Activities for overcoming fear of number

Go straight to the activities or read on for preparation and background understanding.

Numbers are beautiful things and the manipulation of number can offer the mind the opportunity to experience intellectual elegance, combined with the pleasure of achieving pragmatic solutions to the problems of everyday life.

They are sadly, however, also the focus of fear and anxiety for many learners. Unlike learning one’s first language, early learning (or ‘mislearning’) of number use can lead to a learned anxiety of number that acts as a barrier to understanding in mathematics and numeracy. More important than the structured curriculum, the schemes of work, the catch-up sessions or daily doses of numeracy is the task of overcoming anxiety and fear of failure among many young learners – including the most able.

For the teacher, an important challenge is to recognise and manage the fear that number can induce in many learners. For some, the first step in achieving this is to confront their own lack of confidence: those who, however unwittingly, convey the idea that ‘mathematics is hard’, are placing their pupils at a significant disadvantage. 

For anyone prone to a fear of numbers (arithmophobia or numerophobia) the consequences can be very significant; numbers are all around us and being able to successfully manipulate numbers is essential to any kind of success in modern life. For most young learners, the help they need is simple and comes in the form of reassurance, guidance on personal learning management and activities that reveal the fun and elegance of number which in turn leads to a positive and ambitious interest in number and mathematics.

The negative effects of a fear of number can be exacerbated when a child is both able and a perfectionist; s/he recognises that to ‘get things right’ is rewarded by much-sought-after approval, while to ‘get things wrong’ is in turn the cause of concern and criticism. As teachers and educators introducing young learners to number at Key Stages 1 and 2 we have the responsibility to not only teach children the ‘must know’ of the National Curriculum but also to give them the confidence and ability to:

• feel safe with number
• get excited by the possibilities of number
• be delighted in taking the occasional risk.

A foundation of confidence is the precursor to a foundation of knowledge. We need to deal with fears about failure, making mistakes and most importantly the fear of disapproval.

To help the able perfectionist we should:

• build on past successful experience
• build successful number experiences
• set individual challenges that help build a portfolio of accomplishment which is not simply about ‘right answers’ but is also concerned with questioning and speculation
• help learners to appreciate the nature of making a mistake
• develop the skills of ordering and prioritising for the young able learner; what needs to be done, when, in what order?

Enrichment activities
Managing a fear of number is essential for any learner who wishes to achieve any success or accomplished understanding of most subjects. Enrichment activities that offer a choice of answers and provide the basis for more questions and discussion can stimulate a confidence in working with number while also stimulating a general awareness of number.

The enrichment activities in the panel below offer:

• different levels of challenge
• pupil-determined decision making opportunities
• avoidance of the ‘one right answer’ barrier to taking risks when thinking
• challenging fun.

John Senior is a writer, consultant and lecturer; his latest book is Primary Enrichment: Activities for Key Stages 1 and 2

1. Number map
Use a large sheet of paper and ask your pupils to draw a full portrait of themselves or join together lots of large sheets of paper so that one pupil can draw around the full life-size profile of another pupil. When each pupil has a drawing of themselves ask them to draw on their profile every number they can think of that is associated with themselves. Examples would be number of teeth, shoe size, age, weight, class number. When the drawings are finished and all displayed what numbers do your pupils share? Ask your pupils: Are there any common numbers? Are there any unique numbers? What are they? What can be learned from looking at numbers in this way? This type of activity develops observation, high-order questioning skills and an awareness of numbers and their application.

2. Naming numbers
Naming things anew requires an understanding of the objects or concepts in question. Renaming the numbers 1 through to 10 would be fun. Justifying the new nomenclature would be challenging. Ask each pupil or a small group of pupils to rename the numbers they are familiar with and explain the logic/justification behind their decision. For example the number four could be called Vera (it has four letters) or this name could be a replacement for five (it has the roman numeral V as its starting letter). New names for existing letters could then lead to some interesting combinations of simple numeracy work where new names are used which will quickly demonstrate the remarkable functional ability of the present system of numbering.

3. Weekend numbers
Ask your pupils to collect examples of a particular mathematical symbol over the weekend. Each weekend should be a different symbol (+, -, x, ÷, =).

Monday could be used as a discussion round-up of symbols spotted and where they are to be found (in the home, shops, sports centre, local, street). Which symbols are most often seen? Which symbols are rare sightings? Could a symbol spotting game be made where spotting a division symbol (÷)  scored more points than spotting an addition (+) symbol?

4. A scale of accuracy
Accuracy and the need for accuracy can be a challenging concept for young learners to grasp. Ask your pupils to create a scale of accuracy. Ask them to consider all the ways they know of describing accuracy. Individually they may not know of many; hopefully, however, working as a group should provide a few ideas. ‘Spot on’, ‘near enough’, ‘just right’, and ‘perfect’ may be some of the ideas and phrases they offer. Ask them to complete a scale of accuracy which ranges from the ‘not very accurate’ to the ‘very accurate’.

When they have completed and agreed their scale of accuracy invite your pupils to describe results and events using the terms from their scale. For example is the whistle blown at the end of the game ‘bulls eye, spot on’ or just ‘near enough’? Supplementary discussion questions can follow this exercise about the importance to accuracy in all things not just number.

5. What kind of person thought up the number seven?
To develop their curiosity about the history and development of number ask your pupils to think about the numbers they see around them every day such as telephone numbers, house numbers, numbers as price and weight in shops. Invite them to choose a number they particularly like and draw a picture of the person who they think would have been the very first person to use that particular number. This in turn should prompt an awareness of the need and application of number.

6. Patterns and properties of shape
The postage stamp is a familiar shape and with few exceptions it is a shape that has changed very little since its introduction. A sheet of stamps is a wonderful example of pattern and appropriate shape for purpose. How would your pupils develop the postage stamp? What shapes would they like to see? What challenges would the use of their chosen shape present in the printing and production of their proposed stamp? Would people find the new stamp easy to use? Would people like the new stamp shape? If so why?

7. Number diary
Invite your pupils to start a numbers diary. Every time they see a number or numbers being used in a way that interests them they should make a note or draw a picture of the number/s in their number diary.

8. Number shortage
Ask your pupils to imagine that a number shortage is going to happen over the coming week and they have to choose five numbers, any numbers, for all their number uses. Which numbers would they choose? Can they explain and justify why they chose these particular numbers?

9. Too much!
‘Hrair’ is a term from the fictional language Lapine used in Richard Adams’s Watership Down and it means a number that is too large to count. More precisely ‘hrair’ is the point where a person’s ability to manage or cope with change and new concepts breaks down. Ask your pupils to consider how this must feel and to share times when perhaps they have felt that everything is just ‘too much’ and they find it difficult to cope with. Can they think of a word or phrase that they could say to a teacher which would mean ‘it’s all too much – please slow down and explain it again’ so that this word could be used and everyone would know that to use the word or phrase was not a mark of failure but of a sensible person who simply wanted a little time to understand something new.

10. Do numbers have friends?
It is often the case that 1 and 0 are seen together, ie 10.

1 never seems to have time to itself. Can your pupils suggest combinations of numbers that like to be together or prefer to be on their own? Do numbers in fact have personalities? Ask your pupils to consider these questions and then produce number stories so that they can begin to feel comfortable with numbers and begin to see relationships, manage words and numbers together while also working at a level of challenge they create for themselves with no right or wrong answer preventing them having creative thinking time.

This type of enrichment activity offers pupils the chance to think widely and not feel under pressure to get the right answer, allowing them to play with ideas and to see depth or complexity on their own terms. With the early learner as any other, it is sensible to challenge and stretch within a safe, risk taking climate. Good foundations are built on the security of mutual respect and not on the fear of failure.

Resources and references

• Images of mathematicians on postage stamps
• Information about Watership Down
• Phobia List – An A to Z List of Phobias
  
• The first use of zero and negative numbers