Why do kids in school dread math?

Post Reply New Topic

For most kids in school math is their most dreaded subject. Why is this? Is there something about our brains that makes math dreadful?

I'm pretty good at memorizing facts so for me it was the fact that I couldn't get by on purely memorizing facts. You can memorize formulas but that can only get you so far.

I was really bad at math. It started in third grade when we started getting into fractions and long division that would just make my brain go numb. I used to cry almost every day in school when I had to do math. I was embarrassed and ashamed but I just couldn't help it. And then when I finished the school year and other kids didn't even have to think about math until September, but not me. I had to do math problems, stuck inside my trailer while camping out so I'd be "ready" for fourth grade!

For years I wondered why math was so difficult for me but I was always really good at reading and writing. I used to hear things, like all girls are bad at math and it's something that takes brains to do but anyone can be good at reading and writing even if they are stupid. And then I started my first year of junior high and social studies became my next worst subject... dull, stuffy political, trying to remember all these events and people that were about as exciting as watching paint dry. Although soon I started to do badly in nearly every subject.

They absolutely suck at teaching it and some people naturally aren't capable of higher levels of math, that doesn't make them stupid or mean they should be locked out of higher education if that is what they choose. Most people once they leave school lose this math ability, my mom who is a college graduate sure as hell never was able to help me much in school with math. Now this Common Core stuff is just pure madness, you should see how crazy it is. 2+2=4 is incorrect in Common Core, it's totally insane.

Mathematics is exceedingly difficult for me, so of course I dread it.

There are plenty of asd kids who are good at it and love it though.

First, answers to maths problems are either "Right" or "Wrong". For people who can't deal emotionally with such two-state thinking, this makes them anxious; and when you consider that there is literally an infinity of wrong answers and only one right answer, this greatly increases the anxiety of making a mistake (especially at the blackboard). Creative students might see no point in getting the answer exactly right when "close enough" is good enough for them; then they lose interest in maths.

Second, lower-level maths are often very poorly taught; and by teachers who themselves don't like it, don't have a deep understanding of it, and project something of a fear of it onto their students. This fear is compounded when the teacher's response to a student's request for more detailed explanation is something like "Don't ask stupid questions; just do the maths!" Inquisitive students might feel embarrassed or intimidated and lose interest in maths.

Third, some students seem to get the idea that if you do not come up with the answer right away, then you are somehow "ret*d" at math. Each student has a differ in how they approach a maths problem: some talk it out, some draw it out, some work it out, some crunch a series of possible answers until they get it right, and some work the problem backwards. Slower students often become discouraged and lose interest in maths.

Fourth, some students may firmly believe that maths skills are inappropriate for their gender. Some boys may believe that being good at maths somehow makes a boy a "sissy", while some girls may believe that being good at maths makes a girl weird, and therefore unpopular. Such students seem to never have any interest in maths until they suddenly realize that they need those maths credits for graduation, college, and career.

Fifth, some students may firmly believe that maths skills are inappropriate for their culture. Members of some cultures may believe that being good at maths somehow makes a person a traitor to their culture. Such students also seem to never have any interest in maths until they suddenly realize that they need those maths credits for graduation, college, and career.

In other words ... It's Complicated.

I think math is harder for many people because to them it's more abstract.

I mean, look at how math was generally historically taught - rote memorization and ad nauseam mandatory steps were the "fundamentals". Like, here, you'll never understand the theory behind these things so remember half of them and really inefficient ways to do the rest.

School made math un-fun.
I used to really enjoy it.