Larry on the subject of Math Anxiety

The bell rings and everyone takes their seats. The teacher passes out the test and, with sharpened pencils, everyone prepares to turn the page and begin. The student next to you flips open the first page and seems to begin answering questions with ease. Time seems to speed up, nervousness kicks in, and you stare at the first test question but forget how to complete it, even after having studied the material over and over. Panic rises and before you know it, the hour is done, the test is over, but the innate fear of it all hasn’t subsided. Parents, this is what we call “math anxiety.”

Numbers on a page not only confuse some children, but can also potentially give them full-blown anxiety. This “math anxiety” is intense and feels similar to stage fright. In many cases, math anxiety comes from a student’s memorization of the correct procedure and routine to solving a problem, as opposed to developing a core understanding of the problem. When this happens, children quickly forget what they’ve learned, and anxiety sets in.

As parents we want to eliminate as much stress and offer as much support to our kids as we can. Working with teachers and outside resources is one the best way to get your child comfortable with math content. It is extremely important that you let your child know that just because they don’t understand something the first time doesn’t mean they won’t understand forever.

One way to sharpen these skills and avoid math anxiety is through math instruction outside of school. It is a false misconception that extra help is only for children falling behind in school. Additional lessons and preparation is not only beneficial for kids struggling with the material, it also benefits those students who understand the material and want to strive for further concept and skill development. We want to see our kids keep up with the curriculum, not just try to catch up with daily lessons.

One of Mathnasium’s core math lessons helps our students with Computational Fluency and this includes effortless recall of number facts with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These core skills and principles are extremely valuable for building a strong foundation of basic math aptitude, which will carry forward through grade levels.

We will make sure our students are able to:

Be fluent in adding single digit numbers, something they will be able to do quickly and efficiently with practice

Count from any number to any number, by any number; this will aid them with more advanced math problems

Use Mental Math, for example:

• How much is 5, three times?

• 99 + 99 + 99

• 301 – 195

• 4 x 26

• 1,000 ÷ 16

• 7% of 300

• 6 ½% of 150

All of the above skill sets are crucial to the core understanding, and ultimate advancement, of the math knowledge necessary to compete in the global economy. At Mathnasium, we work to eliminate “math anxiety” and replace it with “math confidence.” From this confidence comes long-term success in math.

- Larry Martinek

Wholes and Parts

Add 17 + 18 + 19. Do it quick! If you reached for a scratch sheet to get to the solution of 54, you didn’t do it wrong, but here’s a different way to think about this question:

First, round each number to the nearest 10 (20 in this case), and add the 20 three times, making a total of 60.

Now, take away 19 from 20 (1), 18 from 20 (2), and 17 from 20 (3). That gives you a total of 6 (1 + 2 + 3).  This 6 represents how much “extra” you added by adding 20 three times instead of just adding 17, 18, and 19.

Finally, take the 6 from 60 and you get 54 as your solution!

Try this:  99 + 99 + 99.

By doing this mentally, we can help children to develop strong numerical fluency skills.

Number Sense is the ability to appreciate the size and scale of numbers, in the context of the question at hand. Three elements establish Number Sense: Counting, Wholes and Parts, and Proportional Thinking. We already discussed Counting. Today, we will focus on Wholes and Parts.

The concept of Wholes and Parts is the backdrop for many mathematical concepts.

A whole that is broken into equal parts creates fractions. 100% of something represents a whole. Many people do not have a clear idea of what a fraction represents nor do they break down the word ‘percent’ for what it is: per-CENT—“for each 100.” Without a solid understanding of Wholes and Parts, solving word problems becomes very difficult.

Wholes: equal to the sum of its’ parts.
 
Parts: equal to the whole minus the other part(s).

Let’s dig deeper, starting with complements. A complement is the amount needed to make a whole complete.  Problem solving comes to the ability to identify the missing part(s) or the complement.

Children should be asked to visualize and answer a question like:

Together we have 10 pieces of candy. You have 7 pieces. How many pieces do I have?  Here, the whole is 10 and one part is 7.  So, the other part is 10 minus 7 (the whole minus the part, you know).

This will help set up their understanding of complements.

Children also need to be introduced to the fraction “half” as being “2 parts the same.” Before other fractions are introduced (1/3s, 1/4s…) children need to master questions like:

How much is half of 6? 3? 7? 20? ½? 99?

and…

Half of what number is 5? 10? 25?

Wholes and Parts creates a strong understanding of the structure of mathematics, eventually building up a child to understand how to solve complex fractions, equations, and word problems.

When dealing with Wholes and Parts, kids really like examples that deal with cookies, sandwiches, or anything they can eat. Try this example:

You have a box of cookies. You get to eat half of them after lunch and half of what you left over after dinner. After dinner, you have 3 cookies left. How many cookies did you start with? The answer is 12.

When a word problem is set up like this, children can often visualize the situation. If visualization doesn’t work, have a Plan B (drawing a picture), or C (using physical objects) until the child understands.

For every kid, there is a way to explain every topic in a way that makes sense to them.