Getting a Student to Understand Geometry

By Huntington Learning Center

Getting a Student to Understand Geometry

As parents, you know Geometry can be quite complex and sometimes your child can get lost when trying to remember terms like congruent triangles, quadrilaterals, and theorems, just to name a few. It's easy for him or her to confuse one of these terms with another or simply have problems grasping the concepts.

While it's true that every student has strengths and weaknesses, he or she will need to be able to shine in all subjects in order to do well in school. The good news is that, if you notice that your child is struggling with Geometry, there are things that you can do to help:

Spend extra time on difficult-to-grasp material

Geometry is about figuring out the position, shape, and size of forms and using the information to solve problems. Learning the basic principles of this discipline, however, involves a great deal more memorization and repetition than many other types of mathematics. If your child can't sort out which rules apply to a given situation, you're already fighting a losing battle.

By taking extra time to go over the concepts and to then ensure that your student understands how to use them in a problem-solving capacity, you will keep him or her from falling behind the rest of the class. Find extra problems for him or her to solve and test their skills!

Missing a day can hurt – hire a tutor!

Inevitably, your child will get sick or have a doctor's appointment and miss a day of class. While you may not think that's a big concern (it was just one day, after all), a lost day can actually have a big impact on your child's understanding of the subject matter.

Geometry concepts are built upon each other throughout the year, so if your student misses a key lesson he or she may fall behind. Unfortunately, many teachers just won't have the time to really review the material as fully as your child might need in order to truly grasp what that they missed. This leaves your child responsible for catching up, which could be problematic if he or she is having trouble comprehending the subject already. If this happens, a geometry tutor can get your child back up to speed and bridge the gap of that missed material.

The moment you recognize that your child struggling is the moment you can step in and help him or her to succeed. By taking some extra time to go over the key concepts of geometry with your child and hiring a tutor when they are falling behind, you can ensure that he or she gets the assistance that they need.