).
You’re taking a class that goes too fast for you.
You may be taking a class that’s too fast for you. If your school has an accelerated program and you’re enrolled in it, this could mean that the teacher is going at such a quick pace that it’s difficult to keep up with the material. Additionally, if you’re having trouble with math because of a lack of time—for example, if you have other responsibilities or extracurricular activities that take up most of your time—it may be best now to take some time off from learning math until things settle down.
The teacher doesn’t explain things well or doesn’t teach in the way that works best for you.
If the teacher doesn’t explain things well, or if you just don’t understand how to do the assignments, you can ask for help.
- Talk to your teacher.
- Use a math website that has lessons and explanations.
- Get an app for your phone or tablet that will help you with homework problems and quizzes. Like Answers which is designed for homework help.
- Ask a friend or family member who is good at math to help you out when they have time (and only if they want to). Also, check out books from the library!
Your life has changed, and your work schedule prevents you from studying as much as you did when you were in high school/college.
Your life has changed, and your work schedule prevents you from studying as much as you did when you were in high school/college. Many adults are busy with work, family, and other responsibilities. They may not have as much time for studying as they did when they were younger.
There are many valid reasons why an adult could struggle with math.
There are many reasons why an adult can struggle with math. The most common reason is that they haven’t practiced or studied the subject for a long time. This can be because of distractions and other responsibilities taking up their time, as well as not having a good teacher who can explain the concepts to them clearly.
Another reason why adults may struggle with math is that they don’t understand how it applies to real-life situations, which makes learning difficult in general. If someone doesn’t know how something works, then they aren’t going to understand it when learning new things about it. For example, I love ice cream but if someone asked me what color green was, I would say blue instead because green reminds me of one of my favorite flavors (mint chocolate chip)!