How consistent routines can build confidence to learn more and achieve more.
Many students we talk to think that they way to improve their mathematical ability is through long revision sessions or last-minute revision before exams. The truth is most progress is made by something much easier – small daily habits.
Unlike some other subjects, Maths is a skill. It is true that there are facts to be learnt and knowledge to remember, but regular and short practice builds understanding, reduces the anxiety around Maths and helps students retain knowledge.
Here’s our top 10 guide for making Maths a small daily habit.
Step 1 – Spend 10-15 Minutes on Maths Every Day
Keep it short. Maths should not feel like a marathon. If students are completing practice papers, think about doing 4-5 questions at a time. This keeps the concepts fresh, students can spot mistakes early and therefore confidence grows.
Some other ideas are:
- 5 practice questions on a particular topic.
- Reviewing notes or previous work.
- One exam-style question to build up exam practice.
Step 2 – Always Review Mistakes (Not just how many are correct!)
As a teacher something I never do is write the total marks on the front of any of my students’ exam papers. Why? Students will look at the mark and not the individual questions.
Feedback needs to be meaningful. The most successful sports professionals get to where they are by looking at what they are doing wrong and changing it. Otherwise, they would repeat the same mistakes – students unfortunately fall into this trap too often. High performing students will naturally ask “Why did I get this wrong, what confused me or what did I forget?”.
What we recommend is to have a “Mistakes notebook” where students can write tricky questions or key facts that have forgotten to reduce mistakes in the future.
Step 3 – Say the Method Out Loud
One of the biggest benefits of tutoring is that students cannot hide away in a classroom of 30. They need to be able to talk through the Maths. By talking through topics, students must explain their thinking and starts to help map their understanding in the memory.
Parents will often tell us that their son or daughter completes Maths differently to the way they were taught, which is understandable as there are many methods to the skill of Maths. Instead of this conflict, we try to encourage parents to ask, “Why do you do it that way?” This will allow the student to explain their thinking and get a deeper understanding of the topic.
If a student can explain why something works, they normally have a good understanding – not just memorizing processes.
Step 4 – Practice Mental Maths Daily
Many will say that mental Maths is not as important towards GCSE’s as students can write their methods down. However, research has shown that strong mental maths reduces the cognitive overload during exams.
Some simple daily habits to improve mental Maths are:
- Quick times-tables practice
- Estimating calculations and then checking with a calculators
- Doing small calculations in supermarkets without calculators
Strong mental Maths helps build number fluency which means that students can focus on problem solving skills instead of struggling with arithmetic skills.
Step 5 – Look at Tomorrow’s Lesson
Confidence is key. Students that go into lessons with strong prior knowledge linked to a new topic will make the most progress. Being able preview future lessons, students can start thinking about the links between topics and reduce any anxiety through preparation.
Some ideas on how to prepare for a lesson:
- Read previous notes on the topic.
- Watch a short explanation video
- Look through some exam questions.
Allowing students to prepare for future lessons allows topics to feel familiar rather than overwhelming giving students a greater chance of absorbing more information.
Step 6 – Use Past Papers Regularly (Not just before exams)
Splitting papers up into sections or even just one or two questions can be a very effective use of past papers. As a teacher, I would start using one or two exam questions in my lessons for my Year 8’s onwards, just to help reduce any anxiety when they see more of them in future years.
By regularly seeing exam questions students start to recognise the patterns in exam questions, learn how marks are awarded for each question and reduces the anxiety around exams.
Even with students completing one exam style question per day, over time exams start to feel predictable rather than stressful.
Step 7 – Keep a Consistent Revision Timetable
I remember a teaching telling his students discipline eats motivation. We all have moments where we feel motivated, but it’s having the discipline to get things down when we don’t have the motivation that matters. keeping routines matters more.
I remember a teaching telling his students discipline eats motivation. We all have moments where we feel motivated, but it’s having the discipline to get things down when we don’t have the motivation that matters. keeping routines matters more.
By choosing a regular time slot of 10 to 15 minutes trains the brain to expect to focus at that time. Students then do not waste energy deciding when to work and therefore are more likely to be disciplined in their revision.
Best times to revision? That’s down to the student’s lifestyle, but we recommend the following times:
- After school before relaxing.
- After dinner
- After homework from other subjects.
Step 8 – Ask Questions!
We speak to so many students that say they do not feel confident enough to ask questions when they are struggling. Again, tutoring has the benefit of students asking for help without the audience of a classroom, but students need to keep asking questions to support their understanding.
Small moments of confusion that quickly and easily become major gaps in understanding for core Mathematical skills.
Best practice:
- Students to write down questions during lessons.
- Bring questions or problems to teachers or tutors are the beginning of lessons.
- E-mail us – we’ll always help with any Maths problem!
The longer the student is confused, the harder it becomes to rebuild their confidence in the topic.
Step 9 – Celebrate the Smaller Wins
Going up a whole grade in Maths is a fantastic achievement, but also a massive step for most students. As said above, confidence is key. Students improve much faster when they can notice the progress they are making.
Progress might be seen as students being able to solve a question they couldn’t previously, improving scores on topic tests or simply feeling more confident towards exam questions.
We use reporting regularly as it helps our students shift from “I’m bad at Maths” to “I can see I’m getting better at Maths”
Step 10 – A Good Night’s Sleep and Regular Breaks
Something I only fully realized later in life is how important sleep really is. At some point we have all tried to do the late-night revising for the test tomorrow. However, research shows every time that learning happens when the brain rests and is rested.
Benefits of regularly quality sleep:
- Improves memory retention
- Strengthens problem solving skills
- Reduces exam stress and anxiety.
Late-night revision often results in slower progress and a less productive following day.
Why Small Daily Habits Work
Daily habits reduce the chance of gaps forming meaning students do not need to keep relearning previous topics before exams.
Small regular habits lead to a better understanding, improved problem solving, increased confidence and higher achievement.
To achieve in Maths is rarely around ability but more about consistency.
How Tutoring can Support these Habits
Most of the students we talk to know that they need to practice more regularly, but don’t know where to start and what to focus on. Tutoring helps to structure this by creating clear weekly goals, identify gaps early, build regular study routines and providing encouragement.
If your child is losing confidence in Maths, the right support and small daily habits can make the difference in learning more and achieving more.
Want Help Building a Consistent Maths Routine?
Visit our contact page to get in touch to organise an introduction lesson. We can help build in structured routines to allow your child to gain the success they deserve.
The whole Mathsplus team are here to help if you have any other questions – even if it’s not about Maths! Feel free to e-mail succeed@mathsplus.co.uk with any questions – we’re more than happy to help!
About the author
Written by Scott Dyer.
Scott is our lead tutor with over 16 years of experience working in the education sector. Being a qualified SENCo, previous Head of Maths and a lead in Teacher Training, Scott continues to work with school to help improve Maths results by promoting a growth mindset to build more confidence around Maths.
