When someone asks a child to calculate a total, many of them experience math phobia and anxiety. This is only a math phobia. These kids consider maths to be nothing less than a horrible demon. They start to sweat excessively, and their heart rates go up just thinking about solving a maths problem. Along with these prominent physical signs, children also have certain behavioral problems. This blog will educate readers about conquering math phobia by analysing its harmful effects on our children. The blog will also provide a few strategies for parents to deal with it.
Children who experience math phobia perform poorly on tests. On seeing the question paper, most kids feel as though their minds just vanish. According to the most recent research, math phobia not only affects students’ performance on tests but also their ability to focus while learning new mathematical concepts.
Strategies for Parents
Numerous studies support the value of parents in conquering math phobia by participating in their children’s educational processes. Therefore, increasing parental involvement in our child’s education is one of the simplest strategies to conquer math phobia. Additionally, research says that how parents perceive mathematics impacts how their kids view their abilities in maths (Yee & Eccles, 1988).
We as parents should observe our child’s unusual behaviours, such as crying when given a maths assignment. Some kids might tend to complain about how they’re just not as brilliant at maths as one of their peers. Parents should be aware of the methods used by teachers to help a kid with math phobia. Some parents interact with the teacher frequently and share concerns about their kids with them. Kids of such parents certainly perform better.
Positive reinforcement greatly helps in coping with math phobia. As a parent, we should discuss the issues with our children and emphasize the things that they did correctly when they made a mistake rather than being harsh. We should praise and highlight the expertise of our children, and we should remain optimistic about the ones that still require improvement.
We, all parents should refrain from saying things in front of our kids where kids feel comparison to their own siblings or peers. Telling our children that they simply learn at a different rate and discouraging this kind of discussion where our child feels that he is compared to anyone can really help. This type of discussion negatively affects the child’s mind. We all should first understand that there is no competition in math and then only we can help our child well.
In addition, a lot of people have succeeded in life without becoming mathematicians. So, obsessing over math scores is entirely unjustified. We as a parent must clearly understand and even convey to our kids the same. Last but not least, the key phrase is “Math fear can be conquered with a patient, optimistic, and supportive attitude towards kids.”