I used to be a great math student. It would come naturally me, I never really had to "study" for the tests to get my A's. This all took a turn when I took PreCalculus in Highschool. I remember getting my first test back and seeing a 67/100. I was horrified! I was in shock! When my mother found out, she repeated her famous line "Practice makes Perfect!" She made me sit down with my textbook. She made me start from page 1 of the textbook. She told me to read every single word on the page including the captions under the pictures. She also made sure I did every single example problem and all the practice problems, yes all 97 of them (that was just for one section of the chapter). After doing this for 2 days. I took my next math test.
When my teacher was handing back the test I prayed I at least would get a B! But I was in for a surprise...I received 93/100. My teacher was so happy with my improvement she had put smiley faces all over the page! I couldn't believe it!
Getting good grades isn't dependent on how hard or easy the material is, but how much effort you put into studying. The way one studies is how one does on their quizzes/tests. With math, there is one sure way to excel and that is practice. Yes, it is tedious and will take hours but it's worth it! There are no shortcuts in math.
"Practice makes Perfect" is a saying that is preached by many. I used to get tired of hearing my mother repeating this over and over. But now I find myself saying this over and over to the kids I tutor.