I can only give my own experiences and hope they may show some light on the discussion.

I was considered very good at maths in primary school, in fact ahead of other children in my class. I was particularly good at logarithms and other analytic devises.

When I went to secondary school I was one ill just after I started but two I found they didn't do any advanced maths. I fell behind and never got back to where I once was. I found it interesting. No, I'm awful at maths.

Yes Luciano da F. Costa is right on. To extend his argument, social psychology‘s explanation is “self fulfilling prophecy“ meaning if through parents ‘s or other influences initially the kids start to believe that mathematics is a difficult subject, the outcomenis they become inefficient at maths even though they could have been really good with the positive beliefs.

Dear Denis.

"Why do some students love math while others quite the opposite? How does parent's attitude and training impact their children's attitude and training? -- You ask.

As I see it, several reasons may help explain this finding.

1) Some students love math while others quite th opposite because of reasons related to their biological inheriatence. All of us have heard from families of mathematicians, pshysicians, musicians, football players and son forth.

2) Some students love math while others quite the opposite because of their math teachers. There is accumulated evidence that shows that the way teachers teach have a great impact on students' motivation even for pursuing a given career or profession.

3) Some students love math while others quite the opposite because of parenting styles. For example, students may like or dislike a given discipline because of their parenting styles: authoritative, authoritorian, and permissive. Authoritative parents are demanding in intellectual terms, but warm in terms of social interaction; authoritorian parents are demanding in cognitive terms, but cold in terms of social interaction; and permissive parents are guided, say, by the slogan "laissez faire, laissez passer, laisser aller" (i.e., Let it go). If, for example, a child loves math and has an authoritarian or permissive parenting it is likely that s/he loses his her interest in math or other disciplines.

4) There is accumulated evidence that shows that music and math have much in common because both can be translated into numbers. So, children involved in musical activities (e.g., to play an instrument, violin or piano, for instance) are generally good at math. This can be a reason why some students love math while others quite the opposite.

All in all, some students love math while others quite the opposite because of (a) biological or genetic reasons; (b) environmental reasons; and (c) the intricate relationhip between (a) and (b).

Best regards,

Orlando

Hello there,

You might like to do some research about Gardner's multiple intelligences. Each of us has a dominant intelligence and that's what determines our special passion about a specific area. Children's brain who love math do have a dominant logical-mathematical part. This doesn't mean that these children are superior to the others; they're just different. Now, there might be a child whose dominant intelligence isn't logical-mathematical, but it's kinesthetic for example. This child's brain will automatically switch on only when the child does some physical activities; then the brain becomes prepared to process other information like math. If this child's parents are supportive and help him/her switch on his/her brain by means of sports, he/ she will be relatively good at math even if math isn't his/her dominant intelligence.

You might like to read the books "Who Switched Off My Brain" and "The Gift in You", both written by doctor Caroline Leaf.

Parents' interests and sayings do affect the youngster's interest for certain topics in school. Parents may also encourage a certain career regardless of what the offspring really want to do. The thing gets harmful when parents fight over this topic.