From Math Anxiety to Math Success with Commonwealth Learning Center

Overcoming Math Anxiety Through Individualized Math Tutoring

5^th grader Alex* had never liked math. For 18 months, he became increasingly aware that many of his peers sailed through concepts such as fraction operations and decimal division while he silently pretended to understand. He was reluctant to ask for help in class, and when his teacher spent extra time with him, Alex felt self-conscious and began referring to himself as dumb. Although he focused and worked hard, he struggled to complete math work in class, and his math grades went from poor to dismal. After a parent-teacher conference, Alex’s parents searched for help. Worried about their son’s deteriorating math skills and their impact on his overall attitude toward school, they reached out to Commonwealth Learning Center for a free consultation.

A Personalized Multisensory Math Tutoring Plan

After reviewing Alex’s school records and testing, Director Beth Dinelli, M.Ed., recommended that Alex begin 1-to-1 tutoring with a Multisensory Math (MSM) approach. Beth matched Alex with an experienced and certified tutor suited to his needs and scheduled Alex for nine sessions over the summer. During his first session, Alex’s tutor set out math manipulatives, counting charts, worksheets containing practice work with built-in choice, and math games. Together, they created a target list of topics to focus on over the summer.

How the Multisensory Math Approach Builds Strong Math Skills

Alex’s sessions followed the MSM lesson plan format created by Joyce Steeves and Marilyn Zecher. MSM is based on the Orton-Gillingham philosophy of teaching which applies the research-based Concrete-Representation-Abstract (CRA) approach to teaching mathematics. Students are guided through each lesson which emphasizes foundational skills in numeracy and place value, operations, and approaches to word problems. Students use manipulatives to reinforce concepts and aid recall of math facts and procedures. Games are presented as a low-risk, engaging approach to applying learned concepts.

Building Math Confidence and Problem-Solving Skills

Alex quickly developed a rapport with his tutor and responded well to the MSM approach. He benefitted from recognizing the many math skills that he had already mastered, which alleviated some of his math anxiety. He learned how to unpack math language (e.g., factors vs. multiples) to help him talk through concepts he found confusing and clear up some of his misconceptions. He used manipulatives to show how to represent a math problem and prove how to arrive at a correct answer. New concepts were practiced using a small set of familiar numbers, building additional confidence as the numbers were no longer hindering him from learning how to accurately carry out complex procedures such as decimal division or fraction operations. One of Alex’s favorite parts of each session was a game where his math reasoning skills were challenged in a way that encouraged him to take risks, openly learn and discuss strategies, and develop his problem-solving skills.

Student Success After Multisensory Math Tutoring

Alex’s mother shared that: “His tutor really gets Alex. She is amazing at adapting to his roadblocks and finding ways to help him make sense of these math topics. While he hasn’t completely changed his attitude about math, he is feeling much more confident about his math ability. His 6th-grade math teacher had expected him to have a tough time based on a report from his 5th-grade teacher, but so far Alex has excelled. Getting his first A on a test in recent memory. His teacher commented that he has been very helpful in explaining some concepts to his peers.”

Every student’s learning journey is unique. See how one student made remarkable reading progress through personalized dyslexia tutoring, or learn how a student with double deficit dyslexia achieved lasting reading success with specialized intervention.

About Commonwealth Learning Center

Commonwealth Learning Center is an independent nonprofit organization that specializes in supporting individuals with language-based learning differences. We have been providing in-person academic support to families in Massachusetts for nearly forty years and now serve virtually nationwide. Learning differently, thinking differently, succeeding.

*An alias has been used for privacy protection.

Discover our collection of case studies to learn how individualized dyslexia intervention, Orton-Gillingham instruction, and specialized tutoring help students achieve lasting academic success.