Ways On How To Overcome Maths Anxiety
How to effectively overcome maths anxiety? To enable us to overcome math(s) anxiety problems in kids, we need to have a full and clear picture of the underlying problems and how they manifest in real lives; ‘a cliff view at tackling the real challenge by zooming in’. This is what I have discussed in some of my previous blogs. We identified the problems and then understood how to avoid them.
When people are faced with a situation that requires them to do basic mathematics, many people feel extremely nervous. Anxiety in math is more than just feeling uncomfortable about mathematics. Anxiety, generally, is a sensible reaction to a rather stressful situation.
If you get panicky just trying to think about math, you’re not alone. Many people, and not just kids, are anxious about maths.
Several children and adults feel stressed and anxious when it comes to doing math(s). People who have experienced stressful thoughts when confronted with math-related scenarios could experience what we call “math anxiety.”
Since math anxiety affects many people and is linked to lower math skills, it is important to understand when and how math anxiety first develops, what triggers in the brain when people have concerns about math, and how to help people with math anxiety.
What Happens To A Child’s Brain When They Experience Math Anxiety?
One reason would be that the human brain can handle only certain information at a time.
Working memory is a part of the memory system that is used to recall and keep information in your mind. So you can use it when performing tasks. This is a mechanism in the brain that helps us to process information.
If a child starts to feel stressed, some of their working memory is used up by the math anxiety they experience. Therefore, they don’t have enough working memory left to solve the problem.
Math anxiety triggers children to think and stress about how afraid they are of math. This consumes the resources of cognitive working memory that they could otherwise use to do math problems. They then find themselves focussing more on the negative things that could occur where their maths studies are concerned instead.
Anyone Can Have Mathematical Anxiety – But How Can You Overcome Maths Anxiety?
Anxiety in maths is a problem that people can encounter inside or outside the classroom.
It’s pretty common for children to say they do not want to do the math. However, if a student experiences various feelings such as anxiety and fear of failure while doing maths, that should be a reason for concern.
Anxiety in mathematics can harm a child’s ability to perform well not only in learning but also in one’s everyday activities. It is also important for a teacher or parent to learn about the fact that anxiety about maths can affect students’ academic and regular life tasks as early as first grade.
Anxiety in mathematics is the situation wherein an individual becomes incredibly anxious while doing mathematics or discussing mathematics.
Taking Maths Anxiety Seriously
Anxiety regarding mathematics can be triggered for a number of reasons. However, it is important that an individual identifies anxiety in mathematics. As well as practice appropriate methods to deal with anxiety in mathematics.
It is therefore important for an individual to understand anxiety in mathematics as soon as possible, and to attempt to find the different approaches in which this condition can be solved.
I’m the guide of my precious children, we have to help them as adults.
What Causes Math Anxiety?
Wrong Approach to Timed Exams & Activities Related To Maths
The limitations imposed on students through timed exams leave them feeling nervous. This causes them to not be able to effectively think about things they have no trouble normally remembering. Since these exams may have a negative effect on performance, these reinforce the child’s fear of failure. This produces a negative feedback loop which can be tough to break.
Fear of Public Humiliation
This can also be related to past negative experiences. If a student is scolded for getting a wrong answer, it can intensify their anxiety. The same is true when the student is in front of people he or she feels humiliated by. Oftentimes, these situations breed negative reactions to similar events.
Teacher’s Perception Towards Maths
Teachers affect their students’ behaviour. They may also pick up on the sentiments regarding math from their class. When a teacher is enthusiastic about mathematics or optimistic about it, the students will tend to be too. However if the teacher does not like maths themselves (it sadly happens!), the students tend to end up with a dislike of maths too.
Preventing Maths Anxiety On Children – Methods On How To Overcome Maths Anxiety
Getting A Tutor
Tutors will also greatly affect the sentiments of a student regarding mathematics. If instructors, teachers, and tutors keep on reinforcing maths as something fun. It will gradually help change the perception of a child with maths. This is quite effective with a trained instructor who is there to complement the learning process. The most important thing, however, is that the tutor loves maths themselves, and knows how to teach so they can pass on that enthusiasm.
When in class, there are several students who are being guided by that one teacher. However, tutors can provide that much-needed personal attention that is focused on your child. Tutors can help students function in a low-pressure environment, throughout their problems in maths. Tutoring can also boost confidence among students.
Positivity About Maths
Students with math anxiety have to realize they can excel in mathematics. Check the student’s schoolwork and determine all the problems he or she has been getting right and the ones that they are getting wrong. Emphasize on correct answers, rather than shortcomings. Associate the student with encouraging students, friends, and teachers when necessary.
Build A New Perception About Maths
Redefining stress, anxiety, and fear in a positive way can lead to improved performance in mathematics. Before doing anything, get a pupil to note down his or her problems with maths and what makes them feel nervous about it. Your child will start to recognize their concerns may be unfounded by having to think carefully. Children can be encouraged to create illustrations as an alternative for writing. Help them with reframing by allowing your child to interpret tests, problems, and homework as challenges rather than problems.
Is It Possible To Overcome Maths Anxiety For Adults?
Oftentimes, maths anxiety starts while you’re still young, and often it stays in your mind for a very long time unless you take notice of it and try ways to get rid of it.
If maths anxiety contributes to poor performance on a few math exams, many sadly arrive at the conclusion that they have been born to be terrible at math. Maths anxiety does lead to poor performance most of the time, because of the mindset.
As a parent, did someone make you believe that you’re bad at numbers when you were younger? That person could be you, or a teacher. Either way, it does mean that you have to change the way you think and completely erase this mindset of “not being good at maths” and instead think of it as a challenge.
How Does Maths Anxiety Affect Their Daily Activities?
A clear explanation about why maths anxiety affects results on activities such as timed exams because the intense negative emotional response drains the energy from the cognitive ability.
Redefining fear in a positive way as a way of enjoyment is another approach that has contributed to enhanced mathematical success. Start to redefine the way that you think about mathematics today.
It is possible to go back on basic topics to the start and learn mathematics in a much more fun and creative approach. Nonetheless, it is tough for adults experiencing maths anxiety to transform their overall perspective on an idea that has been expressed so negatively for a long time.
How Can We Help?
Low performance in maths can cause math anxiety, and math anxiety can result in poor performance in maths. Therefore, this creates a negative feedback loop. But the challenge is, as parents, how can we help the maths anxious children free themselves from being trapped within their negative mindset about math? Furthermore, how can we help everyone escape this mindset altogether?
We know how.
As with any other skill, you can learn to do maths. It is possible if you want to. It just requires the right kind of guidance. Instead of showing our children (and ourselves) that math is hard, we need to tell them how significant those abilities are in our lives.
Here, we discuss the solution and support in detail for parents, to help fix math(s) anxiety.
Understanding the problem is a big step forward in solving the problem. Together, we can combat math(s) anxiety and build a successful future for every child when we all play our part as parents and guardians.
Our Key Objectives
One of our main objectives of learning what triggers mathematical anxiety and how mathematical anxiety affects the brain is to find ways to help people with mathematical anxiety and prevent it from happening.
When a child feels more comfortable about their math skills, they will conquer anxiety levels.
Making math(s) fun the right way, with a tried-and-tested method and structure that works, is by far the easiest way. It is the main solution.
I will show you and explain some very simple methods and techniques that can be used to help every child understand math(s) successfully. You do not need to be good at math(s) or understand the new teaching methods used.
Why I Help Children Fall In Love With Maths
Maths is my passion and my book, ‘Make Maths Fun: How to Help Your Child Increase Confidence Through Games’ (which you can get on Amazon) has so many hints and tips to reduce maths anxiety, one child, at a time! Click here to pick up your copy today! <add CF link>
Take the opportunity to move one step in the right direction and email me at hello@racetoinfinity.com. This will allow you to discuss individual cases, please click here to email me.
Maths is my passion and my book, ‘Making Maths Fun’ has so many hints and tips to reduce maths anxiety, one child, at a time! Click here to pick up your copy today!
Take the opportunity to move one step in the right direction and book a complimentary 30 minutes chat with me, this will allow you to discuss individual cases, please click here to schedule your call.
