Why does my teenage son hate math?

Question

He has been in honors math classes for the past 2 years, Algebra II and Pre-Calculus. His grades have been marginal. I know he is capable of doing the work, but his attitude prevents him from being the successful student I know he can be. He scored 600 on the math section of the SAT. How can I help his attitude improve?

Answer 1

well according to what you are saying, it just seems as if he isn't challenged engough. Perhaps you should get him started in doing calculus (real stuff..not pre-calc stuff)

because i mean i was decent in math and i found algebra and pre-calculus stuff boring.

also you should discuss what are his longer term goals, what university? which faculty? what major/program? because if he were to go into a science program, you can explain to him that he must get the good grades; however if he were to enter..say a english program or whatever ...it really doesnt matter.

Answer 2

people don't speak in math because the karma police will arrest you.

math seems really abstract, so i think attitudes about it can change if we know that math explains many important things. i'd try to find something your son is really interested in, and explain how math is relevant to it. MONEY, computers, engineering, car insurance, sports, chess, game theory, and all the sciences. when i say computers, i mean everything in computers. hexadecimal counting exists basically for the sole purpose of computers.

even music can be explained by mathematical models with "Hit Science Software." since mainstream top 40 radio is so homogenized and generic, the success of hit singles can be predicted with a computer program (second link in source).

math is just presented as a really boring subject in school with no real interesting application. the most interesting math class i took was statistics because it's applicable to everything. surveying is important to understand in any field, and normal distributions, standard deviations, and confidence intervals are actually used in court.

good luck.

Answer 3

i am my mother's teenage daughter, and math used to suck derriere. but now, i like it. because my mom took stuff away, and not crappy stuff like tv, but like my ipod, my radio, my computer, my dance team, my after school activities. then, i had to go to tutoring everyday and get a note signed everyday saying what teacher i went to, what i did, and the date. i hated my mom to the death during this time, but now that i look back on it, im glad that she did it, cause it not only tremendously brought up my grade, but i was also focused on my work, and i found that if u just follow the formula, then it's pretty cool. this is what i recommend u do. it won't be fun, but it's worth it i guess. i hope this helps

Answer 4

Many kids in school perpetuate the unfortunate opinion that it's "nerdy" to be good at math. Some often fall to peer pressure and just say, "I hate math," when the material is easily within their grasp.

Answer 5

He might be struggling with it or if not, he might be under a lot of stress, trust me i would know, i went through that. My GPA went from 4.0 to 2.4 during my early teen years (I recovered from it).

Answer 6

you should explain to him the benefits and privileges of taking honors classes and how they can help him in life.

Answer 7

See if you can introduce him to someone, chemist or physicist, who uses math in his everyday life, and can make it come alive.
http://www.ams.org/
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler
http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/MathJobs.html
These sites can help!

Answer 8

give him solutions of the problems of his book.

tell him to study by writing

tell him to give you a private, calculus , lesson.

Answer 9

For me it was because I sucked at it , for him maybe he isn't sufficiently challenged by what he is being taught.