Helpful Strategies For Helping With Math Anxiety

How often do you thinking “I hate math! I wish I never had to do it!” Well that may not just be yourself talking. In recent studies it has been found that students who are told that math is difficult by parents or other adults themselves believe that math is difficult. Instead of encouraging the fear of math in children, adults should encourage them and try to help with math not complain with the children or to not help them making the excuse that the parent or adult is bad at math. While the adult does not have to make math seem like the best thing in the world, they need to avoid stating the common association that they do not like math, or that they are not good at it.

You need to be able to use different strategies and resources in order to develop mathematical skills in young children, you can do this through focused activities as well as using the learning environment to stimulate children’s learning.

Children enjoy moving playing games and taking every chance to playing outside. However, many school administrators do not consider physical education an essential part of the academic curriculum. According to Satcher’s article “Healthy and Ready to Learn” (2005), there are an estimated 20 percent of all elementary schools in the United States have dropped recess in favor of more classroom time, 9 million children are overweight, childhood weight problems can lead to elevated blood pressure and joint problems, these problems often continue into adulthood. At the same time, many children have such a hard time learning math which is one of three foundation classes. Children with math anxiety are so worried about doing math that it lowers

As a mother, homeschooler and coach, Teresa Carter, the founder and author of MathUsolve.com, believes that mathematical problem solving should be part of every child’s curriculum. It is because during her years of coaching students as well as her own young children, she has discovered that problem solving helps students develop deeper understanding of mathematics. As many students do not believe that they would ever be very good at solving problems, her goal has been to help her students develop confidence in their own mathematical ability by helping them become better

Math is all around us. Everywhere you go there is some sort of math involved consciously or subconsciously. Even though math is all around us, and everything we do involves math, I myself must say I dislike math. Research has shown there are many more people that dislike math compared to those who do like it. A survey done by a nonprofit organization named Change the Equation asked 1,000 middle school kids in 2010 whether they would prefer to eat broccoli or do one math problem, surprisingly more than half answered they would eat broccoli. Throughout the years, there have been many different strategies created on how to introduce and/or teach math to children.

Mathematics anxiety has been studies for the past “50 years” (McMahon 2015), because it is a problem that affect many Americans. With all of the studies done, there is still much to be known about it and its effect on students. Mathematics anxiety has been defined by Vahedi and Farrokhi (2011) as “negative cognitions, avoidance behaviors, and feeling pressured and inadequate in performance that combined interfere with solving math

Based on the example of Juanita, there are strategies that could be used to help reduce her anxiety that she is experiencing due to having to take a math test. Test anxiety can negatively affect Juanita’s academic performance on the test so it is important for the counselor to be able to provide her with strategies that can help her to cope with the anxiety (Parsons, 2007). Different strategies to help Juanita could include teaching coping skills, study skills, and relaxation techniques (Capuzzi & Gross, 2014; Parsons, 2007). Also, to normalize the strategies the counselor can provide guidance lessons for all students using the same relaxation techniques and provide an overview for teachers and parents so that the same techniques could be used

The common hatred for math is likely fostered by a student’s past experiences (Kiser, 2016) and not by the student’s lack of knowledge. The differences between students’ perceptions of math can be explained by their mindsets (Hocker, 2017). Those with a fixed mindset believe their abilities and intelligence are fixed or static. While those with a growth mindset believe their intelligence can grow and change (Dweck, 2006). Developing a growth mindset is a fundamental job of teachers and parents (Degol, Wang, Zhang, & Allerton, 2017) and can be established through proper instruction (Boaler, 2016) and creating a relaxed environment (Caine & Caine, 1991). Additionally, growth mindset can be fostered through simple interventions that promote learning about the brain and how it can change (Hocker, 2017; Wieland, 2011). After a growth mindset has been established, students’ perceptions (Hocker, 2017; Schleider & Weisz, 2016), confidence (Boaler, 2016; Degol et al., 2017), success (Hembree, 1990; Fitzgerald & Laurian-Fitzgerald, 2016; Kiser, 2016; Shen, Miele, & Vasilyeva, 2016; Wieland, 2011), and attention to mistakes (Boaler, 2016; Schoder et al., 2017) will improve. Furthermore, students’ anxiety will decrease as a result of developing a growth mindset (Boaler, 2016; Hocker,

I learned first and foremost is that the United States has more young high school graduates than any other nation and have a large population of those enrolling in post-secondary as well. I do believe that this is true because in order to succeed in the US we must have some sort of degree. Other nations teach a trade which is amazing because those are the ones who we contract to fix our homes and businesses. No, most do not have a degree but a certificate in their field of trade. Math anxiety is the feeling of nervousness towards Math and it’s problems during classes and or exams. It normally begins when we are a child and escalates throughout life. By the time we are adults and have not dealt with it, we feel dumb when approached with an issue involving possibly the simplest numbers. Due to this many of us stay within our comfort zone which is away from numbers as long as it’s in a form of a paycheck. Math anxiety is not just a problem in our heads, it can cause us to discontinue taking math classes beyond the requirements. This tends to limit our choices with regard to college or career opportunities. Because we've had a bad past experience we avoid Math at all cost, just like myself. Most people tend to leave school feeling like a failure due to Math. There were many words I came across in the reading which described me and those are:

I have experienced math anxiety in the past that had started in elementary school. I experienced the “blackboard anxiety” in the second grade. Each day we started math class with picking teams to race against one another while solving mathematical problems on the blackboard. It was extremely stressful to attempt to complete a mathematical problem on the blackboard with all of your classmates cheering you on if you completed the problem first and correctly or booing for you if you provided an incorrect answer or finished second. I also had a math teacher in middle school that my brother had previously. This teacher continued to compare me to my brother who was phenomenal and enjoyed working with numbers in math class. I recall the teacher telling me that I was nothing like my brother who completed the class without losing a point all year. I

Among the top five academic anxieties (Test Anxiety ~ Math Anxiety), on the average (mean) of Score, Math Anxiety had the lowest Mean score (Funk, 2009). These results are difficult to believe given Funk's previous research and mention about the majority of adults returning to having such high level of math anxiety upon returning to higher education (Funk, 2009).

•What are some things that a student can do to overcome math anxiety? Begin by breathing. Write down the problem and apply what you already know. Break down the problem by using the order of operations and go step by step until you come to the answer.

Math anxiety levels and performance outcomes were compared for bilingual and monolingual community college Intermediate Algebra students attending a culturally diverse urban commuter college. Participants (N = 618, 250 men, 368 women; 361 monolingual, 257 bilingual) completed the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale (AMAS) and a demographics instrument. Bilingual and monolingual students reported comparable mean AMAS scores (20.6 and 20.7, respectively) and comparable proportions of math anxious individuals (50% and 48%, respectively). Factor analysis of AMAS scores, using principal component analysis by varimax rotation, yielded

Maths is ubiquitous in our lives, but depending on the learning received as a child it could inspire or frighten. If a child has a negative experience in mathematics, that experience has the ability to affect his/her attitude toward mathematics as an adult. Solso (2009) explains that math has the ability to confuse, frighten, and frustrate learners of all ages; Math also has the ability to inspire, encourage and achieve. Almost all daily activities include some form of mathematical procedure, whether people are aware of it or not. Possessing a solid learning foundation for math is vital to ensure a lifelong understanding of math. This essay will discuss why it is crucial to develop in children the ability to tackle problems with initiative and confidence (Anghileri, 2006, p. 2) and why mathematics has changed from careful rehearsal of standard procedures to a focus on mathematical thinking and communication to prepare them for the world of tomorrow (Anghileri).

Mathematics has always been a difficult subject for students. Many children have developed phobias and barriers towards mathematics, which prevail into adulthood, thus limiting their potential. This limitation implies problems of learning, resulting in the child a sense of inferiority.