Students who complete Algebra II in high school more than double their chances of earning a four-year college degree, according to multiple studies. Plan ahead in middle school or junior high to ensure that your child’s course plans leads to at least one advanced math course.
Here’s how:

  1. Learn your state’s graduation requirements. Your high school counselor can tell you what the requirements are, or you can go to the Education Commission of the States’ website, which lists the high school graduation requirements for all 50 states. His counselor can all help with college admission requirements.Even if your state doesn’t require it, encourage your child to take math every year of high school. Note: If he only plans to take three years of math, be sure that one of those three math classes is taken senior year.
  2. Find out what is available. Call your child’s high school to get a list of the math classes that are offered in your school. Be sure to ask if the classes have to be taken in a certain order. To determine if a math class is “advanced,” look for titles that include “college prep,” “honors,” or “Advanced Placement (AP).”
  3. Choose the best class for your child. Ask the high school counselor for her  recommendation on the most appropriate class for your child (see related ShortCut: Schedule a Meeting with Your Child’s High School Counselor.) You must also take into consideration what classes will help when applying for student loans for college.

What if My Child Isn’t Ready to Take Advanced Math?

If you aren’t sure that your child is ready for advanced math, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics suggest asking your child’s teacher or counselor the following questions:

  1. When and how will I know if my child's having trouble? What should I do then?
  2. Do you offer help on a one-to-one basis or in a group setting? When?
  3. Is peer-tutoring available? If so, how does it work?
  4. Does our school offer programs for catching-up or enrichment?

For other questions that will jump-start discussions about your child’s math preparation, visit FigureThis Math Challenges for Families.

How Can I Help My Child at Home?

Even if you aren’t a math-whiz yourself, you can still make math an everyday, fun activity that will encourage your child—and even you—to enjoy, rather than dread, math:

  1. Supplement class work by printing off worksheets from websites like Math.com The World of Math Online and MathBits.com.
  2. Make math a family affair. Play games like Sodoku or visit FigureThis! Math Challenges for Families for math brain teasers like these:
    • You find some old rolls of stamps.  Some are 15 cent stamps and others are 33 cent stamps.  Can you use a combination of 15 and 33 cent stamps to mail a package for exactly $1.77?
    • Would you rather work seven days at $20 per day, or be paid $2 for the first day and have your salary double every day for a week?

The math challenges use principles from algebra, geometry, and probability to solve fun questions.