Math Safety Zone!
Math can be a very threatening subject. It is one of those subjects that people can sometimes use to label a student “dumb”. If the student is getting poor math grades then “they must be dumb”. Of course nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve seen it over and over again with my students who went from Ds and Fs to As and Bs. But until the improvement does happen, even the student sometimes thinks that they are “dumb”. So what can a parent do in this situation?
One answer is to create a math safety zone. This is a non-threatening environment where a student feels comfortable doing math. In this environment, there is no judgment, none of the questions are “dumb” questions, and the time pressure is removed. Basically it’s a place of refuge for a student who has been bombarded with negative math messages all day.
So the first question is Why? The reason in creating a math safety zone is for the student to regain affinity for math and not treat it as a unconquerable fear. In a math safety zone, they know they will not be judged or laughed at or hurried along. This will plant the seeds of confidence that will help them succeed. Just like a stage actor who practices his lines with a partner before revealing his art to the world, a student has a chance to practice math and build confidence before going out in the classroom setting to try for the best grade. A math safety zone gives the math seed a chance to sprout.
The second question is How? The most important success factor for math safety zone is a good facilitator. The facilitator can be the parent, relative, tutor, or a professional math coach. The background of the facilitator is not as important as what he or she brings to the safety zone. In order for the safety zone to be effective, the facilitator has to check all judgment at the door, be prepared to answer all questions, and not be under time pressure. It is only then that a student will have the room to open up and expose the soft spots – the hurt, the humiliation, the anger and despair, so that they can be addressed and dealt with. During the time the student is in the math safety zone there might not even be conversation. The student may be doing math homework with the assuring presence of a math facilitator nearby with maybe an occasional question. Or it might be an exploration of all the things that a student didn’t know but was afraid to ask. It might even be a place where a student unloads all the daily frustrations about the teacher and classmates. The key here again, is that judgment is removed and the student has the freedom to be at peace with math.
So if your son or daughter comes home everyday weighed down with math, and you’re at your wits end with what to do, give it a try. Leave all judgment at the door and create a place where they can open up and lean on you. After all, aren’t they worth it?
Happy Zen Math!
(c) Feenix Pan 2007 All rights reserved.