Seven signs your teen is falling behind in Sec 4 math

Why Secondary 4 is where it shows

In Secondary 4, Quebec math splits into three sequences: CST (Cultural, Social and Technical), TS (Technical and Scientific) and SN (Science). Whichever one your teen is in, the year builds directly on Secondary 2 and 3, and it ends with a ministry exam. In the ministry's information document for the 2025-2026 exams, 60 of the 100 marks went to six longer problems in which the student must “explain their mathematical reasoning.”

That is why most of the signs below are about how your teen works, not only about marks. You do not need to check a single answer to notice them.

The seven signs

1. Homework takes two or three times as long as it used to

What it often means: each problem is being worked out from scratch, because steps from earlier years (factoring, solving an equation, handling fractions) are not automatic yet. A Secondary 4 problem is built out of those steps, so one slow step makes every problem slow.

This week: sit nearby for one homework session without helping. Note which problem took longest and ask what the first step was. If the slow part is the same kind of step night after night, you have found the gap.

2. Whole problems left blank on tests

What it often means: a wrong answer means your teen started. A blank means they could not see where to start. The ministry's longer problems are marked on a five-level rubric whose lower levels describe partial work, so an organized start has a place on it; a blank page gives the marker nothing to place.

This week: when a test comes home, count the blanks separately from the wrong answers. Pick one blank problem and ask your teen to tell you, in their own words, what it is asking for. If they cannot, the trouble is reading the problem, not the math.

3. “I understood it in class,” but the homework will not start

What it often means: following an example is not the same as choosing a method. Many Secondary 4 problems do not say which tool to use, and on the ministry exam most longer problems ask the student to “choose and carry out” the steps themselves.

This week: ask your teen to explain a problem they got right, as if to a younger cousin. You do not need to follow the math; listen for the word “because.” Steps with no reasons usually mean the method was copied, not chosen.

4. Homework marks are fine, test marks are not

What it often means: homework done with notes open, a friend on the phone or an app checking each line can look perfect. The test is done alone, against the clock.

This week: compare the two on the school portal, then ask how last night's homework was done. Neither answer is wrong; you are finding out what the homework mark actually measures.

5. Math is always last, or “there's nothing due”

What it often means: avoidance. A math notebook that stays at school, or studying that starts the night before every test, is often the first visible sign that the subject has started to feel hard.

This week: check the portal for the next test yourself, and put two short math blocks in the week, before anything else that evening. Short and regular is easier to start than one long night.

6. The teacher keeps writing “careless mistakes”

What it often means: when the same slip appears test after test (a lost minus sign, a fraction handled wrongly, a term moved across the equals sign without changing its sign) it is rarely carelessness. It is usually Secondary 2 or 3 material that never became automatic.

This week: read the comments on the last two or three tests and look for repeats. Write the repeated one down. It is the most useful sentence you can bring to the teacher or a tutor.

7. Talk of dropping to another sequence

What it often means: “I'm just not a math person,” or a sudden wish to move from SN to CST, is worth taking seriously, but it is a decision, not a fix. The ministry's program allows a change of option at the end of Secondary 4 “only in certain specific cases,” and the sequence affects which CEGEP programs stay open. Our guide to CST, TS and SN sets out which.

This week: talk to the math teacher before anything is decided, and ask one question: is this a gap that can be closed, or a real mismatch with the sequence?

What to bring to the teacher

When outside help makes sense

• Two or three of these signs have lasted more than a few weeks.
• The repeated mistakes are in earlier years' material, which the class will not stop to reteach.
• A change of sequence is on the table and you want to know first whether the gap can be closed.

Good help starts by finding what is actually missing. In my sessions that means a short written diagnostic first; practice between sessions, if your teen wants it, written for the exact topic and marked before the next one; and a written recap after every session to whoever booked. Sessions run in person in Montreal or on Zoom.

If you would like to see the level for yourself, the free Secondary 4 worksheets are written to the SN program. The algebraic expressions sheet is a good first check, because factoring turns up all year.

Free Secondary 4 practice

• Secondary 4 Algebraic Expressions worksheet (SN)
• All Secondary 4 math worksheets