Help! I'm Failing Sixth Grade Math!

Sixth grade math can be quite a challenge for some students. It’s the time when teachers expect their classes to begin the shift from learning basic skills to applying them. There are more word problems and more complicated applications involving multiple steps. Students who are having trouble often can trace the problems to several areas of learning, including vocabulary, formulas and procedures, and practice. Here are strategies to isolate the difficulties and improve the situation. Even if it’s too late for this school year, the strategies will help students get off on the right foot next year in seventh grade. Get the help you need to pass 6th grade math right now!

Like all areas of learning, math has its own specialized vocabulary. You need to understand these important words in order to be successful because they tell you how to approach problems and questions. It’s impossible to do well in sixth grade math without knowing the meanings of words like integer, ray, ratio and perpendicular.

Textbook authors realize the importance of vocabulary, and so new words are always highlighted in each chapter or section. If you are having trouble with math, the first step to fixing the problem is to make sure you are speaking the same language as the math teacher. Go through the textbook and confirm that you know all the words. Write them in a notebook with their definitions. Put them on cards and match them with their meanings. Use them in conversation with parents, teachers and classmates. Whatever system works best for you, use it. Learning 6th grade math vocabulary is the first key to passing sixth grade math.

Many of the skills in sixth grade math are more complicated than those learned in elementary school. Basic computation forms a foundation for work with fractions, decimals, ratios and more. Problems require a good command of all four operations plus knowledge of concepts like properties, order of operations, and positive/negative numbers. Many new ideas are expressed as standard formulas using letter names for variables, such as ½ bh for the area of a triangle.

If you are having trouble recalling and applying formulas or procedures, start a math notebook. This is separate from the binder required by the teacher. You will keep it permanently and add to it year after year. In your notebook, write down specific, step-by-step directions for using each formula or for going through a procedure. Put the directions in your own words so they are easy to understand and remember. Make note of when to use the idea, how to determine which number matches which variable and the order of the steps to accomplish.

Sixth grade math has a lot of concepts and vocabulary to learn, but that’s not the end of it. The only way to make these ideas familiar and useful is through practice. Practice makes it possible to distinguish the many different kinds of problems and to solve them fluently. Practice also makes it possible to complete computations quickly and accurately. Most math teachers offer guided practice in the form of homework activities, so routine completion of the homework is the first step to improving the math grade. Even if the homework doesn’t account for a large percentage of the final grade, don’t make the mistake of skipping it or rushing it.

Some students need more 6th grade math help or practice than others. Some topics in math may be tougher than others for an individual. It’s quite possible that a student might need extra practice over and above what is assigned as routine homework. Use the final few problems of every assignment as a self-assessment and if they seem difficult, find additional practice from other books or on the internet.