Math Anxiety

A few years ago, Finn was struggling with his reading. He just wasn’t getting it.

We hired him a tutor that was recommended by the school and within no time, he was reading like a pro.

Now his reading on his standardized tests are in the 90th percentile but his math is in the 70th percentile.

We wanted to be proactive and get him some additional help to increase his math proficiency as well.

We had some friends that recommended Mathnasium. Which is a math tutoring service. We signed him up earlier this year and have been very happy with the math school. He meets there twice a week.

Mathnasium has their math curriculum which is this progression of math skills. They also are in contact with his math teacher during the school year, to see which areas need more attention. He seems to like the school because he is able to accumulate points, as he achieves different math goals.

Finn also receives a certain amount of points when he wears his Mathnasium t-shirt that says “I Love Math” on the front of it.

With these points, he’s able to purchase different toys through the reward system. He likes that. This last week, Finn asked me how long he has to do Mathnasium.

I responded “Until you’re in high school.” Then I asked him, “Why? Don’t you like Mathnasium?” He then responded, “No, I like it but I’m afraid of being teased.” Then I asked, “Are people teasing you about you doing Mathnasium?” He responded, “No.”

He then confessed that he’s concerned that they may make fun of him for wearing his “I Love Math” t-shirt.

I assumed that he didn’t like going but what really bothered him was the t-shirt, that makes him feel like he is “nerdy”.

Many times, we avoid things that are good for us because we worry about how it will make us feel.

For many people, dentistry is a common thing people will avoid because of fear. Some of the things people fear is that it will be painful, the sounds, or knowing that their mouth is being worked on.

Sedation dentistry takes care of all these fears.

In fact, people will get numbed quicker and for a longer period of time with sedation dentistry. Sounds and drilling noise are less obvious to a sedated patient.

We offer Anxiety Free Dentistry and many of our patients have taken advantage of those services.

If you have dental anxiety and would like to have an Anxiety Free Dental consultation, please visit us at mydente.com or call 773-292-1911 to schedule your appointment.

Floss Like a Madman!

Emilio “Math Mayhem” Couret