Math Anxiety Reduction

"In the last ten years, students have increasingly shown a willingness to express their fear of mathematics...I have improved my observation skills and read the psychology texts which try to explain the behaviors of my students; I have become convinced that many of these students have experienced traumatic failure in situations involving mathematics. The result has been an inability to function productively in other mathematics learning situations because all attention is centered on the fear itself rather than the mathematics that is being taught. It's hard to learn anything when you are not able to pay attention. The material of this workbook includes the strategies I have devised for overcoming the fear we commonly today call 'math anxiety.' ...The more I understand about the anxiety, the greater my respect for these students' courage in again facing the situations that have been so painful in the past. It is my earnest hope that these materials will provide the information, attitudes, and new skills that will eliminate or greatly reduce the anxiety that has stifled the hopes and legitimate academic goals of many students." (from the Preface)