#53 How to Spark Up Conversations that Boost Your Child’s Comfort with Math

Nov 02, 2021

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How do you help your child see math in everyday things?

Math is everywhere. From the tick of your clock to the speed of your car, from the size of clothing to the measurements of your favorite cupcake recipe, math is everywhere.

Tune in to this interview with Alice Aspinall, author of many children’s books, including Everyone Can Learn Math. A high school math teacher and a mom of two young kids, Alice has become a strong advocate of teaching growth mindset. She continually looks for ways to build young people’s confidence in math and to make math fun, challenging, and friendly. Alice believes everyone can learn math and she is on a mission to prove it.

Alice and Allison discuss:

Alice’s story behind her children’s books and love of math [1.02]
How parents can have math conversations with their kids [5.55]
Alice’s experience, as a parent and as a teacher, with the Love Math Journal [8.24]
How parents bad-mouthing math can hinder their child’s math experiences [9.44]
How to make your kids see math in their lives and surroundings [11.33]
Why sympathizing with your kid’s dislike of math is NOT the solution! [16.38]

Alice Aspinall's Books

Available at http://everyonecanlearnmath.com/books/

Let's Explore Math
Look For The Math Around You
Everyone Can Learn Math

Quotable

"People think that it's okay or it's funny or cool to hate math, but it's not. We really need to work on changing that."
"If we talk to our children at a very young age and show them that math is all around us, at all times and it is not an independent subject that we just learn when we go to school-- That is where the love of math starts. Then the questions like, 'When am I going to use this? How is this relevant?', those questions go away."
"It's about changing the language just slightly into a more positive mindset so that our children learn about the productive struggle and realize that just because their parents struggled with it, doesn't mean that they have to struggle with it too."

Allison Dillard's Books

Raise your Math Grade: Get this FREE short book, which is a toughen-up math manifesto mixed with you-can-do-it enthusiasm. It is an open educational resource, meaning you can share it freely with friends, students, and colleagues.

Crush Math Now: Order this best-selling Amazon book! It is a study guide packed with all the advice Allison has given students over the years on math mindset, study skills, and test-taking strategies.
Love Math Journal: Get this growth mindset journal to help 4th-8th grade students to succeed in and love math. This journal is co-authored by Allison and Nicole Thomson, who had been on Episode# 44 Using Gratitude to Help Students Overcome Math Anxiety.