27 February 2026
Mathematics can seem like a complex and highly abstract subject, but mathematical formulas provide a practical framework that helps students understand questions and arrive at the correct answer. To help your child memorise these formulas, you can support their learning with several encouraging techniques.
Although memorisation can be helpful, maths memory relies more on your child’s ability to understand the concepts behind formulas and apply them effectively to solve specific problems. Simply memorising a formula will not work, as there is no real comprehension behind the formula’s underlying concepts in relation to solving specific questions.
Under exam time pressure, rote memorisation may hinder problem-solving because your child cannot correctly apply the maths formula to find the answer. Panic in such a situation can prevent them from thinking clearly and undermine their confidence in maths.
With sufficient practice, your child can gradually store these maths formulas in their long-term memory. This reduces cognitive load on their short-term working memory while they focus on a question, enhancing their ability to quickly solve it by applying the formula’s concepts accurately.
The right approach can make a substantial difference by helping your child memorise maths formulas and apply them in the right situations.
Visual aids and mental imagery, such as graphs, charts, and flashcards, can be quite helpful for memorising maths formulas, as they provide clear details and examples of how a formula works. You can even assign visual cues to a formula’s components to make it easier for your child to remember them. The more unique they are, the more likely they are to recall the entire formula.
Another aspect of visualisation involves using real-world examples that relate to a maths problem. Using these examples is a great way to help them understand more abstract maths concepts that are difficult to express with visual aids. This way, you can make the formula more approachable and memorable for your child, making it easier to recall and know when to use it.
Mnemonics are verbal memory aids that provide a shortcut to remembering maths formulas. Much as visualisation uses imagery to aid memorisation, mnemonics rely on catchy or funny phrases and abbreviations to quickly recall a maths formula. One classic example is recalling PEMDAS, the order of operations (parentheses, exponents, multiplication and division, addition, subtraction). Your child could use the common mnemonic “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” to make it easier to recall this concept.
Complex maths questions can be challenging to understand all at once, so your child should learn to break them down into manageable chunks. This process involves breaking down a math question or complex equation into multiple components (or chunks) that are easier to understand. Chunking reduces your child’s cognitive load and improves their confidence when answering complex questions.
A memory palace uses recognisable locations to form a mental map that your child can use to memorise maths formulas. Your child would associate certain formulas with specific places in this memory palace, where each formula may be visualised as a prominent part of a room within the palace. They only need to visualise themselves exploring the memory palace’s rooms to recall the specific mathematical formulas they memorised. This vivid mental image they create facilitates faster recall, helping them solve maths questions with little difficulty.
Practice makes perfect, and your child needs plenty of it to allow them to memorise each maths formula that they are learning or have learned. Regular exercise with worksheets, past-year papers, and quizzes can help cement their understanding of how to use the relevant formulas for the correct questions. You can mix things up with fun, engaging activities that test their knowledge without making it feel like another classroom lesson. A balance of fun and focus can keep your child learning at all times.
Part of that consistency can come from study groups with your child’s peers, including classmates, each of whom brings different degrees of mathematical understanding to the table. As such, this allows students to learn from one another, deepening their understanding of maths formulas. This collaborative effort, in turn, can greatly boost your child’s self-esteem and counter maths anxiety.
As parents, there are various ways you can support your child’s maths memory through positive reinforcement and other methods that maintain their curiosity and drive to learn new maths concepts.
Repetition and consistency only work if they are set on a regular schedule, not back-to-back without breaks. This means that all work and no play makes it harder for your child to stay focused, and they may end up memorising what they learned without understanding the finer points behind each maths formula. Let them have some time to rest and relax before they get back to their lessons.
Positive encouragement is another way to help your child, as it makes them feel that their learning efforts are paying off. Even if they make mistakes, offer them a shoulder they can lean on and tell them it is okay to fail occasionally. The important thing is to take the time to learn where they went wrong and pick themselves up to improve. Do what you can to help them up and keep their learning journey going.
Setting boundaries and creating a conducive study space can help your child’s concentration and retention of maths formulas. It is advisable to keep gadgets and toys out of sight to avoid distracting them while they are studying.
Matrix Math provides personalised maths tuition to help students strengthen their mathematical fundamentals across various topics, including memorising and understanding key concepts. Contact us today to learn more about our teaching approach!
