The Shocking Factor that Can Determine Your Child’s Success in Math – or Failure

“Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.” – Tommy Lee Jones, as “K”, in Men in Black

Math is the subject American kids express the least confidence with. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

 

Who you believe you are determines what you work at

Everything we do springs from our identity, from our belief in what our potential is.  We generally have more than one identity.  For example, we may think of ourselves as athletic, honest, artistic, or hardworking; typically a combination of several of identities like these at the same time.  Have you ever witnessed someone else behaving as if they couldn’t do something they were obviously perfectly capable of?  They were 100% sure and yet you knew they were 100% wrong.  For example, many people say they can’t speak in public – yet they manage to (1) stand up and (2) speak -with no problem every day!  Some have a phobia, like flying, in which they feel they can’t simply get in a plane and sit quietly, but ultimately they can do it (without drugs). 

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for”.  – John Lubbock

Where your identity comes from

In many ways our identity is shaped by the people who raise us.  If our parents praised our intelligence, we believe we are intelligent.  If they praise our talents in a particular area, like art, we tend to see ourselves artistically talented.  Many well-meaning parents will even label one of their children “the smart one” or another as “the athlete in the family”, and these identities can become part of a person’s self-image throughout life.  Even when not stated directly, our parents can have unconscious beliefs about us.  These beliefs can profoundly influence the conclusions we come to assume about our own potential. 

“Every time you state what you want or believe, you’re the first to hear it. It’s a message to both you and others about what you think is possible. Don’t put a ceiling on yourself” – Oprah Winfrey

How parents influence their child’s identity

A fixed mindset is the view that abilities and intelligence are set at birth and can’t be changed.  People who have a fixed mindset tend to assign inborn talent as the reason for an individual’s success, rather than hard work.  The opposite of this is a growth mindset, which acknowledges that the mind is plastic, that is, constantly growing and responding to how we use it.  People who have a growth mindset believe persistence and effort are far more important to achievement than genetics.

In America, we have a fixed mindset about math ability.  We call anyone who appears to understand math easily a “math person”.  We think anyone who struggles even briefly is “not a math person”.  But math is supposed to be learned through practice, repeated attempts, and trial and error.  Frustration is par for the course.  In fact, it has been demonstrated with brain scans that making a mistake in math actually grows your brain!   In spite of this, when a student finds math a challenge they are sometimes labeled as “not a math person” and led to believe they don’t have what it takes to succeed at higher levels.  They are often deliberately steered away from classes and careers with high level math requirements.  They can be discouraged from even trying!

Most American adults have been shaped by these attitudes while growing up.  Not surprisingly, a majority of American adults describe themselves as being either not a “math person” or outright math phobic.  (It is interesting that there can actually be a fear of math.  A fear of death, snakes, heights, or spiders is easy to understand but what exactly could happen from getting a school math problem wrong?!)  These beliefs can influence the way people react when their kids are feeling frustrated with their math homework.  American children often hear these kinds of things from their parents:

“Don’t worry, you are good at other subjects.”

“I wasn’t a math person either.”

“Just memorize what you need to know to pass the test and get through your requirements.  You aren’t going to use it anyway.”

“I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

In Other Countries it’s Different

This is a far cry from the mentality seen in many Asian countries.  Math is seen as a learned skill, to be practiced and worked on continuously until it’s mastered.  Mistakes are just part of the learning process – not proof of low intelligence.  Math is something anyone can do if they apply themselves enough.  It doesn’t require a special genetic trait enjoyed only by a fortunate minority.  It is self-evident that success in math is the same as success in general – the result of persistence and hard work, not merely being lucky.

“Nothing can stop the person with the right mental attitude from achieving the goal and nothing on earth can help the person with the wrong mental attitude.”  – Thomas Jefferson 

Your attitudes influence your choices, and your choices determine your results

A person won’t persist for very long without having faith in their ability to be successful.  When we believe our hard work will pay off we are more likely to keep going.  When we don’t, we tend to get discouraged and quit.  Once we decide we are not a “math person”, we tend to operate through that filter.  Overwhelming insecurity about our math ability weighs against the persistence needed to succeed. 

“If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought”.  – Peace Pilgrim

Math is a lot like reading

When a child has difficulty in math, American parents tend to accept it, thinking it’s just not their area.  But when their child has trouble reading, they don’t conclude that they are “just not a reading person”!  They commit to helping them by providing plenty of interesting books, having them read every day consistently, and practicing their writing.  American parents carry the attitude that all children (barring certain special needs) are able to read well and it is just a matter of time and effort until they do.  Math is no different.  If we understand that our children are capable and help them persist until they succeed, we will see what they really can do.

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it”. - Henry Ford

How to promote a positive math identity in your child

American adults were brought up with certain attitudes about math that may have influenced part of their own identity.  But we don’t have to blindly accept any identity given to us.  We can decide to be a person who keeps working through frustration in an area outside of our comfort zone.  We can consider the possibility that we may have been unconsciously underestimating ourselves in a lot of ways.

So the obvious question that follows is, how do we get our children feeling empowered to confidently persevere with math challenges?

Here are a few easy suggestions:

Don’t verbalize your negative thoughts about math or your negative experiences with it.  Think of positive things to say about math challenges when you can.

Praise their hard work and persistence rather than their intelligence.

Never tell a child (or even imply) that they are not a “math person”.  There’s no such thing.

Encourage them to take risks and try new math challenges.

Let them know they can succeed if they work hard enough.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” 

- Calvin Coolidge

The One Thing You’re Doing That Could Hold Your Child Back in Math

Have you ever had math anxiety?  If so, you’re not alone.  Many people claim to suffer from math anxiety – and expressing it can actually affect their kids.

Parents’ beliefs are contagious

Studies have shown that parents who express anxiety while helping their children with math reduce their children’s performance in first and second grades.  When mothers informed their daughters that they were not good at math, the daughters’ work in the subject declined.  

It’s not just the parents

Female teachers’ math anxiety has been shown to negatively affects girls’ math achievement.  In one study, the more anxious the female elementary school teachers were, the more likely the girls in their classes became infected with the stereotype that girls were not good at math – and the girls’ math performance was impacted in a measurable way.   The boys in their classes were unaffected. 

Why is math anxiety a problem?

Math anxiety affects math performance.  Math anxiety can have a disruptive effect on working memory, which is needed to attack math problems.  When a child is preoccupied with fearful and apprehensive thoughts, their brain is not fully focused on the challenging task at hand, putting them at a distinct disadvantage that affects their learning.  This is particularly common when children are given timed tests.

Higher level math will be a lot more important to the next generation.  American students, at a minimum, generally have to take 10 years of math classes to achieve a high school diploma – the least amount of education needed to get even an unskilled job in today’s job market.  Lack of confidence in math leads students to avoid certain careers because completion of high level math is needed for entry.  This doesn’t only apply to the obvious scientific occupations, many college business programs actually require two semesters of calculus.  

As time goes on, STEM careers will become a much larger part of the economy.  The working world will be transformed in radical ways in short periods of time.  For example, driverless cars could make taxi drivers and truck drivers obsolete within ten years.  Uber and similar companies are already making full time taxi driving a thing of the past.  Today’s kids will need a solid foundation in the STEM subjects to prepare them for a job market we can’t even imagine today.

So how can parents help their children learn math more easily?

If you struggled with math or have had anxiety, refrain from expressing it to your child.  Talk positively about how math (even simple computations) help you in your daily life today.  Praise all efforts and perseverance with their homework, even when they don’t arrive at the right answer at times.  If you’re a mother who has a daughter, let her know you are confident in her ability to achieve in math.

Parents can foster positive attitudes about math by stressing that math is a just a subject learned by practice and persistence.  There is no such thing as a “math person” and anyone can learn math.  Making mistakes is just a healthy part of that process – not proof of any lack of ability or intelligence.  In fact, making mistakes in math has been shown on MRI scans to make a person’s brain grow.  There is no race or gender that has any special advantage when doing math, those stereotypes are totally wrong.

Parents can help their kids learn math by encouraging them to play math enrichment games and do puzzles to develop number sense.  Visuals like board games are especially helpful for developing a child’s understanding of math concepts.  Spatial skills -  the comprehension and recall of the spatial relations between objects - are closely related to math skills.  Studies have shown that kids benefitted immediately after playing a number line game similar to Snakes and Ladders and a visual model of the positive and negative number line helped kids intuitively understand how negative numbers work.  The more kids play games and have fun with numbers, the less math anxiety and the more confidence they will have exploring math.

Click here to see: 9 Great PictureBooks to Help Your Kid Learn Math

Click here to see: 6 Simple Ways toImprove Your Child’s Math & Spatial Skills

What do so many girls hate math class?

Many of us women grew up hating math and believing we were no good at it.  Today girls echo these sentiments even though they are brought up to understand that girls have the same ability to understand math as the boys.  So, why is it that even today in America, girls still more consistently dislike math compared to boys?

According to Jo Boaler, Stanford University Professor and author of What’s Math Got To Do With It?  , girls tend want a deeper understanding of what they’re studying - they want to know why a formula works, why we use a particular formula, and where it comes from.   Girls aren’t satisfied with mechanically plugging in the numbers and giving the teacher the right answer without knowing why they are doing it.  Many boys share this desire as well, but the girls tend to reject math as a subject when they aren’t happy with the traditional way math is taught.

How math is taught is important because it is needed for many 21^st century STEM jobs.  If we are to have more women entering the science and technology occupations we need to retain women in the higher level math classes those fields require.  Women are just as capable at learning math as men – this is proven in the many countries where women achieve at the same levels as men.  We need to stop seeing math as an inborn ability rather than a skill that is learned through practice and persistence.

“In mathematics education we suffer from the widespread, distinctly American idea that only some people can be ‘math people.’ This idea has been disproved by scientific research showing the incredible potential of the brain to grow and adapt. But the idea that math is hard, uninteresting, and accessible only to ‘nerds’ persists.  This idea is made even more damaging by harsh stereotypical thinking—mathematics is for select racial groups and men. This thinking, as well as the teaching practices that go with it, have provided the perfect conditions for the creation of a math underclass. Narrow mathematics teaching combined with low and stereotypical expectations for students are the two main reasons that the U.S. is in dire mathematical straights.” Jo Boaler, The Stereotypes That Distort How Americans Teach and Learn Math

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What Does Your Education Level Says About Your Life Expectancy?

Did you know that how long you went to school can actually affect how long you live?  At every level of education, there is a difference in life expectancy.  This has been shown time and again in studies controlling for other factors such as income, race, and gender.  Getting a high school diploma is the first step in increasing one’s statistical longevity, and the advantages above the high school level continue to increase for each year incrementally.  There is a strong link between each year of post-secondary education and:

·        Seat belt use

·        Being a Non Smoker

·        Avoiding excessive alcohol (defined as more than 5 drinks in a sitting)

·        Having working smoke detectors in the home

·        Having a Body Mass Index (BMI) under 30   

·        Getting regular colorectal screening

·        Getting regular mammograms

·        Access to healthcare

Even when a 4 year degree isn’t completed, there are still measurable statistical improvements from the additional schooling.  For example, smoking is associated with a 6 year loss in life expectancy across the board, and for each year of education after the 12th grade, the number of smokers continues to drop.  This effect is paralleled with that of overeating and heavy drinking: each year of additional education reduces their odds by a quantifiable amount.  The education effect even extends to spouses:  for married people, their health is affected by how educated their spouse is – the higher the spouse’s education level, the better their health.

What is particularly interesting is that the cost of the unhealthy behavior doesn’t predict the connection.  For example, health insurance can be expensive even with employer assistance, and there are almost always co-pays.  So it is not surprising that more educated people have health insurance – after all, their income tends to be higher and they are more likely to work for employers that assist with the cost.  Lack of health insurance is a known barrier to getting adequate medical care.   People who have health insurance are more likely to use preventative care that has a measurable effect on their life expectancy - but the likelihood of screenings such as mammograms is still stratified by educational level.  And, there are sharp differences in people reporting being unable to see a doctor due to cost:  27% of high school dropouts, 18% of high school graduates, but only 8% of college graduates.

It’s understandable that there would be a connection between education level and access to health care.  But what about practices and habits that aren’t expensive?  Smoke detectors have a small cost but their implementation doesn’t follow income levels, rather, their use is predicted by educational attainment.  Similarly, it’s common knowledge that wearing a seat belt saves lives, it cost nothing to buckle up, and it takes almost no time.  In spite of those facts seat belt use isn’t universal, rather, it’s likelihood increases with education.  Each year of formal education adds 3% to the rate of seat belt usage.  And when it comes to harmful habits that clearly cost money to engage in - smoking, drinking, and overeating - they tend to be more prevalent the less formal education one has.

The association between life expectancy and educational attainment was not always so pronounced.  Back in 1960, studies showed very little correlation.  But perhaps it began with the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, which resulted in a clear decline in the number of educated people smoking.  Since then, the amount and availability of health information to the average person has exploded.  During the last 25 years, the longevity disparity based on education has increasingly expanded.  In fact, the difference is widest in the youngest segment of the population and appears to be growing wider.  In the 21st century, higher educational attainment is becoming more and more of an asset in increasing an individual’s life expectancy.

If Your Child Doesn’t Develop This, Some High Paying Career Options Will Be Denied

“[I]t has been well demonstrated that children who do not acquire number sense early in their mathematics education struggle throughout their entire subsequent school and college years, and generally find themselves cut off from any career that requires some mathematical ability”. 

                               -- Keith Devlin, Stanford Mathematician

With technology changing, tomorrow’s job market will be dramatically different than today’s.  High tech careers, which demand excellent STEM skills, will grow exponentially and many jobs that don’t require a college education will be exported to lower wage countries – or replaced by new inventions.  Already college graduates enjoy a lower rate of unemployment and higher wage growth than those with a high school diploma according to a recent Georgetown University report. 

So, how do parents make sure their child is primed for success in the STEM-oriented job market they will ultimately face after graduation?

Part of developing a strong background in STEM will involve a good foundation in math.  Studies show that children who fall behind in the early grades tend to stay behind in high school.   A good grounding in math requires excellent number sense.  In fact, current US Common Core standards for math emphasize number sense as a fundamental goal. 

Number sense means:

• A basic understanding of what numbers mean (including fractions, decimals, negative numbers)
• Being able to use different ways to express the same number, for example, 50% or ½ or 0.5
• Estimating skills
• Rounding skills
• Determining the degree of precision needed in a situation
• Choosing measurement units to make sense for a particular task
• Comparing physical measurements between various systems of measurement (such as the English system and the metric system)

People with number sense are those who can use numbers flexibly.  Research with low and high achieving math students between the ages of 7 and 12 has demonstrated that the high achieving students use number sense.  The researchers concluded that low achievers are often struggling not because they have fewer memorized math facts at their disposal, but because they don’t use numbers flexibly.   A 3 minute video demonstrates this flexibility associated with number sense as applied to multiplication.

Without number sense, there is no foundation for advanced math understanding – just as without a knowledge of phonics and word meanings there is no advanced reading.  Mere memorization of math facts and regurgitation under timed test pressure is no substitute for understanding.  Today’s kids will need to build a strong base in number sense for tomorrow’s economy.  

6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Child’s Math / Spatial Skills

Spatial ability is the comprehension and recall of the spatial relations between objects.  Spatial skills and math skills are related to each other (see previous blog entry below).  When you improve your child’s spatial skills, you generally improve their math skills as well.  You don’t have to use high tech or expensive methods to help your kids’ spatial skills.  Here are some easy ways to give your kids an edge:

Board Games 

Board Games give children a great visual in the form of the board itself, and there are many that exercise spatial skills.  In clinical research, a game similar to Chutes & Ladders with consecutively numbered, linearly arranged, equal-size squares was shown to improve kids’ understanding of the number line.  Skippity is an easy visual strategy game that anyone who knows how to “jump” in checkers can learn within 1 minute, and requires kids to visualize each move they are contemplating before acting.   Robot Turtles helps kids understand the basics of programming displayed visually on a board.  Escape Medusa's Rage allows kids to visualize and understand the number line – including negative numbers – in a large, colorful graphic.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Children who play with puzzles develop better spatial skills.  A recent study by the University of Chicago found puzzle play to be an important predictor of spatial skills even after controlling for differences in the parents’ education, and household income.  When doing a jigsaw puzzle, children visualize where and how a particular piece will fit before they try it.  The trial and error aspect reinforces their correct guesses and helps teach them why some of their guesses are wrong.  Children are stimulated to learn by self-correction, and learn that persistence pays off.  Some puzzles even combine logical thinking with art appreciation, for example, puzzles of famous paintings such as Luncheon of the Boating Party by Renoir.

Building Blocks & Construction Toys 

Essential skills and ideas are practiced and built up through block play, including measurement, estimation, comparison, balance, and symmetry.  Blocks and construction toys come in such a wide variety of types – from traditional wood square cubes to plastic bendable toys like Reptangles, Squigz Benders or Joinks to variety boxes like Craft - Struction.  Many Lego sets come with plans that are given in pictures, not words, so that children can create regardless of their reading or language skills.  Kids sharpen their spatial skills by comparing what they’ve built with the diagram and correcting any inconsistencies.

Innovative STEM Toys

More complex than building blocks are new toys that are designed to address the growing interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math).  Kids can learn by doing in the physical world, offline.  Thames and Kosmos

Kids First Aircraft Engineer gives kids the kit and instructions to build 10 simple airplane models including a helicopter. Snap Circuits allows kids to create their own electronic games and gadgets.  Goldiblox sets seek to inspire girls in particular with toys like their create your own Zipline Action Figure (including a doll that rides on the zipline). 

Mazes

Mazes are purely visual and teach kids to look before they leap.  They can choose from strategies like starting at both ends and meeting in the middle.  Printable mazes and toys that allow kids to create their own mazes are great ways for kids to practice spatial skills while having fun.

Coloring

Geometric pattern coloring books help kids create their own patterns using color and careful attention to detail.  Patterns of the Universe demonstrates 17 mathematical themes such as - Prime Numbers, Venn Diagrams, and Fractals.   

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