But some students still aren’t convinced. Often, they believe one of the many “math myths” that are still out there. If your child is one of them, give her the facts:

Myth: You’re either born a “math person” or you’re not.

Fact: Great teaching and hard work are what makes you a math person.

Myth: To be good at math you have to memorize a lot and practice the same problems over and over.

Fact: Math is about learning patterns. Once you are familiar with them, the problems make sense. And then math starts to be fun.

Myth: People have been doing math forever. It’s a stodgy, rusty subject.

Fact: Math has been around forever. But our knowledge of math has never stopped growing. It is probably impossible to ever know all the math there is.

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