4 Steps to get over Maths Phobia!
What would life be without Maths? Is it even possible? Well, it is not and thankfully so, because maths is really a fun subject! And everybody’s good at maths, including you! Do you know how much Maths you do every day? From calculating the amount of money you need to buy your stationery, food, etc. to measuring the distance from school to home or anywhere you want to go. The list never ends. Maths is everywhere!
And the best part is that Maths is not just limited to us humans. Animals too, use this beautiful subject in their day to day lives, you can read all about it here. In fact, Galileo once said ‘The laws of nature are written in the language of Mathematics’.
So then why do many of us find ourselves fearing this subject?
The reasons may vary, but for many, it is usually a lack of conceptual understanding which trickles down the exam pressure and competition. But here’s the good news, it’s never too late to overcome this fear of Maths. You want to know how? Let’s explore!
Step 1: Ask yourself if you ever gave Maths a real chance.
As J.K. Rowling says “Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery”. So begin with accepting that you may have developed a fear of maths aka Maths phobia. Many times, we fail to address the real problem and focus our energy on the wrong problem. For instance, you may think that you are just not meant for the subject and start mugging up formulas and theorems to clear your exams, without ever giving a chance to really understanding them.
Step 2: Give Maths a chance!
Start with believing that you can do this. There’s nothing in this world that cannot be learned if it is taught properly. A lot of people are visual learners and Maths is best taught through visual learning. Today, new-age courses are designed in a way that addresses both these areas – conceptual understanding and visual learning. Start addressing your Maths phobia and see the difference!
Step 3: Relate Maths to the reality around you.
As discussed in the beginning, unlike some other subject, maths is always all around you, if you are curious enough to identify it! Start accompanying your parents to buy vegetables. Calculate the cost mentally for the vegetable, based on the quantity you buy. This activity requires you to do quick mental calculations and it’s super fun. You can also keep a tap on the time you take to reach home when walking and when on a bicycle. This will help you understand the relationship between time and distance. Another fun maths practice is to notice the shapes and sizes of the food you eat – like did you know that pizza slices are always cut at an acute angle.
Step 4: Start Practising.
As Aristotle once said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” Once you start understanding the concepts behind equations and formulas, you’ll find a significant improvement in your speed! Amongst various other things, exams are also designed to test a student’s speed of solving a problem, and shouldn’t be treated as a defining moment of your ability to do maths. With practice, you’ll learn to focus on understanding what the problem is and then solving it at a good speed. Practice makes a person perfect, practice all the way to success.
Once you’re at step 4 you will realize that Maths will stop scaring you like the way it does now and the best part is all the steps are easy to achieve. So this National Maths Day let’s attack the fear of Maths! Tell us in the comment section if this article was helpful and also share with us if you find more examples of Maths that surround you and Keep Learning!
Statisticians are considered to be professionals in the field of math. Here is a post on the famous statisticians in India along with their contributions to the filed.