Math-Anxiety & Parents

I have a confession to make. As a kid, I detested math, in all kinds, shapes and forms. And, though I hate to admit this (and have never admitted it in the presence of my kids), I used to run away from math every opportunity I got; which made me a big nuisance for my parents and teachers alike. Could never even imagine that one fine day I would be chiding my kids for the same!

But then, would I qualify to be a ‘math anxious’ parent? A study carried out by the University of Chicago recently came up with the conclusion that ‘children of math-anxious parents learned less math over the school year and were more likely to be math-anxious themselves’ (which my kids definitely are).

Susan Levine, who headed the study, had this to say: “Math-anxious parents may be less effective in explaining math concepts to children, and may not respond well when children make a mistake or solve a problem in a novel way.”

Now that I come to think of it, I do tend to consider math-time at home as a chore and as a result am always waiting for it to get over so that I can move on to the so-called ‘bigger’ and ‘better’ subjects which I love teaching my kids; science or language, for instance. Maybe I should just try and get rid of whatever (subconscious) anxiety I have towards math and turn over a new leaf in a way. Who knows, maybe my kids will start loving math too? High hopes, but definitely worth a try.