How to Cope With Math Phobia

Many people get nervous at the thought of studying or using math. In most cases, the more math you do, the less scary it becomes.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Textbooks
• Calculators
• Paper And Pencils
• Ready For Math With Pooh Software
• Math Software
• Calculators

1. Tell yourself that math is not a scary monster or an aptitude that people are born with. It is a skill that can be acquired.

2. Practice doing basic math calculations in daily life. Mentally figure out the sum of your shopping purchases and bills, for example.

3. Buy math software that teaches you the basics of high school math. Go at your own pace and do some problems at least once a day.

4. Buy math review books for the beginner and go through them at a comfortable pace.

5. Skip the difficult problems at first. Instead, start with basics and work your way up.

6. Give yourself positive reinforcement when you get the right answer. Do not put yourself down if you cannot figure out a problem.

7. Take math review courses at a community college.

8. Ask for help from family members and friends who are good at math. Let them teach you in private classes.

Tips & Warnings

• Overcoming a fear of math may require asking yourself where your fear of math is rooted and then ascertaining whether this "fear" is real or imagined.
• Children pick up attitudes about math from their parents. When a child hears one say, "I was never good at math" or "I hated math," he often relates it to himself and gives up without trying. Avoid negative statements and look for the positive: "I didn't get a chance to understand this part of math. I'd love to learn it now."

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[Etan-Savir]

on 8/5/2008 I also saw an article by a math teacher about math anxiety http://www.sensible-math-education.com/overcoming-math-anxiety.html.

He compares learning math to learning anything new. It can be overwhelming when you don't know what you're doing, but if you practice enough, you'll probably gain proficiency and do fine.

on 11/22/2005 I found an interesting article on curing math phobia. It explains how getting interested in math is half the battle:

http://funwithfigures.com/articles/math-help.htm

on 11/22/2005 I have a website dedicated to helping people learn any type of math and physics. At first it started out as a website helping people how to do proofs, but then I expanded out to physics as well:

http://fsc729.ifreepages.com/

In my forum I have links to partial solution sets for popular textbooks, book reviews and more. In addition, I have a link to totally free online textbooks.