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Conquering the Fear of Maths


School kids may be divided into two broad categories: those who love maths and those who hate the maths subject.

Students who love maths need little or no guidance. Clear explanation and a few maths practice sums are enough to help them get better at the subject. However, things are not so easy with the other students. Student who dislike maths do so because they don’t understand it. This makes them fear the subject and that fear ultimately leads to dislike. As the parent it is important that you help your kid get over that fear so that child changes perspective and starts taking interest in maths.

Listed below are a few simple tips that you could adopt at home:

Remove the Negativity

Often times the parent’s perception of the subject reflects on the child. If you don’t like the subject and have showcased it quite a few times, your child will automatically dislike it as well. This is why it is highly advisable that you create a positive environment at home, which welcomes maths and problem solving. Talk about the advantages of learning maths and how maths will be useful in the future. Be enthusiastic about the subject so that it encourages your child to make an effort and voluntarily engage in maths practice.

Use Real Life Examples

Kids learn better with real life examples because they instantly connect with them. You should take advantage of this and present such instances. For example, you may ask your little child to cross the groceries and then verify the grand total. If your child is a little older you may also ask him to calculate how to split the restaurant bill among 4 people. You could also take chocolates and purchase into consideration and ask questions such as, “If one chocolate costs Rs.10, how much will 20 chocolates cost?”

Such connecting questions will spur interest and inspire them to practice maths regularly.

Play Games That Relate To Maths

Kids usually don’t like being directly taught. This holds true especially when you are trying to teach a subject they don’t like. This is where games come in. Today, the market has many interactive and educational games that will not just provide entertainment but will also help your child learn. Kids learn best when they are interested and games cater to that.

Use Technology

We live in a world of advanced technology and thanks to the advent of Internet maths practice has become fun and feasible. You have plenty of choices to practice maths online and to improve your child’s maths skills. Kids love moving out of books and pencils, and using the mouse or track pad. A change in the environment and medium of instruction will definitely have a positive impact.

These are four very simple ways of helping your child overcome his fears of the subject. Encourage him to practice maths online and/or buy him interactive games based on his age. Gradually, you will see progress.

Author: Shatru Naik

Shatru is start-up specialist with experience in education and IT domains, currently he Founded maths9.com. Shatru is interested in education research. He can be reached at shatru (at) maths9.com. You also connect him on LinkedIn.

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