Does your child speak negatively about maths?

One of the first signs that your child might be struggling with maths is that they speak negatively about it. Maths anxiety is a real thing, but it can be overcome with individual attention, good experiences and more understanding through practical experimentation.

The anxiety of students who 'are not getting it" tends to build up year after year if it is not addressed. Teachers do a fantastic job in schools, but it is a human trait that individual students learn at different speeds and their level of recall from previous maths learning can be wide ranging. Since maths is a topic that builds on prior knowledge, it isn't hard to see why students can easily fall behind.

"One on one" maths tuition in a supportive environment where students can ask questions at the time the question occurs, can experiment with the numbers, make mistakes and see the value of those mistakes is extremely valuable in the journey to making sense of it all. Making mistakes is a huge part of learning maths. Unfortunately, many students are embarrassed that they get the 'wrong' answer or they "think they are dumb" which couldn't be further from the truth. Making mistakes shows what doesn't work as much as what does work and is all a necessary part of learning maths.

If you child is talking negatively about maths by around Year 6 or 7 then think about getting them some individual maths tuition so that they are on track for high school. Everyone doesn't have to love maths but they do need to be able to do it to live and work in the 21st century.

Pre-enrolment is now open for places at The Maths Room NZ, Christchurch for 2020. The Maths Room caters primarily for students from Year 6 to Year 13.

Further reading on maths anxiety can be found https://www.mathgoodies.com/articles/math_anxiety