Book Review: Math- Positive Mindsets: Growing a Child’s Mind Without Losing Yours.

Book Review: Math- Positive Mindsets: Growing a Child’s Mind Without Losing Yours.

Author: Dr Carrie Cutler

If I had a dollar for every parent who shared with me “I wasn’t good at maths” I would be much further along in our mortgage payments! I am sure you all feel the same. As teachers, we collectively cringe when we hear those words from well-meaning parents, because we know the damage these messages can cause.

As educators, we all understand the importance of creating strong home-school links. This is particularly important in mathematics because our teaching methods have changed considerably since most parents attended Primary School 20- 40 years ago (wow! I’m feeling old, doing these calculations!). There are also the added issues associated with maths anxiety, which can rear its ugly head and derail many of our best efforts to develop a growth mindset in our students. The research is clear, it is not the level of a parent’s mathematical skill that determines the success of their child in the subject, it is their attitude and approach to mathematics. This is a critical message that is simply and clearly made through Dr Carrie Cutler’s wonderful book.

Dr Carrie knows a thing or two about both parenting and maths education. She is a parent of eight(!) children and has a Ed.D in Maths Education. She is a passionate educator and advocate for linking home and school in the mathematics domain. Dr Carrie is from the USA, so while there are a few US specific references, however on the whole, the content it is very transferable to our Australian context.

This book is designed for both parents and teachers. There are LOTS of practical tips for parents and most importantly they are simple, actionable and align with the messages and approaches we are working on in the classroom. I found myself nodding along all the way through, and constantly giving Dr Carrie virtual ‘high fives’ as I read!

One of the things I have learnt since having children is how busy life becomes when they reach school age. I didn’t fully appreciate these challenges before I had children. In this way I think the book is a fantastic resource that provides you with simple ideas on how to best to get parents ‘on board’.

The book takes parents through 3 steps to develop a maths positive mindset.

Critically, Step One begins by helping parents to address issues around their OWN maths anxiety and developing their own positive maths mindset.  The information related to this is framed around a series of common questions parents ask. This structure makes the book really relatable, and incredibly easy to read. It is one of those books that makes just as much sense if you read out of order as it does if you read from cover to cover. Some examples of the questions that are addressed in this part are: “I don’t really like maths, does it show?” and “Don’t you have to be “born” good at maths? I mean, maths isn’t for everybody, right?”. Dr Carrie’s writing style is relaxed, friendly, non-judgemental and informative.

One of the things I love about this book is it provides simple, practical tips that parents can implement immediately. Each chapter includes “Pause’ative” Boxes, these include actionable ideas for parents. For example, after talking about the importance of praising effort, Dr Carrie includes some phrases parents could try with their children, for example “I like how you kept trying when it got tough” and “thanks for starting your homework without being asked”.

Just as there are practical tips for parents- there are also “teaching tips” scattered throughout the book. For example, one teaching tip looks at “Communicating Maths Language to parents”. It reinforces the importance of us using parent-friendly language with parents. I completely agree with this, and often talk about how most parents have no idea what we are talking about, even with words as ‘simple’ as “place value”. Other teaching tips relate to content and provide simple classroom activities related to maths content.

Step 2 in the book looks at everything associated with parents knowing a little more about how maths is currently taught in schools. It addresses common questions like “Why are children asked to explain their thinking?” and “why is maths these days so different from how I learned it?”. Some of the teaching tips include alternatives to timed tests and strategies to ensure successful parent-teacher interviews. Once again, this section is easy to read and extremely well written.

Step 3 looks at helping parents to apply their newly acquired maths positive mindset as they support their child at home in maths. It unpacks mathematical content and explains everything in simple ‘parent friendly’ terms. Many practical games and examples are included to support parents. Dr Carrie looks in detail at all things Number and Operations, Geometry, Measurement and Data and Algebra. These chapters of the book breaks concepts and language down for parents and explain the maths in simple terms.

In conclusion I would HIGHLY recommend this book to teachers and Numeracy leaders who are interested in upskilling in the area of communicating with parents and developing their own knowledge of maths-positive mindsets. This book is particularly perfect for leaders who are planning on running a parent night and are looking for ideas and advice to share. Of course, I would also recommend you keep this book in mind, and share it with any parents who show interest in learning more about how to help their children in maths.

Sharing the important messages in this book with parents will help to ensure our students are hearing the same positive messages around maths, whether they are at home or school. This is a win-win situation.