How to overcome a maths mental block (year 5)

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Dd (y5) seems to have developed a complete "wall up" situation when doing Maths at school. Learning new topics on maths she really struggles to take it in, panicky that she doesn't get it etc.

When asked maths questions she freezes like a rabbit in headlights.

Homework - her immediate response when opening the work is "I don't get it/don't understand/whiney voice" but when I start to talk through it, she clearly does understand and must be absorbing it in class.

She has areas she is much more confident (fractions eg), and areas where its just not going in (most of her times tables).

I'm stumped tbh. She appears to be just about scraping in at the bottom of the class with maths, but I think it's a fear rather than actual ability. Panic blanks her mind.

Anyone any advice?

Hi. My son is like this. Do a little within her capability every day to build up confidence and let her have something that she enjoys immediately afterwards (a treat, sweet, sticker, screen time, time with you..). Just 15 mins every day. If she knows some tables build up from there using worksheets, flash cards, Squeebles etc… get some books and read with her on this. Use the bbc website - keep it short and keep rewarding her (even if you feel frustrated don’t let it leak out). Good luck

Also recommend DoodleMaths

Times tables are crucial to so many aspects of mathematics and not really that hard to learn. It just requires time and repetition. Five minutes a day is good.
If your daughter can get these facts in her long term memory then she won’t have to work out so much information when she’s trying to solve problems. The panic factor will be reduced.
It won’t just happen though. The problem I’ve found when teaching tables at school is that children who don’t really know them often copy the answers off confident learners when we’re practising them, e.g. on whiteboards. Because they copy, they aren’t really learning them. That’s why practising at home is so helpful.
My son found times tables hard. He was also reluctant to learn them. I made little cards for him, with , e.g. the ‘3x3=‘ on one card and ‘9’ on the other. Made this for all 12 facts for that times table. Crucially, I got him to learn just the first six facts for the first few days. Too many new facts at a time makes it harder to learn. Then I would gradually add the others in. I would get him to match the cards as quickly as possible. Then just get him to answer them.
I find this lo-tech strategy much more effective than games on the internet.
I do it with my class at school too. They work with a partner on them every morning when they get in and it’s working well.

I think her mental block was triggered by times tables. She seems to think that you have to work out the sum of (say) 7 x 7 rather than just memorising it as a sentence. I wish I had a pound for every time I tell her "just memorise the sentence"

She doesn’t know how to ‘memorise’ because that, in itself, is a skill. Maybe play memory games:

You: I went to the shop and bought 2x7 = 14 biscuits
Her: I went to the shop and bought 2x7 = 14 biscuits and 3x7 = 21 eggs!
You again: I went to the shop and bought 2x7 = 14 biscuits and 3x7 = 21 eggs and 4x7… etc

Context, repetition and visualisation might all help.

Funnily enough she's always had a great memory

But yes, memory games overall will be good to add to our reptoire of games.

Take away the stress of multiplication- give her a cheat a sheet to refer to whenever she needs it.
Also tell her that multiplication is only a tiny part of maths that needs no understanding or real skill - it's basically rote learning and it will come in time.
If she is doing well with actual concepts work on these - get her to mentally acknowledge and feel pleased when she does get something correct.
Reinforce that mistakes are fine.
Some children really will never be able to learn times tables but still go on to do really well in maths once they are able to move on.
It's the ones who get stuck in the cycle of can't learn this - therefore I can't do maths who a struggle.

I use my fingers to help with my times tables.
There are some I just know, and others i calculate -for example I don't have instand recall of 6x7, but I know 7x7 is 49 and work from that.
I have a scientific degree (and MSc) and work in a numerate job. My 12 yr old is similar. Both of us are dyslexic. I don't know if she has other things that mean some form of learning difference ight be contributing?

If come Y5 tables havn't sunk in, I'd agree with above. Give her a cheat sheet, and see if that resolves some of her panic.
Calculators (and phones) exist in the adult world.

My son learnt his times tables like they were the lyrics to songs, in retrospect it would've been better if he taken longer to get to the answer and processed up or down from the easier ones. It's often the demand for instant recall that freezes children make sure she can collect herself and have the confidence to work it out if she needs to.

We used a CD during car journeys with times table songs on.