I had a friend whose partner was a taxi driver in San Francisco.  Her life’s dream was to become a chef.  At the age of 30 she signed up for culinary school, went to her first day of orientation, and was told that the courses required math skills.  She dropped out that day.

When I asked her why, she said that in 5th grade, a teacher told her that she would never be any good at math.  That stuck so hard in her mind that she nearly failed out of high school and never completed any higher education.  One sentence on one day destroyed her self-confidence and gave her a debilitating case of “Math Fear” that she has never been able to shake.

What are some of your stories of “Math Anxiety”?

Where Does Math Anxiety Come From?

Usually math anxiety stems from unpleasant experiences in mathematics. Typically math phobics have had math presented in such a fashion that it led to limited understanding. Unfortunately, math anxiety is often due to poor teaching and poor experiences in math which typically leads to math anxiety.

It helps to understand the myths associated with math.  How many of us believe that men are simply better at math because they are men?  Who thinks that there is a math gene? Do you think that the side of your brain responsible for math is weaker than the side if your brain responsible for language?

I say, “balderdash”.  None of the above are true and if you think they are then they will be self-fulfilling prophecies.  You will make them so because you believe they are so.

We need to model other ideas about math in front of children.  We need to model capability, self-confidence, a “can-do” attitude whenever we are confronted with math in our own lives.  We can break the cycle of math anxiety for the next generation of children.