Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Key Stages 1-2 and SATs advice

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kenyancowgirl
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by kenyancowgirl »

"....Also children are really competitive..."


Ain't that the truth! I still remember when my boys were younger and went through the "not being keen" on veggies stage.....by simply serving them their meat/potatoes on their own plate and putting the veggies in between them in a bowl to "share", natural competition to not share, meant veggies got eaten in abundance...
yoyo123
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by yoyo123 »

:lol:
Pollymum
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by Pollymum »

DC17C wrote:I genuinely think some people don’t have that capacity to be put on the spot and work things out and then for some the stress is enough to cause them to panic...I always need to have a bit of space around me to think and process things. Give me a bit of paper or let me close my eyes so I can work it out. I am very much a visual thinker....and used to blank out if toomuch pressure or attention on me.
I’m not sure if that counts as some sort of deficit or disorder but getting awareness of it has helped....
This is exactly what my son does. He actually asks me to play 'meditation' music when he is doing maths questions so it reminds him to relax. There is a really good TED talk on maths anxiety which we watched together and it helped him to see that he is not alone.
Pollymum
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by Pollymum »

loobylou wrote:My ds is older (year 8) but was also getting quite stressed about what he perceived as his difficultly with some maths (I suspect well above average but fairly average in his school). This year he asked me for support and it was good (for both of us). I found it helpful to help him break things down into component parts and show him strategies to cope with his immediate panic-feeling when he couldn't remember what to do. I discovered he was looking at the whole sum and panicking because he couldn't immediately get to the end of it. By working out tiny stage by tiny stage and being reminded that he could do those stages (with tons of praise) he is now feeling a lot happier about maths.
I also discovered that he had put some pressure on himself to get into top maths set next year - I'm sure he won't have done and I'm quite glad about that - but it was very helpful to realise he was feeling that pressure (internal, nothing from us, but also wanting to "keep up" with his sister) because I could help to diffuse it.
So helpful thanks. My son is certainly able but deosn't see that the problem can be worked out by taking it in bitsize chunks.
Pollymum
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by Pollymum »

yoyo123 wrote:I play lots of games with my "Maths Club" ,
Online games are great
try mathplayground( who do tablet friendly games)
sheppard software


This one is really good for speeding up mental maths. Ther is a 2 player version as well.
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Gh ... /gbcd.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://www.arcademics.com/games/meteor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is great for co-ordinates
http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/Bi ... coord.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also play snakes and ladders. Have a set of questions (e.g. tables, How many cm in a metre etc.) You play against the child. Everytime the child lands on a snake they can avoid going down it if they answer question correctly. If they land on a ladder they need to answer the question to be able to go up. When it is your turn they can stop you going up ladder or make you go down snake by answering a question correctly. It works well as it puts them in charge, rather than playing against someone who has better ability. Also children are really competitive, turn anything into Bingo and they are well away.
Super thanks - i think he will love the coordinates one.
Pollymum
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by Pollymum »

Thanks everyone - some great ideas for me to look at. He is strong in all other areas so I hope he flourishes in confidence soon.
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by yoyo123 »

Pollymum wrote:
DC17C wrote:I genuinely think some people don’t have that capacity to be put on the spot and work things out and then for some the stress is enough to cause them to panic...I always need to have a bit of space around me to think and process things. Give me a bit of paper or let me close my eyes so I can work it out. I am very much a visual thinker....and used to blank out if toomuch pressure or attention on me.
I’m not sure if that counts as some sort of deficit or disorder but getting awareness of it has helped....
This is exactly what my son does. He actually asks me to play 'meditation' music when he is doing maths questions so it reminds him to relax. There is a really good TED talk on maths anxiety which we watched together and it helped him to see that he is not alone.
Maybe download some maths colouring pictures and play some calming music whike he does them?
Amber
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by Amber »

yoyo123 wrote:Maybe download some maths colouring pictures and play some calming music whike he does them?
Unless he has colouring anxiety...2 of mine loathed colouring more than anything else. If they were ever given it for homework (educationally super-valuable, eh?) I used to do it for them to save them the stress!
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by ToadMum »

Amber wrote:
yoyo123 wrote:Maybe download some maths colouring pictures and play some calming music whike he does them?
Unless he has colouring anxiety...2 of mine loathed colouring more than anything else. If they were ever given it for homework (educationally super-valuable, eh?) I used to do it for them to save them the stress!
One of ours would probably enjoy the colouring. All three would almost certainly run a mile from anything calling itself meditation music, though
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
mystery
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Re: Maths Anxiety - 9 year old

Post by mystery »

He will, literally, feel a load off his mind when he knows his number bonds and times tables properly. Look at the website Power of 2 and buy the book Plus One and then Power of 2 and work through them with him exactly as per the instructions. It will work wonders.

They have some other useful materials n there too. Whatever you have used so far for his bonds and times tables has not been logical and repetitious enough for him, no matter how well it might have worked for others.

He sounds like he is good at maths but these basic parrot fashion recall f number facts has escaped him as yet.
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