“Why do people enjoy saying that they are bad at math?” wonders Petra Bonfert, a professor of engineering at Dartmouth College. After seeing too many examples of adults “passing on mathematical anxiety like a virus,” Bonfert has an important message for math-phobic parents and educators: “We are passing on from generation to generation the fear for mathematics.”
Many people hold the view that math is inherently hard, and only people with an inborn mathematical ability can understand it. While well-meaning adults may think they’re encouraging kids by sharing their own math fears, research has shown the opposite. Research has found that the problem is particularly significant for girls, who “are especially affected when a teacher publicly announces math hatred before she picks up the chalk.” Moreover, a study published recently reported that female mathematical achievement was diminished in response to a female teacher’s mathematical anxiety. The effect was correlated: the higher a teacher’s anxiety, the lower the scores.”
Parents’ anxiety about math can have a similar effect on kids’ achievement and their attitude toward the subject. Children who received math homework help from mathematically fearful parents showed weaker math achievements than their peers, which in turn resulted in increased math anxiety for the children themselves. New research on math anxiety confirms that these parents unintentionally teach kids to expect that math will be beyond their capabilities.
Fortunately, Sian Beilock, a cognitive scientist of Barnard College, has found a surprisingly easy way for parents to stop passing on math anxiety and build their children’s math confidence. The most important finding is the importance of normalizing math at home in a way that’s relaxing and playful: from using math-themed books and stories, playing with math games and toys to cooking together. He argues that we need to teach kids that “working on mathematical skills is not unlike practicing a sport. Neither can be learned by watching others perform the activity and both require encouragement and effort. You do not need an inborn mathematical ability in order to solve mathematical problems. Rather, what is required is perseverance, a willingness to take risks and feeling safe to make mistakes.
【小题1】Why do some people share their math fear with kids?| A．To expect kids to learn from their mistake. | B．To prove only geniuses can learn it well. |
| C．To give encouragement to their kids. | D．To stress the importance of genetic factors. |
| A．Decreased. | B．Measured. | C．Improved. | D．Influenced. |
| A．Normalizing maths at home is relaxing and full of fun. |
| B．Having an inborn math ability is essential to children. |
| C．Developing mathematical skills differs from doing a sport. |
| D．Encouragement and efforts help yield math learning success. |
| A．Math-phobic adults are to blame for math failure. |
| B．Math anxiety is nothing to be afraid of at all. |
| C．Parents and teachers pass on math fear to kids. |
| D．Risks and mistakes are what success takes. |
