What is Math Anxiety?
| Brainbuilder™, Global News, Maths, Test, Uncategorized
Math anxiety is a feeling of tension, apprehension or fear that interferes with math performance (Ashcraft, 2002).
Under the recent pressure of the NAPLAN, it is important for us to recognise the impact of math anxiety.
There is increasing stress being placed on mathematical performance by teachers, parents and students themselves. Math anxiety’s impact on a child’s mental health and education is hardly a trivial issue. This is surprisingly common in both Australia and is more relevant in some cultures across the world.
Doing math can cause negative emotions in students. Negative emotions are not handled the right way or attended to often lead to anxiety and has an effect on mathematical ability.
Students generally experience math anxiety within a traditional class room setting. Pressures such as teacher authority, a fear of public embarrassment and time deadlines are the most common causes.
There are signs that your child may have math anxiety, according to Oxford Learning. Children who stress at math can become unwillingly to try and rely on others to do math for them. This may feel like they are the only ones who are bad at math and it will be this way forever.
Behavioural responses such as these certainly obstruct a student’s capacity to learn new subjects and to keep up with the curriculum. Children will eventually fall behind in these situations and math anxiety escalates.
We are fully aware of the effects of math anxiety and how important they are to overcome at BrainBuilder
Our teachers recognise the benefits of positive reinforcement in helping students feel like they can be good at math. Supportive encouragement is key in allowing students to reach their full potential.
BrainBuilder’s objective is to build up our students confidence as it plays a vital role in performance. Smaller classes and a less formal environment let our teachers help children to get comfortable with arithmetic to increase their self-confidence.
Learning at BrainBuilder is lots of fun! Using the Singapore Math curriculum, we use teaching in a hands-on fashion, proven to be both highly effective and engaging for students across all levels.
