5 WAYS TO COPE WITH MATH FRUSTRATION Is your child stuck in a math rut? Math anxiety—feelings of frustration, powerlessness and sometimes even panic when attempting math problems—could be the culprit. Whether he’s blanking on tests or avoiding math homework altogether, your child may be suffering from this common ailment. His lack of math confidence could have a direct effect on his grades—even if he’s doing well in other classes. Don’t idly watch his self-esteem fall and his grades plunge even further. Use these five tips to beat math anxiety: Create a can-do attitude. Because your child’s attitude—not aptitude—is most likely the biggest obstacle in the way of his mathematical success, start by banishing the “can’ts.” A common misconception is that individuals are born “math people.” Tell your child that no one’s math destiny is really determined at such a young age. Being good at math—and just about everything—requires one part practice, another part “can-do” attitude. Help your child to realize that he is capable of mastering math, and challenge him to apply the effort to do so. Revisit routines. If what your child has done so far hasn’t worked, it may be time to revamp his study and test-taking routines. When your child is having difficulty with any subject, a little extra effort may be all it takes—and often it’s how you practice that makes all the difference. Consider applying language that goes beyond numbers by having him write out flashcards explaining math terms, rewrite lecture notes or even narrate—either verbally or mentally—the steps to solving each math problem. Finally, make sure your child reads each chapter, reviews what he learns and always shows all of his work. Take the mystique out of math. Remind your child that math is not limited to the classroom—and that it’s about principles, not just one right answer. Eliminate the intimidating aura surrounding the subject by demonstrating how important it is to daily life—whether he’s analyzing sports statistics or buying his first house. Point out math principles in your house or backyard, and play games (even nonmath games such as Monopoly that require being able to make change) that reinforce these ideas. The sooner he can conquer the fear of math and the helplessness surrounding it, the better. Encourage asking for help. Because math anxiety is so common, remind your child that he shouldn’t be ashamed to ask for help. Encourage him to talk to his teacher or team up with other students. Doing the problems with another person allows your child to see where he may be making repeated errors, and studying with others can benefit everyone in the group, provided they don’t get distracted. Provide positive reinforcement. Recognize when your child shows signs of improvement, but make the focus on his mastery and understanding—not just the grade. Rewarding progress and encouraging him to keep up the good work will propel a domino effect originating with your reassurance. If he’s successful at math tests, he may eventually adopt the belief that he can do well at math and beat the anxiety he thought was there for good. By Christine Tyler K-3 Worksheet 1. Find the pattern, and fill in the blanks: 5, __, 7, 8, __, 10. 2. Put these numbers in order from smallest to largest: 47, 74, 125, 47, 88, 152 3. Fill in the proper sign (<,>,=): 36 ? 42. 4. 1 + 2 + 0 = __ 5. 5 – 3 = __ 6. Heidi’s mom gave her $2.00 for ice cream. She bought a cone for herself and one for her brother at 25¢ per cone. How much does she have left when she gets back? 7. __ + 7 = 11 8. Round to the nearest tens place: 58 9. Create an equation for this story: Pat brings six books to school but leaves one on the bus. At the school book fair, he buys three more. How many books does he have? 10. 8 x 3 = __ Answers 1. 6, 9 2. 47, 74, 79, 88, 125, 152 3. < 4. 3 5. 2 6. $1.50 7. 4 8. 60 9. 6 – 1 + 3 = 8 10. 24 4-8 Worksheet 1. 98 + 78 + 198 + 129 + 176 = __ 2. Susie and Sharon want to buy a pizza and split the cost. The pizza is $22. How much should each of them pay? 3. 16.9 x 38.71 = __ 4. 2 1/7 + 5 4/7 = __ 5. (5 + 4 x 13) + 16 = __ 6. What is the greatest common factor of 4 and 8? 7. 25% of 52 = __ 8. 19 + c = -8 9. The temperature this morning was 17 degrees. The next morning is was -11. How many degrees did the temperature drop? 10. Change the following number to standard notation: 3.400 x 10-3 Answers 1. 679 2. $11 3. 654.199 4. 7 5/7 5. 73 6. 4 7. 13 8. c = -27 9. 28 degrees 10. 0.003400 High School Worksheet 1. What is the value of (x + y)(x + y) if xy = -3 and x2 + y2 = 10? 2. Phone calls cost a flat fee of $3.00 for the first 15 minutes and 10 cents per minute thereafter. Write an equation to represent the amount of money needed (in dollars) to talk for x minutes. 3. Solve for x and y in:     5x + 4y = 2     7x – 3y = -23 4. Factories A, B and C produce 500, 800 and 1,200 cars per week, respectively. What percentage of the cars would be produced by Factory A? What percentage of the cars would be produced by Factory A if it were to double its production? 5. Find numbers a, b and c such that the graph of the parabola y = ax2 + bx + c passes through (-1, 1), (0, 1) and (1, 2). 6. The height of a garage door is 6.8 feet greater than the width. The diagonal of the door is 10 feet. What are the dimensions of the door? 7. Consider a right triangle with the angles A, B and C and opposite sides a, b and c respectively. If c is 90°, find: i) sin A ii) tan B iii) csc B (express answers in terms of a, b and c). 8. The diagonals of a parallelogram are 20 cm and 30 cm long and intersect at an angle of 25°. Find the sides of the parallelogram. 9. Simplify logb 3b4. 10. $3,500 is invested at a rate of 4.5% compounded continuously. What is the balance at the end of 10 years? Answers 1. 4 2. $3.00 + $0.10(x-15) 3. x = -2 and y =3 4. 20% now and 33 1/3% if production doubled 5. a = 1/2, b = ½ and c =1 6. 2.8 feet by 9.6 feet 7. i) sin A = a/c     ii) tan B = b/a     iii) csc B = c/b 8. 7.29 and 24.43 9. logb 3 + 4 10. $5,489.09