Roots for Success

Math anxiety is a widespread problem for students and adults alike. Even students who are good at math often experience math anxiety, including feelings of tension, apprehension or worry. Math-anxious students frequently endure significant physiological, emotional, and cognitive reactions in situations where they have to manipulate numbers, solve mathematical problems, or take a math test. Math anxiety can begin as early as elementary school with the foundations being laid even before formal schooling.

Signs of math anxiety vary but might include rushing through problems, acting out in class, lack of engagement or motivation, proclamations that the student hates math, or homework procrastination. Math anxiety that goes unchecked in the early years can persist throughout students' academic lives. Math-anxious students tend to take fewer advanced math classes and see themselves as less able in not only math, but in science, technology, and engineering as well. Confidence in doing math and mathematical competence can therefore impact students' vocational choices.

While math anxiety is very real, it is also fixable. One-on-one tutoring can help! At Roots for Success, a big focal area of my work is building students' confidence. My approach centers on meeting students where they are and taking the time to listen to their ideas and build on their intuitions. During our sessions, I provide students with plenty of opportunities to be successful. I encourage students to think flexibly about numbers and explore alternative approaches to problems. It is more important that they truly understand the concepts we are working on than it is for us to cover a set number of topics in a defined period of time. The more comfortable they become approaching problems in different ways, the deeper and broader their knowledge extends and the more confident they become in doing mathematics.

Helping students believe in their ability to successfully perform in math boosts motivation in learning and lowers math anxiety. As students' confidence grows in the intimate setting of one-on-one tutoring, it begins to move with them into the classroom. Students engage more in math class. They are more willing to raise their hand and ask questions, more willing to consider alternative ways of approaching problems. Greater engagement leads to greater confidence and increased motivation. Students with higher motivation in a subject area invest more time and effort in learning. And so it becomes an upward cycle of growth.

In-person sessions are in Cary, NC.

Virtual sessions are conducted via Zoom.

Contact me directly to discuss your child's needs and set up a tutoring schedule. I recommend 1-2 sessions/week. Continuity in sessions enables me to develop a relationship with your child and craft sessions that are specifically tailored to their needs.

$60/45-minute virtual session

$70/60-minute face-to-face session

I provide all of the materials your child needs for tutoring sessions. While the skills and concepts covered during tutoring sessions follow a coherent order and align with the Common Core Math Standards, we mix it up with stories, puzzles, rich tasks, games, apps, and more. Math stories draw students in and bring math concepts to life. Math puzzles foster logical thinking, persistence, and creativity. Rich problem contexts and tasks invite students to ponder important mathematical ideas in depth and verbalize their thinking. Math games (a favorite) encourage strategic mathematical thinking and support the development of computational fluency. And math apps (digital math tools) make math more interactive. In short, we use a lot of different ingredients to make math meaningful and FUN! Much of the content I use are materials I developed through the above mentioned projects. Other materials are freely available online. Examples of online content and tools can be found at the following sites: The Math Learning Center, Geogebra, Desmos, Illustrative Mathematics, and Open-Up Resources.