This guest blog is from author friend Laura Laing, who offers wise advice for parents to ensure their kids are successful at math. Thanks Laura!

When It Comes to Math, Parents Should Chill

What’s the one thing most parents have in common? We push our kids.  “Eat your veggies.”  “Do your homework.”  “Unload the dishwasher.” And even though it sounds like nagging, these lessons are the ones that help our kids grow into successful adults.

But when it comes to math, are you doing all that you can to ensure that your child or teen will be successful?  Do you even know what those things are?  The best advice may actually be surprising.

Turns out, there are a few very simple steps you can take that will make a huge difference in how your child performs in mathematics and perceives his or her math skills.

1.  Quit saying you’re bad at math. Each time you feel the urge to blurt out, “I can’t help you with your homework, because I’ve never understood it,” bite your tongue.  When our kids hear that we don’t have confidence in our math skills, they learn that they don’t need to have that confidence either.

2.  Get curious about math.  You don’t need to fall in love with calculus or suddenly find something fascinating about geometry.  But if you come across a math problem in your everyday life — when you’re cooking, sewing, shopping for a house or car, or even planning a trip — notice how you find the solution.

3.  Talk to your children about math.  So, you’ve gotten curious. Now it’s time to share that curiosity.  This can be as simple as asking your son how he would figure out the tip on a restaurant tab or asking your daughter to determine the number of gallons of paint are required to paint her room.

4.  Start with counting.  If you have younger children, the best thing you can do for them is to count everything — the stairs, the number of chocolate chips in a cookie, the number of times a dump truck is loaded up with dirt on a construction site.  Researchers have discovered that first graders who have a good sense of numbers do much better in math when they’re in the fifth grade. That numeracy begins with simple counting.

5.  Talk about your fear of math.  As your kids get older, they may express some anxiety about their math abilities.  Treat this the way you might treat similar worries about friends or dating: Listen and share your own experiences.  You don’t need to be a math super hero or know it all.  You just need to support your kids in the best way you know how.

Laura Laing knows for a fact that kids who excel in math grow up to be adults who excel in math. She is the author of Math for Grownups, a funny look at how we use math in everyday situations — from shopping to crafting to buying a home.  She blogs at www.mathforgrownups.com.