How to Learn Math on Your Own

You can learn mathematics on your own at a high level. It is not that hard. Mathematics is an insanely complex subject, and any complex topic in mathematics can be tackled with dedication and perseverance. Math is the language of ordinary reasoning. It outfits the procedure of envisioned learning, which is dependent on prompts and cerebrum preparation. You can learn math on your own. Taking online classes is one of the options for improving your skills. Also,  the internet is a vast repository of knowledge. So, nothing can stop you from achieving your goals if you have a strong will and determination.

As long as you are dedicated to learning the subject, you won’t have to face any problems. But there is one drawback you can do nothing about. If you learn from books, you will be completely at the mercy of how the text proceeds. That is, unlike a human guide, it is just a book. You cannot question a book and expect answers from it. But a human guide can answer your questions! And they could further go to the extent of discussing topics that aren’t covered in the book you’re reading and relating them to what you’ve learned in an entirely new way. They can also talk about the mistakes they made in the past to prevent you from going through the same. This adds a new dimension to what you’re learning.

Also, continuing to learn anything will force you to go too deep into what you learn and fundamentally specialize in a specific area. This is because any form of social interaction related to the subject you are learning will let you know the broader side of the subject. A mathematics book stays within the context it was written in, and like every book, well, they are static. They won’t change! A human guide, on the other hand, can introduce a concept that is absolutely unrelated to what you’re learning right now. And this will enrich your understanding.

Note: Self-learning lets you go deep into the subject. Getting help from a guide helps you visit multiple concepts in a subject. Both of these must be in perfect balance, as long as you don’t wish to over-specialize yourself in a very small domain.

Some Basic Steps to Learn Math at Home

Learning math at home is not difficult; one must first follow some basic steps and then stick to them. Here are some pointers to get you started.

1. Decide your aim; without a perfect aim, how will you achieve your target?
2. Gather materials, collect notes
3. Prepare a timetable, make time management a priority and be regular
4. Share your concerns with others who can help you if needed
5. Do practice problems
6. Play with math
7. Apply math outside the classroom

Key Branches of Math That Everyone Should be Familiar With:¹

1. Foundations
2. Arithmetic
3. Algebra
4. Geometry
5. Trigonometry
6. Calculus
7. Probability and Statistics
8. Number Theory 
9. Topology

These are the important branches of mathematics, each with their own unique features and distinct concepts. These branches are crucial for creating a solid mathematical foundation.

Step-by-step Procedure to Study Math on Your Own:²

Step 1 – Start with an explanation

The first step to learning anything in math is to get a first-class explanation of the topic. You may get this information from various sources. One such resource that covers a huge swath of topics is the BYJU’S website.

Wherever you get your explanation, your first step is to watch it once so that you feel you understand the basics of how it works. If you watched the explanation but didn’t understand it, there could be two possible problems:

1. You’re attempting to cover too much ground without engaging in any practice: A good pattern is to understand a chunk of the topic at hand and then try it yourself. If you only try to understand but never practice, that’s a bit like watching videos on skiing and never hitting the slopes.Because you lack firsthand experience, the explanations will eventually cease to make sense.
2. You’re probably forgetting some basic prerequisites for comprehending this piece of math: That implies you’ll have to go back and redo it. If it feels like it “went too fast” or you don’t know what the teacher is doing, you may need to go back a few lessons and learn those better before proceeding.

Step 2 – Do Practice Problems

Math is something you do, not something you watch and memorize. If you spend all of your time watching videos and then get to a set of problems, you may have a difficult time applying your math knowledge. This can make you feel like you’re “bad at math,” even if the issue is simply that you’re learning it in the wrong way. This can be corrected by resolving the issue as soon as possible.

If you don’t have any problems to work on, there are a few things you can do:

1. Work through the problems as explained  without looking at the answer.
2. Construct your own problems and see if you can solve them.
3. Try to prove concepts in the class. This is a more advanced method, but it is required to properly understand more complex math.

Hey, you can become an ace in math by learning the subject by yourself.

Step 3 – Know How Math Works

Math requires an intuitive grasp in a way that other subjects don’t. While having an intuitive understanding of vocabulary words in a foreign language might be beneficial, they must still be memorized. Memorizing math, on the other hand, might be problematic if it pushes you to learn it without understanding. The next step is to convince yourself that you know how math works. Identify the core concepts in the math you’re learning, and use the techniques to convince yourself that you understand them.

Step 4 – Play With Math

Practicing is good, understanding is better, but playing with math is best. Once you have solved some questions provided to you and convinced yourself that you understand them, a natural extension of this is to try to play with the math you’ve been given. How do things change when you try changing the numbers or applying them to different problems? Take a topic of math you’ve learned recently and see how you could change the variables, apply it to different things, and modify the formulas.

Step 5 – Apply Math Outside the Classroom

Ultimately, the goal of learning math should be to use it, not merely pass a test. However, to do that, you need to break your understanding free of the textbook examples and apply it to real-world situations. This is a more challenging task than simply solving a problem. Applying math to real life, on the other hand, necessitates understanding the issue, translating it into math, and then solving the problem you’ve created. Take a recent math topic and try to identify a real-life scenario in which you could compute it, using your own numbers or approximations if they aren’t accessible.

If doing all these five steps on every single thing you learn in math is  taking a long time, that’s completely fine! You don’t  have to do this for every little thing you need to learn. There is a repository of similar articles that offer tips and tricks to learn math in a fun and engaging way. To explore such articles, visit BYJU’s Future School Blog. 

References:

1. Main Branches of Mathematics Tree | PDF | Pure & Applied | Leverage Edu. (n.d.). Retrieved May 4, 2022, from https://leverageedu.com/blog/branches-of-mathematics/ 
2. How to Teach Yourself Math – Scott H Young. (n.d.). Retrieved May 4, 2022, from https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2018/12/11/teach-yourself-math/ 
3. How to launch and maintain math by myself, math writing, math with someone? | CodingWithFun.com. (n.d.). Retrieved May 4, 2022, from https://codingwithfun.com/faq/how-to-launch-and-maintain-math-by-myself-math-writing-math-with-someone/