Mathematics

Teachers and parents need to replace sympathetic messages such as “Don’t worry, math isn’t your thing” with positive messages such as “You can do this, I believe in you, math is an open, beautiful subject that is all about effort and hard work.” (Jo Boaler)

Research has shown that parents who reveal to their children that they were not good at math at school can have an immediate detrimental effect on their child’s mathematical achievement. Eccles and Jacobs discovered in a 1986 study that the decline in achievement is further compounded when a mother shares her anxiety with her daughter.

Interestingly, a parent’s actual mathematical ability appears to have less of an impact on their child’s achievement than the parents’ beliefs about their mathematics ability.

For more information read the article Parents’ Beliefs about Math Change Their Children’s Achievement

Regards

Lauren Maidment

English & Maths Leader