Math was a Demon. It would stalk me in my nightmares and scare the living lights out of me. I used to shy away from studying Math till I could push it no further. And then it would be too late.

After successfully passing out of high-school(duh!) the relief of not having to look into a math textbook is something I cannot put into words! I am just SO glad that I could put all the math-related-pains behind me!!

Or so I thought. Unfortunately my kid got my bad-at-math-genes. He can listen to, read or practice as many lessons on literature you’d give him. But ask him about his Math homework, he will seriously admit “It is no fun, Momma. I will do it in the end.”

Now I have nightmares about him failing in the Math exams.

And now i scrounge the Internet looking for anything to cure my nightmare only to stumble upon more scary stuff out there. Neuro-scientists have coined a fancy name for this condition of math-phobia in kids. HMA – High Math Anxiety. NO kidding. Check this out.

They noticed that the kids undergo ‘cognitive stress’ on dealing with math which puts them on a flight-or-fight mode. And they say we need to deal with the fear (as is the case with any fear) and not let the fear rule the kid.

Now, I don’t want my kid to be scared of math. I want him to understand math as a life skill. I want him to develop his reasoning and logic, understand patterns on interdependence and connectedness just because it will give him wider perspectives to understand the possibilities beyond words.

I suddenly realized the need to de-Demonize math. Math is not elitist and reserved for the smart. Math is common-place and ordinary. It is for those who take the cobbled-stone pathways and marketplaces of life.

It is a mere play of logic and arithmetic, on which layer upon layer of abstract concepts are built. Just like a good old episode on ANTM!(?!)

Now we make math jokes, invent math games, do math shopping(mental calculation of amounts and quantities and net totals and tax %s), do math laundry(probability for me, permutations for the kid) and even declare math days at home – where we work on random math worksheets.

Yes. We. I have joined forces with my kid to topple the Evil Warlord. Now that we are getting closer to him, we feel he is but a pesky lil kid on a sugar high.

Check out some of my favorite Math worksheet searches in the links below. Make sure you specify the grade/class on your search to get relevant results :-

Math Worksheet Titles

• Addition worksheets
• Angles worksheet
• Bar graph worksheets
• Calendar worksheets
• Decimals worksheet
• Division worksheets
• Fractions worksheets
• Integers worksheet
• Math worksheets/Math problems
• Multiplication worksheets
• Pattern worksheets
• Practice worksheets
• Probability worksheets
• Ratio worksheets
• Subtraction worksheets

Fun Stuff

• Fun math worksheets
• Mental maths worksheets
• Math Games

I also went through the amazing book “Common Core for Math for Parents for Dummies” to equip myself with enough knowledge to feel smarter than a 5th grader! Here is hoping you begin your war on Math for the sake of your kids (if you ever found it difficult like me. Not for the smart cookies!) Do share your stories with us here!

#Mathlove #Respect

Anna