Welcome to the Maths Anxiety Classes Guide!

This guide is packed with everything you and your young mathematician need to know about the Maths Anxiety Classes. I’ve laid out all the steps, thrown in some insights and handy tips, and explained how I’ll stick to the promises so everything’s clear from the start.

I’m confident you’ll find this guide engaging, easy to follow, and very useful for your child’s journey to overcome Maths Anxiety with BrainySpinach Maths.

What is the class about? 

The Maths Anxiety Class is about alleviating Maths-related anxiety and decreasing your child’s stress response when they have to crunch numbers. I designed it to rebuild and rekindle my students’ relationships with numbers and mathematical concepts. My mission is to transform Maths from just a dry set of rules into a fascinating living organism with its own stories, ideas, regulations and concepts. At BrainySpinach Maths, we strive to make Maths fun, to turn it into an adventure your children will be excited about instead of dreading.

What is the content of these classes? 

The Maths Anxiety Classes are designed primarily to make learning Maths through Roblox a blast! The goal is simple: if your child has fun and enjoys the Maths-related content, then the class has been a huge success!

We play all manner of Maths games on Roblox – have a watch of this video I made a little while back to get a flavour of just one of them!

This approach draws on my background in special education and home education philosophy – using playful learning methods and self-directed projects. This allows children to follow their own interests and learn at their own pace.

Why is it important for my kids?

Maths Anxiety can have severe and long-lasting consequences well into adulthood when it doesn’t get addressed as early as possible. One of my main goals in this class is to boost your kids’ confidence and self-esteem and revive their academic enthusiasm. To make sure of that the progress of every student will be carefully measured and reported regularly for you to see how far they’ve come (see the section below about questionnaires and growth reports).

Who is this class for? 

If you have a struggling mathematician at home aged 5 to 12, then you are in the right place! If they enjoy Roblox and spend all their leisure time playing it anyway, then that’s even better – we already have a common ground. So let’s transform their learning into an unforgettable adventure, on a platform they already love!

Is this class suitable for neurodivergent children? (ADHD, ASD, PDA & Dyscalculia)

BrainySpinach Maths is neurodivergence-focused and friendly, all our classes are designed to engage children with ADHD, ASD, PDA and Dyscalculia. As you will learn below, I’m a qualified educator who has worked with SEND children for years, so your kids will be in good hands!

Why do you separate energetic and calm children?

In previous classes, I’ve noticed that some children learn best in a quieter environment, whereas others love to approach my classes with a tonne of energetic passion. So I’ve designed two types of Maths Anxiety Classes with kids’ temperament in mind – to make it as safe and comfortable as possible. For that same reason, classes will only host a maximum of 5 students, helping prevent them from being overwhelmed or bored depending on their temperament.

How will this class help my child?

The Maths Anxiety Class targets anxiety of all levels. I guide my students through the hardship of this condition to alleviate anxiety, ease their fear and tension, build confidence, create positive self-perception and thrive in learning complex subjects, not just Maths.

One of the reasons why I tutor on Roblox is gaming helps refocus children from their fears and keeps them engaged for longer. Researchers found that playing Maths games had a more significant impact on children’s academic performance than classic teaching. 

Long-term Effects of Maths Anxiety Classes

Personal Growth

• Improvement of child’s personality-related skills: confidence, self-esteem, academic enthusiasm
• Improvement of child’s cognitive skills: problem-solving, logical reasoning, critical thinking, memory
• Improvement of child’s social skills: teamwork, emotional support of others, conflict resolution, patience
• Stress and anxiety alleviation 

Academic Growth

• Rekindled relationship with Maths as a subject
• Improvement of child’s academic performance in Maths
• Overall improvement of your child’s academic performance (incl. other complex subjects such as biology, chemistry, physics etc.)

Other Benefits

• Individualised approach & adaptability of classes
• Small Groups
• Shorter Classes (shorter lessons are more beneficial for younger children and those with difficulty concentrating)
• Emotional Support
• Additional guidance for children and parents outside of classes
• Measured progress & regular growth reports

Meet Jon

Hey, I’m Jon, also known as BrainySpinach amongst my students! I’m a certified educator and an online Maths tutor with years of SEND education. My passion is empowering neurodivergent children and alleviating their Maths Anxiety.

I teach kids aged 5 to 12 Maths through fun and innovative Roblox games so that my students no longer fear mathematical concepts. Speaking of Roblox – I’m also a game developer, which grants me an eagle eye in choosing the best games for my classes be it fun ones or Maths-related. You can always check out my own Roblox game – The Math Obby. My game will be free forever for everyone for your Robloxians to practise Maths because I refuse to gatekeep knowledge!

Utilising my expertise and experience as the framework, in Maths Anxiety Classes we don’t just solve equations or try to get the right answers – I focus primarily on building a positive relationship with Maths as a subject and also as an inseparable part of life.

Jon’s approach: How I target Maths Anxiety

Safety first

I take the online safety of my students with all possible seriousness. Creating a safe environment is my number one priority when it comes to teaching children online. My classes take place on private servers hosted/provided by me exclusively. I take time to educate parents as well as my students on online safe behaviours and habits. My full Roblox safety guide 2024 edition provides tips for everyone!

Roblox is my teaching ground

It all started when working in schools – my pupils seemed to talk a lot about Roblox and when they found out I also enjoyed games, they’d insist I try it out! Roblox quickly became a way to connect with my students then, and even more so now. It’s not just a platform for developing and playing games, it has immeasurable potential for education and learning. That’s why I’m where I am today! 

In the Maths Anxiety Class, my students and I play my own Maths games on Roblox, as well as others which I have carefully selected over the years during my tutoring and game-developing experience. As mentioned above I have an expert eye for brilliant games as a developer and a gamer myself, and it’s often a big surprise to parents which games are the most beneficial to their child’s growing love of Maths! 

Gamification as a learning tool

Gamification of education is not something unheard of and we at BrainySpinach Maths believe it is the future of education and learning. Why? Research shows that playing Maths games lowers Maths Anxiety and positively impacts academic performance in general. 

Games with mathematical concepts are designed to encourage players to keep progressing through the game by implementing rewards and tips. Gaming progress enhances children’s learning motivation. Maths games also typically lack judgement, criticism and direct comparison, which children often associate with learning Maths at school.

Reframe. Rethink. Relearn.

To battle Maths Anxiety specifically, I incorporate a lot of techniques I found helpful and most effective over the years with my 1:1 and group students. The majority of them you can find in my blog post (coming soon!), but to name a few – I’m a big fan of positive affirmations, celebration of small wins and changes, praise and rewards as well as teaching my students to shift perspectives when they feel stuck instead of giving up. 

Students are the centre of my classes

My classes are always student-centric meaning I adjust every lesson to the needs of my students, instead of fixating on chasing a certain curriculum or a study plan. I’ll challenge my students when I know they can take it on and help them through hard times when they struggle. If a student struggles with an answer, I’ll work with them until they get it, instead of asking someone else. Every student is extremely important to me and I make sure they know it.

Empathy and patience are the key

In my experience one of the key elements to battle Maths Anxiety is to help children feel seen, heard and understood. I put a huge emphasis on emotional support in my classes starting with myself and ending with my students supporting each other. When everyone is ready to lift each other Maths Anxiety stands no chance!

Special features of the Class: Questionnaires & Growth Reports

Let me walk you through the process of how your child’s growth will be measured and why I’m so excited about introducing this Class to you!

1. Onboarding: I onboard every student individually, you will receive a questionnaire about your child’s anxiety history as well as academic and personal goals to fulfil per email.
2. Depending on the provided information your child will be recommended to join either the energetic or calm group.
3. The Classes begin.
4. Regular Feedback: After each Class, I will write down notes on your child’s growth and progress.
5. Midterm Growth Evaluation: In 4 months, I will ask you to fill out the next questionnaire for growth evaluation. 
6. Growth Report: After gathering, analysing and combining all provided information, I will create a growth report which will reflect the improvement of anxiety levels as well as personal and academic growth. 
7. At the 8-month mark, the process will be repeated by filling out a survey and then getting a new report based on both your observations and mine.
8. End Of The Year Evaluation: At the 12-month mark you will receive the “End Of The Year” questionnaire and then the annual report reflecting all the changes that have been observed by both of us.

Brainy Tips: if you drop out from the Class between the 4 – 8 – 12 months marks, you will still be offered to fill out the questionnaires and will be sent a report with all the gathered information. In case you cannot fill the questionnaire out, you will still receive a report with the gathered information from my side exclusively. Please note that the minimum for the provided report is 4 weeks’ worth of classes/ 12 classes.