Practice makes habits. If we repeat an action over and over, it leads to a habit, not excellence. True masterly requires deliberate, focused, and correct practice to ingrain proper techniques.
Green Day Packers Coach Vince Lombardi once said “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”
How does Mindset apply this to our Math and STEM lessons? We teach not only math skills, but organizational skills and problem solving skills. One example is how we teach word problems. It’s funny how many groans I hear when students see a short answer or word problem on my tests. It’s important to remember that real world problems look more like word problems than the abstract practice drills students see in worksheets. We teach students how to read the problem, dissect it to its most important parts, and how to organize and interpret the problem by drawing or modelling. Finally, we teach students how to answer the question fully. This skill is especially important as I have seen many students come to an answer without knowing what the solution means! When students acquire the skill (and the good habits) to answer word problems, they will no longer groan or struggle with them.
We believe learning needs guidance. It is wonderful that the internet and AI can make worksheets for students to do extra practice, but without proper instruction, bad habits can develop. Mindset develops good math skills, behaviour and attitude. Your child can take these skills and habits into high school and beyond.