How to deal with maths anxiety

Maths anxiety is very common. I’ve worked with people of all ages who want to improve their maths but struggle with the idea. Sometimes emotions get in the way. Perhaps you need to pass a qualification at work? Or want to handle your finances better? Maybe you’re facing your maths anxiety “gremlins” following a bad experience at school. These can be brave choices.

Here are a few tips and ideas to help you feel better about maths:

Focus on what you need from maths

Maths is a broad subject covering everything from addition and subtraction, to shapes and statistics. Although school qualifications tend to offer a taste of all of this – if you’re returning to maths after a while away you might not need to deal with every aspect of maths. Instead, decide on what you DO need. Perhaps you want to be able to perform drug calculations for a nursing qualification? Or engineering equations? Do you simply need to refresh your knowledge for handling your accounts?

Make a list of exactly what you want from the subject. What can maths do for you? Put yourself in control.

Demystify the maths

Maths can feel impenetrable, like an ancient language, but we can soften the subject be looking calmly at what it actually is. It’s true: mathematics is a language – a language of numbers, letters and symbols that we can use to describe the world and its rules. Maths is supposed to help – to aid communication rather than act as a barrier.  Sometimes mathematicians forget this. Mathematical equations are just statements about relationships between things. These “things” are often represented by letters (this is algebra) and the story of their relationship traced by a line (on a graph). One of my first aims when tutoring students with maths anxiety is to take the sting out of it. (See below for more about our tutoring services.)

Banish the maths gremlins

Many of my adult maths students are returning to the subject after a number of years having pushed maths away. They say things like “I was never good at maths”, or “I can’t do maths” or even “I dreaded maths at school”. Sometimes they are angry, sometimes there are surprised by tears. Returning to the subject if often about more than crunching numbers, it’s actually a way to heal from a bad experience in the past. Facing these complicated feelings is incredibly brave. I am a qualified coach as well as a professional tutor. Helping people with maths anxiety draws on all these skills. With experience I will say: you can face maths gremlins from the past, and you can fill any gaps they left – and yes, you can absolutely have a smile on your face while you do it 😊

Practice your maths skills

Part of strategy for becoming comfortable with maths is practice. Firstly, because like any fear – facing it brings confidence. Sometimes you’ve just got to do it! Once you’re comfortable approaching maths, on whatever level you choose,  practice helps you keep your skills sharp. Like learning a language, practice little and often is the best way to ensure you get the most out of these skills. I’m happy to recommend books, apps, or websites like National numeracy.

Get help with your maths

If you decide you need some help with your maths you might consider a private tutor. I’ve been tutoring maths for over 10 years, and have a PhD in biology and mathematics. I’ve worked with many students from GCSE up to adult learners. My advice is to find a tutor who is right for you – who puts the concepts across in a way you understand. If you want some advice on the best way forward for you, please get in touch.

Best of luck with your maths,

John.

Dr John Ankers

Specialist online science and maths tutor
John@wooltontutors.co.uk
https://wooltontutors.co.uk

 

 

How to revise for A-level biology (and everything else)

Students often ask for advice on how to revise. Learning is different from understanding, but we need both to get the marks in exams. We can prepare for different questions, like describe and explain, evaluate or application A-level biology questions. But sometimes there is no avoiding it – there is also a lot to learn. So how best to do it?

Here are a few tips for how to revise effectively. (I’m using “How to revise for A-level biology” as an example here, but these tips can be applied to other subjects, too): Continue reading “How to revise for A-level biology (and everything else)”

Five practical ways to help your child with exam stress

Exams, class tests and mocks can be stressful. For better or worse, they’re often a test of resilience as much as knowledge. Parents can help in a number of ways to manage their child’s exam stress.

It might not be easy – your child may “push back”. Explain that you want to help; perhaps show them this post. Hopefully you’ll find something useful here that you can work on together.

  1. Remember that they are the expert on the subject, so you don’t need to be.

Often parents ask me how they can support their children in subjects like maths or biology if they themselves didn’t take them at school (or if they did, it was a long time ago). To provide support, you don’t need to be experts – your children already are. Instead, you can be their “spotter” – like a gym buddy! Ask them what they need to work on, what list of facts they need to know and surprise them with questions out of the blue. While you aren’t providing teaching, you are motivating and encouraging your child.

  1. Help with time-keeping and list-making.

Students approaching exams often have a lot on their mind, so practicalities like organisation and time-management get pushed aside. Here, parents can help massively with their child’s exam stress.

Gently help them to create a working routine – ask which topics they feel they need to prioritise and help them to make a list. Keep referring back to this list (even if you don’t know anything about the topics yourself – this doesn’t matter!). If they are frustrated with a topic ask them if the issue is knowledge (“making it stick”) or understanding (do they “get it”?). Breaking topics down in this way helps your child to prioritise and manage issues. Sharing these lists is also a great way to work alongside teachers and tutors – it gives us something to focus on in the next tutoring session. Continue reading “Five practical ways to help your child with exam stress”

How to prepare for mock exams in Liverpool Schools

While we’re helping students nationally and internationally, we’re also working with local Woolton and Liverpool-based GCSE and A-level students facing mock exams just before or just after the Christmas break.

Students attending schools like Calderstones School, The Liverpool Bluecoat School, St Edwards, Belvedere and Life Sciences UTC might be wondering what the mocks are, how to prepare, and what the point of them is? Well, ok – let’s answer those questions:

Mock exams – what are they?

Both GCSE and A-level courses have mock exams designed to mimic the experience of the formal exams at the end of your course. The difference is they are not assessed nationally, but by your school. The school can choose their own dates, and also to set the content for the test.

Mock exams – how do I prepare?

Your teachers will give you a list of topics that may come up in the mock exams. If you’re in the first year of your course, this list may be pretty short. During revision, make sure you understand the topics on the list, then: practise, practise, practise! Find past papers on the exam board’s website (here is AQA and Edexcel). If you’re in the first year, stick to “paper 1” and skip any questions on topics that aren’t on your revision list.

Mock exams – what’s the point?

Mock exams give you valuable experience of the exam setting – questions against the clock in a room with your classmates. Take advantage of the chance to test yourself. Yes, your teacher will record your marks and follow you progress but that’s only to help you. Don’t be put off by the idea of the exam – treat it with curiosity – how well do you actually know the subject?

Good luck to all of our students, from home here in Liverpool or abroad and around the world. Hope your mocks go well.

Of course if you’d like some help preparing we can help with GCSE maths and sciences and A-level biology tutoring.

John.
Dr John Ankers
Woolton Tutors

John grew up in Liverpool, went to Bishop Martin Primary School, The Liverpool Blue Coat School, The University of Liverpool for an undergraduate degree, and back again for a PhD. He set up Woolton Tutors in 2014. He is also a parent governor at Woolton Primary School.

How to move from GCSE to A-level – tips for students and parents

A-levels can be a big step up from GCSE. There are more details, more depth and often some satisfying answers to questions left over from earlier lessons. For this reason, A-level subjects can feel like they make more sense than GCSE courses, while being more challenging.

Students sometimes wonder how to prepare for this leap. Parents often ask how they can best support their child in moving from GCSE to A-level, especially in subjects they themselves didn’t study at school. Don’t worry!

The transition to A-level doesn’t need to be scary, and what happens at home can be a big help – you may even have fun doing it.

Keep the end in sight when moving from GCSE to A-level

The good news is that, like GCSE, each A-level exam course has a clear path – its specification. Often, students are aware each exam board (AQA, Edexcel, OCR etc.) provides a course specification but often they don’t make use of it. It’s there for you to download. Treat it like a reference guide – it might not be bedtime reading, but it shows you where you are and what’s coming up. It also has some tips for what the exam questions will look like.
(As an example, here is a link to the AQA A-level biology specification) Continue reading “How to move from GCSE to A-level – tips for students and parents”

FIVE last-minute exam tips

Here are a few last-minute exam tips to help GCSE, A-level and international students with your exams. Let me know if they work for you – or if you’d add any more 😊

  1. Read the question.

This is the easiest piece of advice to follow, and the easiest to forget. Sometimes we scan a question quickly, spot a few key words and make an assumption about how to answer without reading on. I can’t understate this – please read the question. Read it twice. There might be clues in there. This is particularly important for questions with data and diagrams – make sure you understand what the chart shows before starting on your answer. Continue reading “FIVE last-minute exam tips”