Math anxiety, a condition in which anxiety symptoms manifest exclusively in math, occurs when children and adults begin working with and processing numerical information. It is manifested by feelings of fear, discomfort, anxiety and an inability to think while performing math tasks – from solving problems and equations to counting change at the store.
It is difficult to determine exactly at what age math anxiety occurs, and there is little research on this topic. Children begin working with numerical information in first grade, and preference issues are formed when they learn two-digit or three-digit numbers. Around the elementary grades, it is possible to catch the moment when a child becomes uncomfortable. However, the onset of this anxiety is different for everyone: someone was doing well with math in elementary school, but when the difficult algebra problems began, problems appeared. Or, for example, the child missed some period of schooling and he is not doing well. No one supports him in this situation, he has to navigate on his own on the fly.
One hypothesis is that math anxiety is stronger in people with low ability in simple math calculations, but research shows that this is not always the case. For example, some children with high math anxiety perform well on math problems. Certainly, math anxiety is generally related to math achievement, but it is not possible to explain math anxiety specifically by low math ability.
Math anxiety also affects working memory, which helps to operate with relevant information in the here and now. For example, holding the terms of a problem in memory while we solve it. Research tells us that math anxiety takes up working memory resources, and a person has to divide working memory between holding task conditions and negative thoughts related to math. When a person performs a math task, the anxious thoughts distract him or her and act as a second task that the person solves at the same time as the main task. Moreover, an inherently low working memory reduces the amount of resources available to solve the task.
What can parents do?
The problem is that when a child worries about math, he/she does less math. The result is a vicious circle: the child did not prepare for the test – he got a bad grade – he has negative thoughts about math. The child feels disgust for math and, as a consequence, decreased motivation to study the subject and less time to master it. As a result – again low performance, for example, a C for the quarter. Such a snowball leads to increased anxiety and can affect the choice of profession in the future.
To begin with, you just need to talk to your child and understand what happened to him. A number of studies on this topic advise that when dealing with math anxiety, strengthen the basic knowledge of the subject and improve it: see how the child works with numerical information, identify gaps in knowledge. Perhaps anxiety was formed due to the fact that once had to miss math lessons (due to illness, for example), and the child did not have time to learn something. In this case, parents need to work with the child, help with homework, talk to a teacher who can pay more attention to him and additionally explain something unclear or not fully studied.
When studying a subject, it is better to be guided by how a child perceives information better – auditorily or visually. Taking into account that mathematics is a very abstract material that cannot be felt with hands, when studying it, it is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of the student.
It is also necessary to regulate negative attitudes related to mathematics: first, to follow what teachers, parents and people around them say, so that the child does not form the opinion that math is the worst thing in life. Secondly, avoid the image of math as something difficult. A child in such a situation immediately becomes anxious, which means that the feeling of anxiety will further hinder the learning of the subject.