Check out these tips for helping our pupils achieve their best in taking on Maths problems and overcoming maths anxiety issues.
Many people maintain a view that I can't do Maths. This can stem from feelings of maths anxiety or poor previous experiences. Maths anxiety is something that we can all encounter but we can all overcome.
Talent and maths confidence is something that develops over time and, in having a growth mindset, this facilitates pupils learning at their own pace, overcoming challenges and difficulties and becoming resilient learners.
Support your child to develop a growth mindset in the language you use with them, by being patient and encouraging them to focus on the long term goal of learning. Pupils need to learn that not all learning comes quickly and we develop a deep understanding by overcoming difficulties and challenges.
Learning tricky concepts can be difficult for our pupils and at times it can be frustrating when, despite lots of effort, we don't grasp the concept. In developing a growth mindset it is important to be positive in the process, finding opportunities to praise our learners and reassure them that their efforts are all part of the learning process. It's useful to remind them that in their efforts they are unravelling a learning puzzle and developing their problem solving skills. By making our pupils aware of the importance of patience and persistence it will help them develop really important values they can apply to other situations.
A fantastic way to encourage a growth mindset is to support pupils in talking about their work, about their thought process in reaching an answer and have them consider alternate ways they could have worked something out. In talking through a maths problem this supports a growth mindset, involving our children in their learning and making them consider approaches they may not have previously. When an opportunity arises talk about it - in Maths there is rarely one way to work something out!
Pupils all learn at different paces. As we saw earlier when we talked about a growth mindset getting things wrong provide a great learning opportunity. Be positive at home when our pupils find things difficult. Studies show that deep learning is best achieved in the face of adversity so when we struggle and reach a solution it is this knowledge that is more deeply embedded.
Perseverance is a key tool in the learning process. It's very easy for any of us to hit a brick wall in a learning activity, get frustrated and give up. If we allow ourselves to give up easily this can form habits that will affect our future learning. Promote the importance of stepping away and revisiting a problem from a different angle. Where can you get support or another opinion to help. Perseverance and resilience are key personal values which are crucial to any young learner.
Many of our young people who experience maths anxiety do so as a result of being in what they feel is a 'pressurised' environment. This could be anything from being asked a question in class, feeling pressure to answer within a time limit or sitting a test. At home, support pupil learning by setting aside time to support their maths work. With dedicated time and no distractions this can help create a more effective, less anxious environment for our pupils to learn.
Setting learning activities in problem-solving contexts can be really beneficial. Rather than simply using a Maths skill repeatedly in an activity our learners can think about how to approach a problem and to consider different ways in which to solve it.
Learners may approach a problem and discover a number of better ways to solve it, again creating a deeper learning experience. Get problem-solving! Check our support page for examples of problem solving activities.