Many adults hate or dread math. The problem is that kids pick up on those feelings and become anxious about math, too. Research shows that when kids are anxious about math, it hinders their ability to solve problems.
One study found that a parent鈥檚 math anxiety actually reduced their child鈥檚 math learning.
If you have negative feelings about math, you can avoid passing them on to your child by changing the way you talk about math at home. Instead of telling your child that you are not good at math, or that you dislike it, encourage your child to explore math with an open mind for themselves. Here鈥檚 how:
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If your child says: 鈥淚 need help. I don鈥檛 know how to do the diagram.鈥�
Don鈥檛 say: 鈥淒iagram? Why do they make you do so much work just to answer a simple division question? I鈥檓 not a math person. Let鈥檚 wait till your dad gets home.鈥�
Instead say: 鈥淒rawing in math class? That sounds like a fun way to learn math.鈥�
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If your child says: 鈥淗ow much do you think this big watermelon costs?鈥�
Don鈥檛 say: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know. You know I鈥檓 not good at math.鈥�
Instead say: 鈥淗mm. Let鈥檚 weigh it! And then we can estimate the price based on the weight of the watermelon.鈥�
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If your child says: 鈥淗ow long until we get there?鈥�
Don鈥檛 say: 鈥淎 little less than the last time you asked.鈥�
Instead say: 鈥淟et鈥檚 figure it out. We鈥檙e driving 25 miles an hour. And we have about eight miles left. How much time do you think we have?鈥�
By keeping the way you talk about math neutral — or even better, keeping it positive — you will help your child do better in math.
Read next: 3 things to say when your child says, “I’m bad at math!”
