This Wednesday 21 May marks National Numeracy Day and we're
sharing practical advice to boost number confidence. Maths and
numeracy are essential life and work skills, and the government
are committed to ensuring they remain a core part of every young
person's learning.
Whether you're a parent supporting homework or a teacher
inspiring future mathematicians, our tips help transform number
anxiety into confidence.
Around half of working-age adults have primary school-level numeracy
skills, with many struggling with basic budgeting multiplication,
which can lead adults to feel negatively towards the subject.
This can change - most people can improve their numeracy and overcome maths
anxiety. To become a more numerate nation, change must start with
children from the youngest age. Parents and carers have the most
significant influence on children's feelings about maths, despite
often lacking confidence themselves.
How can parents, carers and teachers, help children to
feel more confident with numbers?
The approach that National Numeracy, the
independent charity behind National Numeracy Day, takes focuses
on building confidence first and foremost.
Secondly, we work with adults and children together – building
confidence with both the supporter and child. It's a winning
combination.
Families and teachers can make a huge difference children's maths
learning and help them build their confidence with numbers.
Here are our top three tips for helping children feel
confident with maths:
-
Talk positively about maths. Children
learn from example, so avoid saying things like “I can't do
maths” or “I hated maths at school.” It's easy for children to
take that on board themselves. Keeping things positive is more
likely to help children develop confidence with maths.
-
Point out the
maths in everyday
life. Maths is all around us
– it's not just something that happens in school. Showing
children the numbers in things like cooking, using money and
travelling is a simple way to bring maths to life. This will
help children see the value of learning maths.
-
Praise children
for effort rather than
talent. Giving children
praise is important, but the type of praise we use can have an
impact on how they feel about maths. Praising children for the
hard work they've put in, or for working out the steps to get
to an answer, is more helpful than simply telling them they're
clever. It helps them see that it's not about natural ability –
but that by working hard they can always improve.
It is vital that adults that support children do not think they
have to be maths experts themselves. There is no ‘maths gene' –
our abilities come from nurture not nature. So, one of the best
ways to help support the children in your care is to improve your
own number confidence.
Here are our five top tips to for parents and teachers supporting
children:
- Ability is not fixed; everyone can improve.
- The maths we use in the real world is different from the
maths we learned at school.
- It doesn't mean you're bad at maths if you don't have a GCSE.
- We still use maths after school and our school performance is
not an accurate reflection of our ability. Even if we were in the
bottom set at school or were told we couldn't do maths, we are
disproving that every day, as we use numbers in our day-to-day
life.
- It's not uncommon to feel anxious, stressed or exposed when
faced with maths – if people feel that way, you are not alone.
This National Numeracy Day,
take a look at the charity's website for free activities and
resources for both adults and children.
How you talk about maths shapes your child's confidence with
numbers.
Avoid saying you were "never good at maths" as this can make
children think maths ability is fixed. Instead, share that while
you may have found maths hard at school, you've learned useful
number skills for everyday life. Let them know that working
together on problems helps everyone improve.
This simple change helps children see that getting better at
maths is possible for everyone with practice and support.
