8 yr old girl with maths anxiety

[millypop69]

My little girl is in year 3 and whilst she is bright and able, and in a small class, she has recently started to focus on the negative and get stressed about tests, particularly in maths. She is, I have been told by her teacher, in the upper half of her class in terms of ability, but when given the oral timed maths times tables she falls apart. She is happy and confident, but this is affecting her and is rapidly escalating into the rest of her life. She has started to get tummy aches and doesn't want to do things that she used to enjoy (Brownies and other clubs.) She starts to get stressed about the tests days beforehand and just gets into a panic. She has also started to react our of proportion to what I think are small issues (she brought another childs book home by mistake and burst into tears and was inconsolable about it). This isn't her normal outlook at all, she is the most chilled and happy child and this has taken us completely by surprise. Her teacher is very supportive and for the time being has stopped the oral tests for her. We are doing lots of positive affirmation with her as well, but I wondered if anyone has had a similar situation, and how it was helped or resolved. Thank you.

sounds like performance anxiety in lots of areas, I wouldn't focus overly on maths.

I wonder if something like drama classes would help.

Very similar situation - we got dd a primary maths tutor. It has really worked wonders for her confidence and she actually engages with me about maths whereas she would just put her hands over her ears if I tried to talk to her about it.

I did wonder if yet more maths would be a mistake - but it has worked well as it is such a different experience.

Hi millypop69

Year 3 can be really difficult because the more relaxed, learning through play style of key stage 1 is definitely over and it's time to settle down and get serious. It may also be that your DD is in a class where many students are doing extra work at home, so they seem to be miraculously racing ahead, when in fact they're putting in all sorts of extra time learning key concepts.

DD1 was absolutely appalling at math. She wasn't stressed but she completely believed that she was no good at maths because a teacher told her (not meanly I think - more like Oh dear X - you really are no good at this are you?) and somewhere along the way she got the idea that girls are worse at maths than boys.

Our solution was maths factor. Carol Vorderman (formerly of countdown - used her unfair dismissal money on this venture and God bless her cotton socks for doing so!) fronts this on-line tutorial. Each lesson has a short video with Carol (1 - 3 minutes) explaining a concept clearly and providing training in using proper mathematical terminology. You then have a short game and then some practice problems. It is timed, but timings are hugely generous. The tutorial programme tests your child and starts where they are at.

We started late Y2 and have never looked back. The slow but steady approach really makes everything seem achievable and the growing success with calculation methods leads to success in school and in our experience that leads to growing confidence in other areas.

I really can't recommend this programme highly enough - especially for girls. Because right there in front of you is a woman who's enthusiastic about maths, clearly enjoys it and is fabulous with numbers. it's really inspirational.

link here: www.themathsfactor.com/ - if you click through to main site you can have a look at the products. Arithmetic school is a monthly subscription but teaches all calculations. There also is a multiplication school - if multiplication is really the problem area.

HTH

Thank you all, very helpful. I like the thought of female role models in the maths arena helping her, and I also agree that whilst this has started with maths it is staring to creep into other areas of her little life. I do know that I need to spend much more time with her on the mental maths, and this has been an eye opener on all of this. The transition to year three has been tough all round. She is our younger daughter and you know how it goes, has always been happily bouncing along being happy and doing well and so this is our first wall and it hurts! I am so grateful for your advice - people who know her just go 'really?' and can't believe she is anything less than confidence itself. The positive affirmation, whilst a little 'out there' is definitely working - we all know the reverse is true, so why shouldn't it work! I think drama may help with this as well - good thought.
I will have a look at Carol and also at the blog and repost back.

dd1 was the same in Y3. Top set, but was having panics over maths homework, hating maths, and clearly had no confidence - I think partly as a result of having 'gaps' due to maternity leave/illness in her teachers in YR and Y1.

We got her a term's worth of tutoring to fill the gaps, and she is now loving maths in Y4....flying with it, really. We're stopping the tutoring now, as our goal was a maths-confident girl and we have one - but would do it again if she got wibbly.

We chose tutoring because she flatly refused to do maths with me or dh (hands over ears, exactly!) and hated online maths, and tutoring was an option for us. We found a tutor who knows how to make kids feel great about themselves, so dd enjoyed going.

Probably the single biggest 'gap' was times tables related, though...so if tutoring isn't an option, and online programmes don't do it for your dd, at least try some tables incentives? We let dd play Squeebles on my iphone for an entire summer holiday, and she knows her backwards now

Hi recommend going back to basics in bite sizes. So 5 min easy maths to build confidence and I mean easy. Lots of praise and move on from there. To get our Dd started we had to develop an unhealthy attachment to jelly beans (every time you do you best to answer a question you get a jelly bean) but it worked! (And after a while we dropped the rewards) x