It is ironic that I have a 6-year-old who can whip through her homework and solve math problems like there is no tomorrow. She obviously didn’t get this talent from me. And if you would have told me this 6 months ago, I would have been shocked.

It is hard to believe but expectations for math skills are incredibly high, even for kindergarteners. I was dismayed last year to find that my daughter’s kindergarten teacher recommended she receive tutoring over the summer for her math and abcs. Kindergarten is a lot different than it was when I was there taking naps and playing with stuffed animals.

The sad thing is that I could not afford a private tutor over the summer. So far, her rudimentary math skills are fine. Right now she is a great math problem solver. She is doing very simple addition and doing it well enough to meet her teacher’s expectations, but I know this could again change. The beginning of the school year is often spent reviewing material from the following spring.

I tried tutoring her myself over the summer. It didn’t work. I am not a math person. While I can help her with her homework for the next few years, as soon as she hits algebra, I’m useless. This is why I changed my college major from business to journalism. Now that I’m aware of all kinds of online help, I realize all of these can help math skills improve for both of us.

Of course, if I would have known there was free algebra help at my university, things might have been different. I did not know there was free college algebra help at the time and so I really just gave up instead of learning an important skill.

Students nowadays also have a terrific advantage with computers and online access being so prevalent.
Anyone with online access can find free online math help with the click of a mouse.

I know that when my daughter needs help with math in the next few years, there are a plethora of options for her online.