Middle School: How To Help Your Child Learn Logical Mathematical Skills

How can I help my middle school-age child learn logical-mathematical skills?

One of the best ways that we can teach logical and mathematical skills to middle school children is a process which we call "thinking aloud." That is modeling the problem solving behavior, showing the child how we solve the problem. A lot of parents talk to their children and they elaborate on the a way of thinking - such as process of elimination - that helps to solve a logical problem. As the parent is helping the child work through a problem, such as a technical problem with a computer or possibly charging up their cell phone, the parent can model for the child by thinking aloud: "It may be this or it may be that, I'm going to try this strategy because..." and we can hopefully foster that type of logical thinking in our children.