What to Do When Math Tutoring Isn’t Working Math can be an agonizing topic of conversation for many students—and many parents, too. In fact, many Americans struggle with math skills even after school. If your learner is having a rough time, the first line of support most parents turn to is math tutoring. But how do you know if that’s the right type of assistance for your student? And what do you do if math tutoring is not working out? One of the big challenges of math learning is that it requires a strong base of pre-existing knowledge and familiarity with math concepts. For example, kids learn to count first, then learn addition and subtraction, before tackling more complex ideas. But if a student struggles early on, math can become that much more of an uphill battle. In these situations, it makes sense to turn to math tutoring for help filling in the gaps. Sometimes, this can be fantastically useful in getting a learner up to speed. Unfortunately, it can also fall short for many other students. If that’s the case for your child, you may be wondering: Why isn’t tutoring working? Let’s explore some potential reasons. Why Isn’t Math Tutoring Working for Your Student? 3 Reasons Math Tutoring Isn’t Working When math tutoring isn’t successful, it’s easy for students to become discouraged and lose hope in building effective math skills. In reality, it just means there’s a mismatch—knowing what’s not working can help you find the right support for your learner. With that in mind, here are a few common reasons tutoring may not be working out: When learners have a cognitive difference. For those with a cognitive difference, like dyscalculia or ADHD, or who otherwise have a tough time in the classroom, tutoring can replicate those struggles and frustrations. That can immediately make the learning process more difficult. When a student requires more time to develop math skills. When a learner struggles to grasp math concepts, it may be because they require more time working on foundational math skills. In these situations, if tutoring isn’t focused on developing the skills, it won’t necessarily yield success. When learners are missing underlying learning skills. For students who struggle with focus, visual processing, or other underlying cognitive skills, it’s not necessarily about math concepts or math skills. Without effective learning skills in place, many subjects are likely to be hard to approach. It’s important to know that these aren’t insurmountable challenges. With the right support, targeted at the right areas, it can be that much easier for a student to excel. With that in mind, let’s take a look at one alternative: brain training with LearningRx. Brain Training vs. Math Tutoring First of all, what is brain training, and how does it differ from math tutoring? Brain training is focused on cognitive skill development. That means working on underlying skills—learning skills or subject-specific skills, like math skills. These are the abilities required to approach learning, reading, remembering, and understanding with greater ease. Unlike brain training, math tutoring isn’t focused on building underlying skills, but on conveying information and concepts from the classroom. This is great for kids who excel in school but need to catch up on a few missed lessons. But it’s often less effective when kids don’t have the skills needed to retain information and concepts from math class. For those students, brain training can be a transformative way to think about learning, thinking, studying, and remembering math concepts. By targeting those skill gaps, we can help learners approach math with new confidence! Building Math Skills with Brain Training At LearningRx, we offer a one-on-one approach to math support. Unlike many math tutoring programs, we target the skills needed for effective math learning. With an approach tailored to each learner, our math brain training programs emphasize logic and reasoning, short-term and long-term memory, and focus. We also help students become more familiar and well-versed in broad concepts that are applicable across math subjects, like thinking in quantities and numbers, analyzing math calculations and problems, and more. Unlike math tutoring, which is usually designed to cover a specific topic—these math skills can be leveraged well beyond one class or subject. They can be used again and again throughout a lifetime of math learning! Math Skills Programs for Every Age Math skill development isn’t just exclusive to kids and teens. It’s also a great opportunity for adults to develop more confidence and familiarity with numbers, too! Instead of math tutoring, try brain training. At LearningRx, we personalize each program based on the skills and abilities of each learner, starting with a comprehensive Brain Skills Assessment. Our hands-on, dynamic approach can be a refreshing alternative to classroom-style teaching. For students of all ages, we’re committed to unlocking a new love of learning! To learn more about the difference between math tutoring and brain training, or to explore our math skills programs, contact LearningRx today. You can visit us online for more information, or speak to our team by calling 1-866-BRAIN-01.