Math Anxiety -- Who's to Say That Your Child Is Not Good at Math? The Third Article of Three

What is it about math that causes such pain and anxiety, turmoil and fighting, tears and anger? Is it math or an illusion of catastrophe if our child doesnt become proficient in this skill? Well, whos to say that our children are not proficient in this skill? Math anxiety has produced separate math worlds; the school math they hate and the real life math they dont even realize is math. Take a look at your childs play activities. I did and I found Neopets. You might find video games, or strategy games, or computer games, or Legos. For the longest time, I was discouraging my daughters play on Neopets. I was always saying Dont you have anything better to do than to be on Neopets? Then one day I stopped and took a good look at what she was doing on Neopets. Boy was I surprised! Neopets is a great math site, but dont tell your children. On this site, they learn bartering and value, buying things with neopoints. They learn industry. Initially, you have to earn neopoints, like a job, but my daughter created a business to earn neopoints. She buys neopets, adds value, and resells them to earn neopoints. She created a Neo-business. On the site, your neopoints earn interest. You can also invest in neostock. Theres gambling on the site, but I dont see that as a bad thing. It teaches probability and statistics. Most of all, Neopets is fun so there are a lot of children doing it. Theyre having fun and using math.

What does your child like to do? Have you taken a close look at their computer or video games? I think you might be surprise at how much math you find hidden in the play (not to mention role playing, literature, etc.) How about the board games your children love to play? My family likes Scrabble. Most people think thats a word game, but if you are intent on winning it would behoove you to pay attention to the math involved in the play. Word placement to maximize letter points and word points is the object if you want to win. Too often we try to put down the largest word we can make with our letters, but sometimes a smaller word will yield more points. Sometimes the points are better if the letters are rearranged for hitting double or triple letter scores. Be sure to have your child calculate his own points.

We also love Rummikub. This is a great game for seeing pattern as you move the tiles from sets to runs to sets again. There is a young child version but we quickly outgrew it. I have found that to be true with a number of classic games for which there are now versions for the younger children. Dont waste your money. If the adult game is too hard, just change the rules to suit your play level.

Monopoly is a great example. How many of us dont play this play because 1) it takes too long, 2) its hard to figure out the prices for houses then hotels, 3) the children dont understand concepts like mortgages, etc. So we tend not to play the game. But why not just change the rules. Start with more money. Buy property as a group (or be able to buy any property in the group, if you land on one you already own). Go right to buying hotels and lower the price to make this affordable. If you dont like these rule changes, make up your own. Just agree on the rule changes and write them down before the play begins. Nothing ends the fun faster than an argument over the rules. Use the simpler rules until everyone outgrows them, and then change them again.

We also love those simple games like Uno, Skip-bo, Set, and checkers. We love jigsaw puzzles and brain teasers and the latest craze, Sudoku. These games may not look like math games, but they will strengthen your childs math skills by strengthening his ability to see patterns. Seeing patterns is the foundation of math. On my website, www.mathischildsplay.com you can get the list of my top 10 games for building math skills. Play games for at least 15 minutes every day and youll be amazed at the improvement in your childs math skills. Play for an hour and stop worrying about math.

Ann LaRoche, Senior Consultant at http://www.mathischildsplay.com

Horoskop