Does your child struggle with math anxiety? Here’s what you need to know.
Have you noticed that your child often has an increased stress level when completing math homework or studying for a math test? A little bit of stress may actually be a good thing, helping students be more productive and to strive to achieve, but math anxiety is more concerning. A child who struggles with math anxiety may make errors even when he knows how to work the problems, leading him to avoid doing math homework, and possibly causing him to lose interest in or avoid school altogether.
We don’t always know what causes math anxiety. For example, it could be that there was a bad experience with math, such as being called out in class for having a wrong answer, having to solve math problems at a chalk board in front of the class, or picking up a parent's math anxiety.
There are a number of ways parents can help reduce their child's math anxiety:
1 – Talk to your child to see if there’s an obvious cause for his worries. Was there an incident in school? Maybe an issue with getting a particularly bad grade? Your child may not even recognize the basis of his anxiety, but a conversation is a good place to start.
2 – Make sure that your child understands basic math concepts. This will give good groundwork and help him to feel more confident.
3 - Try to find the right level of challenge without working beyond his ability level so he doesn't get overwhelmed. Do recognize though, that some amount of stress is actually a good thing. It helps him to strive a little harder or a little longer, and he will feel a real sense of accomplishment when he reaches an understanding of the problems he is working on.
4 – Work together with your child’s teacher to find out what triggers the anxiety, to recognize behavior patterns, and to resolve these issues.
5 – Hire a tutor who will can work with your child, one-on-one, to grasp the concepts he's struggling with, or even to develop the learning strategies needed in order to overcome his particular struggle.
6 – Teach your child how to take effective notes while in class, to copy down any important problem-solving formulas, or any tips that his teacher shares. Reviewing these notes at the end of the day will reinforce what's been covered in school that day, a little at a time, rather than cramming all the information in before a test.
7 – When you’re helping your child with math homework, focus on the problem-solving process when a wrong answer is discovered, rather than focusing on the mistake. Let him know that you’ll figure out the problem together. Additionally, if you don’t understand the problem yourself, let him know that too. It may help him to know that you need to work to solve the problem!
8 – Watch how you talk about math. Is it a fun puzzle that you’re doing in order to come up with the answer? And make sure to avoid expressing your own math anxiety to your child. Don’t say, “I’m not good at math either.” This will not only increase anxiety, but will inadvertently tell him that you think he's not good at math. Express confidence that you can help to work out the problems and understand the concepts together.
9 – Play real-world math games. Have your child make change when shopping, figure out coupon discounts, help with cooking and baking activities, use fractions when measuring out ingredients or halving a recipe. There are many real-life math applications that are used every day, so take advantage of these moments.
Math anxiety can be a real challenge, but know that it’s also quite common. There are ways to work to overcome this struggle and should you want or need our services, Foundation for Learning is here to help. Just give us a call at 610-207-7811 and we'll work on this together!
