Laura Overdeck on reducing math anxiety and connecting math with real life | Homeroom with Sal

We're seeing questions come on YouTube, uh, ask Laura and I anything, and we have team members who are looking at them, and we're going to surface, uh, them. And actually, I'll start with a question from YouTube, and that did help. Thanks, Laura.

So this is from YouTube. Nikhil Govinder asks, uh, ask us both, but I'm more curious about your answer. I'm happy to give a little bit as well. What was your inspiration to help others in terms of education? And I guess, you know, why focus on education of all the things in the world?

Well, again, this was not terribly premeditated. When we started Bedtime Math, we were just kind of doing this for fun with our kids. But when we shared the math problems, what happened first is basically there are a lot of hyper-competitive parents in my town, and they wanted to know what we were doing with our kids. So I started sharing the math problems with people, and I was stunned at how, um, these college-educated parents, many of them Ivy League, were so nervous that I hadn't put the answers to the questions.

And they'd say to me, "I know 5 plus 2 is 7, but I'd feel better if you put the answer at the bottom." Because initially, I didn't put the answers, and you know, it just really was a wake-up call about what math anxiety is out there.

You know, we have a country of people who are nervous about calculating the tip, and this includes high school grads, college grads; they're nervous about the tip. And that is a fourth and fifth-grade math skill, as you well know. It's not that hard, and I truly believe everybody can do it, and we have to get there because I think, um, when you talk about the fall of an empire—I mean, we're doing a lot of things wrong in this country, but having people afraid of fourth-grade math is not helping. So it just really lit a fire under me to get out there and see if I could move the needle on this.

No, that makes me think about two things. One is there are just so many people's brains—just something happened to them, trauma, something where math they just shut down. I mean your example of, you know, Ivy League grads wanting the comfort of an answer to a, you know, a first-grade or kindergarten type problem. And just for all any of you who think the tip calculation is just valuable for calculating tips, which it is, uh, you know, this is actually an interview question we used to use at Khan Academy for a lot of entry-level jobs where we just said, we just gave a little word problem: "You and five friends go to a restaurant; you all order this, this, this; you want to pay the right amount of tip; someone pays this; about how much should you pay, or how much change should there be?"

And you'd be surprised how many people with college degrees had trouble answering those questions. So you might see it as an interview question. And I'll just add to Laura, you know, if you think about education, it's just a single leverage point that I think builds on everything else. You know, human capital is the ultimate capital, and if we can let that grow, it'll go to positive uses. If you don't, not only will it atrophy, but it could go in a negative direction. So that's my two cents.

So, um, from YouTube, Gina Guzman asked a question for Laura. According to different home realities, uh, what is the most suitable schedule for distance learning? So, yeah, what advice would you have?

Oh, I mean, I just think that we have all been thrown into a situation we were not anticipating. And I feel particularly for, um, kids in grades K through 2 where it is very hard for them, first to focus for very long on a computer; secondly, even to use the computer—to touch the mouse, to click on the wrong window by accident, their teacher disappears. We find when we practice our games with our staffs, um, kindergarteners, it's very different. The parents end up being very involved, and that is really a strain on a family where the parents are working.

It's also a strain. I know there's a lot of talk about, um, clearly the inequities where kids don't have a device at home or Wi-Fi; you have to add in then all the people where there is a device in the home, but everybody needs it. There are multiple kids or there's a parent working from home.

So I think as far as what works for the schedule, I think you have every scenario out there. As a start, though, it seems to me that kids hit the ground running in the morning. It is much harder to engage after lunch during food coma. And, um, I think also that it's really emotionally healthy for kids to see their guide—their teacher, if possible—in the morning at the start of the day, even if it's brief.

Um, and then from there, get their structure for the day and move from there. I don't know if that fully answers the question, but I also think we don't even really know all the answers because there are just so many scenarios out there, and it's really challenging.

Yeah, I think that's consistent with what we're seeing. I mean, what we're telling—very consistent—we're saying, hey, it just gets started. Even if you're able to do 20 minutes, 30 minutes a day of math, reading, maybe writing, that's a start and students won't atrophy. And, and that I think lowers the stress level and then you can layer on more.

We've, you know, we've published schedules and things like that as well, but I think you're exactly right. It depends on your circumstance, and this is a time where people definitely should not put more stress on themselves if they can avoid it. So no one should beat up on themselves.

And I was just going to add one more point that's kind of related, which is I think the fact that we're not—kids are not with their teachers is making us more aware of how powerful that is. Tools like Khan Academy and all the resources out there that enable kids to personalize their work are incredibly important, but we still need to pair a human with it. Like teachers should never worry that any of this is going to make us not have teachers in the future. I think teachers are incredibly important.

And a piece of research I was so struck by is work out of the University of Washington iLabs where they do MRIs of babies. They've put—they've created a helmet that you put on the baby's head, and they use math to do motion correction, and you can watch the baby's brain while things happen. And it turns out if you touch a baby's hand or the baby's mom's hand while the mom is sitting there, certain parts of the brain light up. If you show the baby a video of her mom with her hand being touched, those parts don't light up.

We really do react differently and in a much more powerful way when we're with people physically. And so, I mean, I'm looking forward to the end of this and everybody getting back to school because I think that that's such an important part of education. I'm also hoping, though, that we find a way to pair that with the liberation I was talking about earlier of having kids really see what they need to be working on and what they need to master.

That's fascinating. I think it's a super, it's super worth triply underlining. I think all of us, we always knew the power of teachers and the work they did, but I think this has all driven our empathy much, much higher, uh, for the amazing work that they do with our children and, uh, sometimes how, how hard it can be.

And I actually want to make sure I understand that. That was fascinating you said, obviously, you would expect if the child's own hand gets touched that would light up parts of their brain, but you're saying if their parent is in their presence or their mother's in their presence and someone touched the mother's hand, that would—yes! It's mind-blowing. Because it shows that infants, even a few hours after birth, have empathy.

I mean, they don't know what a hand is; they don't know that that's their hand and the mom. Like, they don't know that that hand matches their hand, that it's the corresponding point. And yet when you touch the mom's hand, it lights up. I think it's just incredible research, and they're continuing to do more on this, um, out of iLabs at the University of Washington.

But I think it just has so many implications for how you want a blended learning package where you have the content where a kid can really work on their own, but you definitely want a human in the picture too, and we want the best of worlds.

Absolutely, and we have a couple of questions which I think is interesting, especially considering your background, Laura. From, um, we have a question from Nikhil actually again from YouTube. Asal and Laura, what made you interested in mathematics? How do you make children—then for Adithya is asking how do you make children interested in math? And I'd love to connect that to your background. You are, if I remember, an astrophysicist by training.

I am! So what got you interested in math? So, you know, I look back at this, and I think the thing is that when I was a kid, I had a mom and a dad who loved math and just worked it into the day. Math didn't feel like a separate subject. Like, I never got flash cards or worksheets at home. My parents both had hobbies and really, um, would do those with me.

So my mom is an amazing cook, and she had me very early on measuring with teaspoons and tablespoons and fractions, and you just get really fluent in fractions very, you know, a lot earlier than you do in school. And then my dad does a lot of carpentry, and he had me using unsafe power tools at a very young age. And you know what? If you don't want to take off your thumb, you better know what a sixteenth of an inch is.

Um, and you're really, you know, using fractions there too, as well as tying it with very physical, tangible, um, objects. And I think that's part of it too is for me, math was always tangible. I'm a very visual and kinetic learner as opposed to auditory, and that really has led us to do what we do at Bedtime Math where now we have these hands-on games.

And I see how kids who don't necessarily learn from hearing a lecture move things around on the table and see it in a completely different way, and that's what fun factor is. So we're now, every Monday and Wednesday, running a live, a live webinar where teachers can get on and find out how to do these games with their students, but families can get on too. I mean, it's just open for anybody who'd like to see, but it's really to bring the hands-on object back in to pair with the other forms of learning because kids have different styles of learning.

That's fascinating, and it sounds like a fun household to grow in. And I agree, I was actually doing some baking with my kids recently, and you know, as soon as you go off the recipe and it's like, we're going to make a two-thirds portion of this, the math—the fraction math becomes very, very real. And like we like to do half the sugar, and it definitely starts hitting you.

And I'd love to follow up a little bit more on your background. I mean, what got you into astrophysics in particular? Uh, I'm guessing from that period where you were doing fractions with your mom and dad to going into astrophysics, there's a lot more math. I think you must have gotten excited about some things that—explain that.

Well, what got you interested? It is a topic I love as well, but, yeah, well, actually, I would say for quite a while through elementary and middle school, I really thought of myself as a math kid. I loved math! I liked playing with numbers on the side, looking at patterns and perfect squares. I mean, I was really into numbers in a very abstract way.

But then I took physics junior year and just fell in love with it because my teacher, Dr. Stoneback, was hysterical and also just really willing to off-road, willing to take our questions and just throw out the lesson plan and experiment with whatever we were asking about. And I just loved the class.

And then that summer, I got to go to Governor's School, which is a program that's in many states, and I went for the sciences and took an astronomy class and was just blown away by it and fell in love with it. And I'd always loved the night sky and been curious, but it kind of all came together when I learned more about how it all works.

So that was—and I should note that actually a piece—so what's interesting is when I was a junior, um, that was the year the Challenger blew up, and that was a very emotional thing to see happen. But it really drove home for me what an amazing thing these people were going to go try to do. I've always just been fascinated by that. For a while, I wanted to be an astronaut, but, um, I have a lazy eye which is not correctable, so I can't be a pilot.

And at the time, very few people were mission specialists, so to go on and get the PhD and hope to be an astronaut, it just seemed like not a terribly likely path. So sadly, I did not pursue it, but I am so excited that we are hopefully going to have recreational space travel for all of us in the next few years—that's what I'm hoping for.

Yeah, no, space is definitely one of the topics that I'm fascinated in. My astronaut dreams, I squashed them myself once I realized how claustrophobic I am. I have—I do not have the right stuff, so to speak. But I want to discover—I want to know what we discover as we learn more about the universe and, and travel to, to other places.

And I'll just throw out, you know, my own quick response for that math, you know, when you really just peel the envelope of understanding reality, math is the purest way of understanding reality. Everything else has a layer of our senses and our mental models that we construct, but math is so pure.

And, you know, I've said this other times—if we ever have to communicate with another alien life form, you know, staying on the space theme, the way that we could actually probably communicate that each of us are intelligent is probably through math. I don't know if we'll be able to communicate well beyond that, but we can at least say, "Look, no, we're thinking, look, there's some prime numbers!"

Yeah, and I should note also just one point from that was that I hit a point where math connected with something that I fell in love with. And I think when we talk about what helps kids love math, seeing the real-life application, seeing exciting jobs that use math.

Um, you know, kids are so into video games—all that programming behind the scenes, there's a ton of math in there. And, you know, just connecting the dots like that for kids, um, I think is really important. I was lucky to have that.

One interesting question, you know, I saw this with my cousin Nadia when I went—you know, this was kind of the famous how Khan Academy started. She was 12 years old; she had trouble in math, and I remember even when I started tutoring her, you know, this was back in 2004. You know, she had already convinced herself, "I'm not good at math; math's not my thing."

I suspect that some of it has to do with gender stereotypes, maybe messages she got from the broader world. Clearly, that did not happen to you. Why do you think that does happen? And how, if you're a parent—and I do believe especially in that middle school age, that's when people start to perceive themselves, "I'm a math person" or "I'm this type of person" or "I'm not that type of person."

What advice do you have for parents to kind of deprogram that social programming?

Yeah, there is so much. It is such a systemic problem coming from all angles, and especially with girls, I think that, you know, I think it's simpler than we sometimes make it. It's really important to taste victory and to have another person validate that for you and say, you know, you are really good.

It's funny because I've never had math anxiety and always loved math, but my equivalent, I would say, was gym anxiety when I was a kid because I had skipped a grade, so I was young, and I was also small for my age. And I did ballet. I was very dainty; I was not remotely athletic. And in gym, when they'd go to pick teams over and over, I was always picked last. Then I would do badly because, of course, I wasn't confident. That would validate for everybody, "Yep, you want to pick her last."

And this went on for years, and it was terribly humiliating. I mean, this was painful. And then in ninth grade, we did presidential fitness, and one of the events is the high jump. And thanks to my springiness from ballet, I beat the whole grade in the high jump. Never having done it, the gym teacher who until then thought I was a loser said to me, "Oh my gosh, we need you on the track and field team; get out there." And that was just life-changing.

I went, and I ended up being a hurdler. I never would have done that if I hadn't had a moment where I actually succeeded at something and to have the adult say, "No, you're not imagining that; you really did it."

So I thought a lot about how do we bring this to math because I think math anxiety is so similar. You know, Sian Beilock, who's done amazing studies on the neuroscience behind all this, has shown that if you're afraid of math, when you do math problems, that fear actually blocks your working memory, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So, you know, it's really important to feel confident with math, but this also gets back to giving kids the right challenge to be working on so they do master it. And that's why you don't want those Swiss cheese holes in the learning, right? You want to figure out what do kids need to fill in, have them work at it, and it might mean going back to kindergarten and starting with the really basic stuff.

This is what we do with our math problem—every little fun story about ninjas or flamingos kicks off with a pre-K question. And I think having kids go to the beginning, do that, and it's like, "Yeah, you got that. See? Okay, let's do the little kid question." You know how to count to five? See? You've got this.

And working on up, kids need to taste victory! And I think that really—it is as simple as that—that turns it around.

I love that because it, you know, when you're going through your stories of your life, and you reflect a little bit on my stories. And I think you're right, you know? Early on, I had probably a little bit of communication anxiety. I was actually in speech therapy when I was very young, and I didn't—and I was very shy.

And actually, I'm still more introverted than most people suspect. And it was—I like being with people; I like converse. Actually, I really like conversations like this. I don't like cocktail parties where, you know, you have to make small talk and then move on to the next, and you kind of have to move into someone else's. That's not that; I'd rather just hide in the bathroom.

But the, uh, but what you're right—I mean those times that I got my aperture opened about times about myself, "Maybe I can communicate; maybe I could be a good writer," was when I did something and someone gave that positive feedback, and I really knew it was authentic. It wasn't just they're just trying to make me feel good, but that did feed on itself.

It does become true; there is something there. And so when I have these good conversations, time goes by super fast. But I think we have time for a few more questions.

So from YouTube, Isai Sanchez—a question for Miss Overdeck. What is it like knowing something from a kid's bedroom became so big? You know, so they're talking about Bedtime Math. And I guess I'll add to that question: what advice do you have for folks, you know, both your narrative and my narrative—uh, Khan Academy and Bedtime Math—these all started from family projects, very organic.

But something happened in your mind, in my mind, like maybe that more people could benefit from this. So what advice would you have for other folks to kind of solve big problems like that?

Yeah, so as far as how it feels, um, you know, it really took off very fast. Um, I started sharing math problems with families in our town, and the list grew really fast. People started telling other people about it, but I—I got hit by lightning. The New York Times reviewed my blog about a month after I started it. That just isn't fair, right?

So that brought in thousands of people, um, and it then grew very fast. On the other hand, I am a math person. I'm always looking at the zeros on the ends of the numbers, and I know that there are 25 million kids in our country in Bedtime Math's target market, and we don't have anywhere—the—do not have enough of those zeros.

So, um, it's big and yet it's small; it's really hard to move the needle. Um, I guess we've had over a quarter million downloads of our app, but that's one percent of the market, so, um, I—wait, that gets me out of bed every morning thinking about how to get it to more people.

Um, and as far as like what clicked and, and you know, again, it was actually external people because it was other people saying to me, "Hey, what are you doing?" I mean, it's not too different from the gym teacher saying, "Hey, wait a minute, look what you're doing. Go do that bigger."

You know, I think that the more we encourage each other—and unfortunately, we've, you know, we don't always have opportunities to do this or don't do it as much as we should, but when we encourage others, I think we don't even realize the massive impact we might be having at that moment without realizing it because it can actually steer people's trajectory completely.

And one interesting—you just made a small comment like, you know, I got struck by lightning implying that, you know, you got lucky—the New York Times—but I think there's something there—which is in order to get struck by that lightning, you have to build a bit of a lightning rod.

And obviously, literally, I don't want anyone to build lightning rods to get struck by lightning, but figuratively, by putting that out there, you wouldn't—yeah, yes, you wouldn't want to, uh, invent it incidentally.

By Benjamin Franklin, he doesn't get enough credit, I think, as a scientist. But anyway, the—but you don't—you don't—a lot of things you can't put in a strategic plan that The New York Times will write about us on this date. And same thing—similar things happen in Khan Academy.

But the fact that you took it as a family project, you, you allowed that feedback, you started scaling it up, and then it was there to be discovered, I think, uh, is an interesting layer there.

Yeah, to that point, because I totally agree with you. You have to just take your thing and get out there with it and see what happens. And this reminds me of another point, which is that you are not looking for perfection when you do that. Waiting for your thing to be perfect, you will never get it out there.

There's a great book called Lean Startup; it's one of my favorite books, and they talk about minimum viable product—you take, you take the basic idea, don't put a whole lot of effort into it, just come up with what it is, put it out there, and let the market say to you, "You know, we love that, but could you make it purple? Or could you make it twice the size? Or could you deliver it faster?" or whatever it is.

Um, and all our growth at Bedtime Math, a lot of it has been from people giving us that feedback. And of course, for you, I know you were doing your videos for your cousin, and I'm sure you were just kind of whipping those together for her. And then look at what has happened.

I mean, it's the exact same thing. If you had waited for them to be perfect—and frankly, they were close to perfect already—but if you waited for them to be perfect, it might have never happened.

And I think a lot of times, um, people feel a little bit of paralysis. And it's, it's better to just take the risk and take the thing eighty percent, ninety percent done and just get out there.

Yeah, I'll add to that. I think there might be an element that sometimes what you think is perfect is less perfect than the thing that's more authentic and a little raw. I mean, you know, that's why I kind of nodded my head when you said, you know, the Khan Academy videos still have a little bit of that, you know, I still make it here at this desk, right here with this microphone, uh, and there's still these hand-drawn things.

We've improved it a reasonable bit, but I think if someone had given me, you know, a large grant from the government, if I was working for a large publisher 15 years ago and said, "Make math videos," I would have fallen into the trap that a lot of people have, which is making these fairly well-produced things, but they read like, you know, "Welcome to the next step in quad factoring quadratics."

It feels like a GPS device, and people don't connect with it. And there's an authenticity, right, around sometimes the, the 80 percent solution. So I 100% agree with you. So maybe, uh, finish on one question because you just talked about this paralysis of sometimes when people want to do anything, they want the perfect to be—it's the enemy.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem, especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like for, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT? What advice—I mean, you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And, and what advice do you have? And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word, unfortunately, for a lot of people. And I've seen this, and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things. One is expanding what we think math is. Um, for instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too. And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns. And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math! They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic map, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids. So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off. In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic map, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off. In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic map, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off. In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic map, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it’s puzzles, it’s logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that’s in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it’s the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it’s puzzles, it’s logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that’s in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it’s the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it’s puzzles, it’s logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that’s in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it’s the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people and I've seen this and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things; one is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people. And I've seen this, and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things. One is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off. In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people. And I've seen this, and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things. One is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off. In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people. And I've seen this, and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things. One is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that!

Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I guess in her situation, their situation, the GMAT?

What advice—I mean you're someone who's never had math anxiety—do you empathize with that? And what advice do you have?

And I'm happy to give my two cents as well.

You know, I do empathize because I mean math is a four-letter word unfortunately for a lot of people. And I've seen this, and I've had fans email in and just talk about this with their kids.

So I think there are a couple of things. One is expanding what we think math is. For instance, there's a lot of spatial stuff in math—spatial relations, rotation of objects—that's all math too.

And a lot of people—that's a different part of the brain, and a lot of people are good at that and don't ever really get to show it off.

In fact, you can see behind me these little tiles. This is one of our games that we're doing on our webinars—these fun factor games where kids make these squares and have to match them to patterns.

And sometimes you find that kids who are not particularly good at math in school are just rock stars at this and saying, you know what? That's math; you're good at that! Again, you have to taste victory.

Um, and then I think also as far as how do we make math not a bad word? We are all in this together. I hear people say, you know, "I'm just not good at math" or "I hate math." A study showed that something like 72 percent of moms think they're not qualified to help their kids with their math homework.

That is a thing—that's a deep conversation we have to have as a country to kind of get over that because really, I really think anyone can do math, and what you want is for the parent to learn the math with the child—the parent, the guardian, whoever it is—and get comfortable; and even if adults are not comfortable, something we shouldn't say it in front of the kids.

Like, just keep it to yourself because kids don't start off not liking math—they love it! Um, they come to our Crazy Eights after school club, and they have a great time, and they actually don't even believe it's the same thing they're doing in school—it is math!

They don't—they don't start off not liking it; we're causing that.

So we—we can solve the problem; it's up to us.

Yeah, I 100% agree because math, at the end of the day, it's puzzles, it's logic, and all of us are drawn to games, puzzles, logic, and, and that's in the math—even in the academic math, but sometimes that gets lost.

And so my only two cents to add to what Laura added is, you know, whether math is your phobia, public speaking is your phobia, writing is a phobia, whatever it is, gym class is your phobia, I think it's the paralysis of sometimes wanting the perfect to be—it’s the enemy of the good.

Nieshu on YouTube asks, uh, what's the trick for not getting afraid of the word math? I mean, how to overcome the problem especially when preparing for some entrance exam, like, I