Throughout this year, our Gr 1-5 Maths teachers have been engaged in Professional Development about Concept Based Maths.
As part of our work with Jo Boaler from Stanford University, here are some easy steps for parents to help stamp out Maths anxiety with children with practical ideas for home.

• Play games with them! Puzzles, games, anything with a dice, these fun things we can do together as a family do a great amount to help our children develop and strengthen their understanding of number sense in a fun and engaging way. Encouraging number sense helps our children be more knowledgeable and flexible with how they use numbers and solve problems.
• Encourage, encourage encourage! If your child is working on a Maths problem make sure to recognise and praise their effort and thinking as part of the process, not just focusing on the final result. Talking through the process helps them think about their thinking and then plan how they can be more successful.
• Be conscious of how we talk to children about Maths if they say “I can’t do it!” Don’t say “Don’t worry I wasn’t very good at Maths when I was young” Jo Boaler states that research has shown that mother’s in particular saying this leads to lower results for girls especially.
• Encourage a growth mindset, let’s be intentional with the language we use with our children about learning Maths.

More resources for parents about Growth Mindset can be found here