Maths for parents

It seems that children, parents and teachers can all be quite anxious about maths. In her book Maths and Dyslexics, Anne Henderson tells of a case where a student fainted during a maths lesson because he feared his weakness with subtraction was about to be found out. And some teachers have confessed that they do not enjoy teaching maths. One secondary head teacher said she experienced ‘sweaty palms and shivers’ each time she thought about maths.

Sandra eventually bit the bullet and decided to tackle her trouble with maths head on: “In the end, I realised that if I was to be any help to my kids at all, I needed to swot up on the techniques and methods they learn today, and in a sense teach myself maths all over again. I asked the class teacher to let me see some of the resources she was using to teach with, and this also helped me adapt to new forms of maths. I also did some internet research and chatted to other mums. I now feel a lot more confident to offer my kids support, and it's even helped my personal maths skills!'

If you want to hone your maths skills, many adult education centres and colleges offer basic or key skills courses. You could also take advantage of the many distance learning opportunities available on and offline. Going to see your child’s teacher is an important step, too. They will able to offer helpful advice and tips, and some schools run basic skills programmes designed to help parents intent on supporting their children’s learning.