Question 24043
That's a wide-open question, and there are a LOT of possible reasons.  Some teachers are better at explaining math concepts than others, some books are harder to understand, and some students just seem to catch on faster than others.  I remember a lesson I had in high school a LONG time ago.  Our teacher was out sick for a week, and we had a substitute.  The substitute was a nice man, but I just couldn't understand his explanations.  I was usually good at math, but I just didn't get it.  However, when our regular teacher came back (and he was GOOD!), that lesson that was so hard before was unbelievably simple. So, sometimes math LOOKS hard, and sometimes it IS hard.  Most of the time, I think it just hasn't been explained on our level.  


There are other possibilities.  Do you have prerequisite skills?  I imagine a student who decides to skip Algebra I and go directly to Algebra II would be hopelessly lost from the first day.  NO amount of homework, or outside help, or EFFORT on the part of this student would make Algebra II easy for him/her.


Finally, there are some ways to study "hard" that are not studying "smart."  For example if you spend 4 hours at one sitting trying to do homework, you are definitely studying HARD, but it's NOT a good way to learn math.  You should break up the assignment, do a little bit of it (up to your attention span!) and come back!  But don't forget to come back and COMPLETE ALL THE ASSIGNMENT!!


Maybe the book is hard to understand.  Maybe you should try my website by clicking on my tutor name "rapaljer" anywhere in algebra.com, and to to "Basic Algebra", then "Samples of Basic Algebra: One Step at a Time", and start with Chapter 1.   Almost my whole book is there free.  Maybe it will be easier to understand.  A lot of my students think it is.  And hey, the price is right!


R^2 at SCC