Tutor HuntResources Maths Resources
You Can Master Maths
Dispels common myths about maths
Date : 07/10/2020
YOU CAN MASTER MATHS - by Matt
Do you struggle with maths, or do you know someone, your child perhaps, who struggles with maths? Well, if so, you are not alone. Many of us grow up believing we simply can t do maths that I m just not a numbers person . And we all saw someone at school who hated maths - possibly when we looked in the mirror. So, we grow up really believing there are people who can t do maths, and continue to believe it through adult life. We have probably seen people at work who simply freeze when presented with a spreadsheet. Who can t add up a two digit column, who can t divide up the restaurant bill between four people, let alone work out the tip. And we accept all this as natural because we ve long since believed that there are some people who simply can t do maths . Like there are some people who can t walk a tightrope or clap their hands and stamp their feet at the same time. It s a seductive argument, some people can t do some some things, and that applies to maths.
Well I am here to tell you that the belief you can t do maths is nonsense. If you can learn your mother tongue, you can master maths, at least up to GCSE level. You need no special gift. And by master I mean achieve an A* Grade. For every state school kid from a humble family that leaves school without a maths GCSE, or leaves with a journeyman grade, there is another less able child who had the benefit of a private tutor and left school with an A* in maths. In fact, I would go as far as to say that there are few children who are privately tutored in maths provided that tuition is tailored to the specific needs of the child - that fail to get at least a B grade at GCSE, including those with what today is called ADHD, or some similar fancy acronym.
If every child can master number and succeed at maths. why do so many struggle? There are many reasons. It may be a concentration issue, it may be a short term memory issue, it may be a teaching issue. And any of these are likely to cause a confidence issue. The issue it is least likely to be is an innate inability with maths. And once your confidence has gone in maths, once that debilitating self-doubt has crept in, reinforced by red pens and shaking heads in the classroom and exasperated parents in the kitchen, you really are in a dangerous place. Like the guy who finds himself sleeping rough, once you hit the streets it can be a tough road back.
Which is where private maths tuition can be a godsend. But it needs to be tuition that is tailored to the individual child, where there is a rapport between tutor and student. When tuition is poorly applied, when it is simply 1 to 1 classroom teaching, it may improve grades, but it is unlikely to transform the student`s confidence, or enable them to achieve their full potential in maths. Whenever I detect, or suspect, a confidence issue I tell my student a story about someone who was once in a worse place, and that someone was me. And I ended up a national maths award winner. But that s another story. I emphasise that, when taught correctly, where problems and examples are tailored to a student s interests, maths is interesting, and can be fun.
Unfortunately, whether state or private school, the problem usually started in the classroom. Maths is different from many other subjects it doesn`t much matter if you flunked the exam on the Tudors, you can still ace the Stuarts. Not with maths. If the fractions classes passed you by, you are going to struggle with equations. Guaranteed.
Classroom teaching is (unavoidably) a one size fits all approach and, whatever approach you were exposed to, simply might not have been the right approach for you. And if that`s the case, you become one of the kids who simply gets `left behind` in maths. And you get told you aren`t good at maths and that`s the reason you`re not keeping up, and you believe it, when in fact it is the teaching that has failed you.
In the classroom, in maths particularly, there can be an over-reliance on drills, including memorising rules and formulae. And some children, by the age of 5, may already be showing short term memory issues. (And we re back again to a self limiting belief that Johnny just can t remember drills.) Well, here s a secret. Many stage entertainers who make a living out of mind-reading and amazing memory acts, were first drawn to develop those skills because they believed they had a defective memory. The truth is memory is a skill that can be learnt so if you think poor memory (or poor attention) is at the root of your maths problems I m the bearer of great news. You can develop amazing memory skills through practice and through techniques, or tricks if you prefer that word. You too can be the waiter who never uses a pen and pad yet gets the 3 course order right for 15 people first time, every time. (Or you can be the maths professor!)
And school maths is a bit like that. There are techniques and systems, the aforementioned `tricks if you like, that can transform your performance in maths. (Some card sharks have made small fortunes in casinos using these techniques.). But here s the rub. In maths you can t simply learn those tricks like you learn number tables by simple rote. To master maths you also need to understand the basics, the underlying concepts. That s why when taking on a new student I first seek to establish their understanding of these underlying concepts, as well as their current achievement level. If necessary, I go right back to the number line and how the ancient Egyptians could design pyramids! In my experience, a thorough grasp of number and of maths concepts is critical to future progression in the subject. Without this, you will struggle, and those students who may have mainly relied on memorising rules and formulae will also struggle each time they are presented with a new maths topic, and indeed throughout their lives.
So, if you think you can t master maths, think again. Whatever age you are, if you are dementia free you can master maths! Remember the person I mentioned who struggled at work when presented with a spreadsheet? Well many of them are still struggling. But there are others who realised they simply had to learn maths to progress at work, they needed to do decimals and fractions, and equations, and understand the binary number system and all the rest that passed them by in the classroom. And they found a way to do it.
Don t wait till you have to learn it. Don t wait till your lack of maths skills is holding you back at work and embarrassing you in the restaurant. Master maths now. Maths can be interesting, it can be fun, and it can be a lot easier than it often seems in the classroom. Master maths now and the reward will not just be in school exams, it will be in your everyday life, for the rest of your life.
Copyright Matt, 2020
Do you struggle with maths, or do you know someone, your child perhaps, who struggles with maths? Well, if so, you are not alone. Many of us grow up believing we simply can t do maths that I m just not a numbers person . And we all saw someone at school who hated maths - possibly when we looked in the mirror. So, we grow up really believing there are people who can t do maths, and continue to believe it through adult life. We have probably seen people at work who simply freeze when presented with a spreadsheet. Who can t add up a two digit column, who can t divide up the restaurant bill between four people, let alone work out the tip. And we accept all this as natural because we ve long since believed that there are some people who simply can t do maths . Like there are some people who can t walk a tightrope or clap their hands and stamp their feet at the same time. It s a seductive argument, some people can t do some some things, and that applies to maths.
Well I am here to tell you that the belief you can t do maths is nonsense. If you can learn your mother tongue, you can master maths, at least up to GCSE level. You need no special gift. And by master I mean achieve an A* Grade. For every state school kid from a humble family that leaves school without a maths GCSE, or leaves with a journeyman grade, there is another less able child who had the benefit of a private tutor and left school with an A* in maths. In fact, I would go as far as to say that there are few children who are privately tutored in maths provided that tuition is tailored to the specific needs of the child - that fail to get at least a B grade at GCSE, including those with what today is called ADHD, or some similar fancy acronym.
If every child can master number and succeed at maths. why do so many struggle? There are many reasons. It may be a concentration issue, it may be a short term memory issue, it may be a teaching issue. And any of these are likely to cause a confidence issue. The issue it is least likely to be is an innate inability with maths. And once your confidence has gone in maths, once that debilitating self-doubt has crept in, reinforced by red pens and shaking heads in the classroom and exasperated parents in the kitchen, you really are in a dangerous place. Like the guy who finds himself sleeping rough, once you hit the streets it can be a tough road back.
Which is where private maths tuition can be a godsend. But it needs to be tuition that is tailored to the individual child, where there is a rapport between tutor and student. When tuition is poorly applied, when it is simply 1 to 1 classroom teaching, it may improve grades, but it is unlikely to transform the student`s confidence, or enable them to achieve their full potential in maths. Whenever I detect, or suspect, a confidence issue I tell my student a story about someone who was once in a worse place, and that someone was me. And I ended up a national maths award winner. But that s another story. I emphasise that, when taught correctly, where problems and examples are tailored to a student s interests, maths is interesting, and can be fun.
Unfortunately, whether state or private school, the problem usually started in the classroom. Maths is different from many other subjects it doesn`t much matter if you flunked the exam on the Tudors, you can still ace the Stuarts. Not with maths. If the fractions classes passed you by, you are going to struggle with equations. Guaranteed.
Classroom teaching is (unavoidably) a one size fits all approach and, whatever approach you were exposed to, simply might not have been the right approach for you. And if that`s the case, you become one of the kids who simply gets `left behind` in maths. And you get told you aren`t good at maths and that`s the reason you`re not keeping up, and you believe it, when in fact it is the teaching that has failed you.
In the classroom, in maths particularly, there can be an over-reliance on drills, including memorising rules and formulae. And some children, by the age of 5, may already be showing short term memory issues. (And we re back again to a self limiting belief that Johnny just can t remember drills.) Well, here s a secret. Many stage entertainers who make a living out of mind-reading and amazing memory acts, were first drawn to develop those skills because they believed they had a defective memory. The truth is memory is a skill that can be learnt so if you think poor memory (or poor attention) is at the root of your maths problems I m the bearer of great news. You can develop amazing memory skills through practice and through techniques, or tricks if you prefer that word. You too can be the waiter who never uses a pen and pad yet gets the 3 course order right for 15 people first time, every time. (Or you can be the maths professor!)
And school maths is a bit like that. There are techniques and systems, the aforementioned `tricks if you like, that can transform your performance in maths. (Some card sharks have made small fortunes in casinos using these techniques.). But here s the rub. In maths you can t simply learn those tricks like you learn number tables by simple rote. To master maths you also need to understand the basics, the underlying concepts. That s why when taking on a new student I first seek to establish their understanding of these underlying concepts, as well as their current achievement level. If necessary, I go right back to the number line and how the ancient Egyptians could design pyramids! In my experience, a thorough grasp of number and of maths concepts is critical to future progression in the subject. Without this, you will struggle, and those students who may have mainly relied on memorising rules and formulae will also struggle each time they are presented with a new maths topic, and indeed throughout their lives.
So, if you think you can t master maths, think again. Whatever age you are, if you are dementia free you can master maths! Remember the person I mentioned who struggled at work when presented with a spreadsheet? Well many of them are still struggling. But there are others who realised they simply had to learn maths to progress at work, they needed to do decimals and fractions, and equations, and understand the binary number system and all the rest that passed them by in the classroom. And they found a way to do it.
Don t wait till you have to learn it. Don t wait till your lack of maths skills is holding you back at work and embarrassing you in the restaurant. Master maths now. Maths can be interesting, it can be fun, and it can be a lot easier than it often seems in the classroom. Master maths now and the reward will not just be in school exams, it will be in your everyday life, for the rest of your life.
Copyright Matt, 2020
This resource was uploaded by: Matt