One of the most significant disciplines that supports numerous fields and useful solutions is mathematics. However, the stress and challenges that different kids face limit their potential and increase children’s displeasure. Before you can effectively support your child in their maths study, you must understand the reasons behind their difficulties. In this post, we examine some of the potential reasons behind math failure in more detail and offer some helpful solutions. At Delhi Public School Warangal, recognised as the top CBSE school in Warangal, we are committed to empowering students to overcome these challenges and excel in mathematics, fostering a positive attitude towards learning this vital subject.
Understanding the reason behind the problem
Mathematics Helps Us Understand The World Around Us. This is still no easy feat for children. And the output should be English and as a layman’s term, so really more like a hidden code they must decode. The separation usually results in the uncounted loss of the curiosity about mathematics and in between with the block summarizing and with the hard algebra theorems the effortlessness usually makes it loose too … So why does this happen, and more importantly, how do we go about rekindling the need for icons?
1. Lack of foundational understanding:
Inadequate conceptual knowledge is the primary cause of children’s failure in math. Mathematics is an academic course which works on the principle that knowledge in it is progressive; this implies that when learning one concept, one is bound to learn others that came before it. This is why when a child is assessed and seen to have poor or almost null understanding of the simple fundamental concepts to math, it will be difficult for him or her to grasp the higher level concepts in the subject later on.
2. Fear of failure:
It is natural to state that math anxiety, or a feeling of nervousness associated with math, is quite real, and it affects many children. Math phobia refers to the fear or disturbing anxiety that children develop about sums or making mistakes- once learners develop this kind of feeling, they would develop a mental block and lose the ability to tackle the subject in a positive manner. Such a fear may be as a result of past experiences, pressure as much as the expectation of the society in regard to the performance of the students, or as a result of a negative attitude towards mathematics.
3. Ineffective teaching methods:
Math has always been one of the most important subjects in education and the methods used to teach this subject significantly affects the proficiency of a child. Many teaching methodologies that are widely used today involve simple memorization or concepts that may be hard to grasp by the learners. This is true because there are certain children who have to learn Mathematics via visual-aids, objects or by touching and feeling various items.
4. Learning disabilities or cognitive challenges:
At times, when a child has difficulty in mathematics, some of the causes could be learning disabilities or some developmental disorders like dyscalculia or a deficit in attention span due to AD/HD. These conditions can also affect the child’s ability to reason numerically, to comprehend or execute instruction, or to attend better, which is why math is difficult to master.
5. Lack of motivation or interest:
Experts have confirmed that school children perform best in their areas of interest and those issues bearing closeness to their lives. If a child in class has minimal desire or concern for mathematics, he or she is not going to spend more time or energy studying the subject hence poor results.
How to handle the struggle?
- Spot the facets where a child can be experiencing difficulties and review fundamentals with him/her. Provide extra practice and the use of manipulatives to further comprehend what has been taught.
- In this case, the teacher should foster an environment where learners feel comfortable to make mistakes because that is how they learn.
- Do not emphasize the result, for instance, the correct answers, but encourage the child or the student for the effort he or she has exercised. Make math less stressful and more engaging in order to improve its popularity and decrease its rating concerning students’ stress levels.
- Learning various teaching approaches and materials that are appropriate for your child’s learning ability. Introduce some fun activities in math through the use of manipulatives, games, and the use of examples from the real world.
- Meet with educators, professionals or health care workers to evaluate your child’s educational needs and devise personalized strategies and accommodations. Give additional support and reasonable accommodations, like longer testing time or different instructional practices.
- Let your child find out how significant math is in real life and learn to evaluate what they truly want to excel in, within the subject of Maths. Use their hobbies, goals, or future aspirations to help reinforce the lesson with real world applications and examples. Reward them and celebrate with them every milestone that will help them to continue their positive learning of Mathematics.
The identification of the causes of your child’s difficulty in mathematics is the initial point towards providing the right encouragement and assistance. Knowing these strategies to fill the gaps, to relieve some anxiety, to explore different approaches, to respond to the neurodivergent learning style, and to build incentives to get through a frustration and dislike for mathematics can assist your child in moving past mathematical difficulties and in developing a favorable attitude toward mathematics. The author’s message is that when children are given the time, the positive reinforcement, and a more individualized approach, every one of them can develop more confidence and more proficiency in math.
Understanding why and how children continuously lose interest in a specific topic is a daunting task but not an impossible one. Being aware of some key elements of the problem that adds up to this situation and implementing appropriate strategies and management plans to put things back on track, spark the desire to calculate and count. At DPS Warangal, we encourage children to enjoy mathematics as means of exploration, discovery, and creation. Let’s join hands and solve problems and motivate the next generation of problem solvers.