Maths anxiety in Y5 into Y6 girl

[MoverOfPaper]

DD is very anxious about maths. She’s in Y5 going into Y6. Her school report says she’s a capable mathematician, that she always trys hard and that she’s working at greater depth within the expected standard while making expected progress. On paper therefore there’s nothing wrong.

But she’s anxious.Shes in a boy heavy class with some very confident children. I’m worried that she’s already experiencing some internal “girls can’t, I can’t” about maths. She’s making herself ill.

I’m happy to get a tutor if we can find one. I imagine most will be booked up. I live in the sort of area where people tutor for state grammars and independent and public schools. I don’t really want that sort of tutor. What I think she needs is someone who knows the methods schools use these days and can sit with her and do some maths.

DP says there must be a book that tells you how to teach maths to Y 5 children. That we should get that and do it ourselves. Is there such a book? We used to have Scottish Maths (?) at Primary but I thought schools stopped using textbooks?

We have numicon!

Does a tutor seem like a good idea? Is there a textbook? What else can we do that’s low key and not stressful but will help shake her maths anxiety and make her feel more confident in school next year?

noblegiraffe* thanks so much.

Shocking, but not surprising.

That’s just what I noticed about DD, she needs to keep checking if she’s right.

We know the teacher for next year and I might have a chat with them about this. I wouldn’t expect them to change any plans because of one child, but I know the school is really flexible on seating. NOT sitting with a particular group of boys may be an answer. I don’t know much about the ability of the girls in the class-says a lot-but the teacher will.

I don't understand what the problem is you're trying to solve. She is good at maths but does not think she is good at maths? So how does giving her extra lessons or tutoring help her? It will make her better at maths but will not make her think she is good at maths. Sounds like you need to work on her confidence, not just giving her extra maths practice. The idea of mentoring and getting her to "teach" you maths sounds like great ways to boost her confidence to get her to align her beliefs with the reality of her abilities.

I suppose because if the TA comes to see her once in the holidays DD won’t spend the whole of the holiday thinking she can’t do it. She’ll have spent a bit of time going over the basics.

I don’t have the answer.

If DD does a bit over the holidays then she’ll feel like she can. No distractions. No one else from the class around. She wants to do this-well at the moment she does, let’s see what reality brings!

We got lucky and found a fantastic tutor. Dd has blossomed and never once said “I am rubbish at maths” etc as she used to regularly. Her and the tutor adore each other such a lucky strike

Hi OP.

Not sure if you're still looking for a tutor but I can give lessons online. I use an online classroom. I've been tutoring for 5 years. You can DM for more info if you are interested.

How is she with her times tables? There's a great website with some fun 2 player games that are designed to be fun and not pressured against the clock. They also have some board and card games that you can print off and play. They have really fun themes and are not just dull repetition exercises.
nopressuremaths.com

This was DD.

Luckily she had a great teacher in Y6 and the school put on extra classes and slowly over Y6 her confidence grew.

She still gets super nervous about maths but is much improved and got a good SATs score.

I’d definitely go down the route of a confidence boosting tutor unless you think the school can provide it.

OP, were you serious in your post when you talked about the bullying that your dd is getting from some of the boys in her maths lessons? The kicking, the arm jogging the muttering?

If you are I am assuming they were sitting at her table to do such things so before you get tutors I would be making sure that her new teacher is aware of what happened and that your dd is not seated anywhere near them in September.

By all means check that she is secure in her methods, her quick recall and her understanding of the number system and place value, but her confidence is being undermined by bullying more than lack of ability and understanding.

Morning, thanks everyone for your ideas and insights.
DD has a lovely tutor for two seperate hours right at the start of the summer. Tutor held DDs hand while DD went through things she lacked confidence in.
She’s wanted to do a short daily burst of Mathsfactor and that’s boosted her confidence too. I’ve got the GCP books but they’re just sitting on a shelve. they seem to be overkill at moment and DD not expressed an interest in them.
I’m afraid I wasn’t joking about the bullying, although I hadn’t thought of it that way. Groups and tables are pretty fluid at the school so I’m sure it will do no harm to make the teacher aware. Not on the first day though

That's good news - thanks for the update. If your DD has learned that one way to boost her confidence is to do a bit of home study, that would auger well for the future!

I agree with others that a word with her new teacher is in order, to make sure her confidence is not damaged further by sitting next to these mean kids.