Case Study: Anthony, Liam and Elliot Find Success in Math While Mom Alleviates her Math Anxiety

Summary

For a homeschooling mom with math anxiety and a busy family of six children, Elephant Learning delivers math concepts, engagement, and stunning success. 

1.) Challenges

Math anxiety can affect adults just as much as it affects schoolchildren. Recent reports have suggested that as many as 97% of adult Americans experience math anxiety, with as many as 17% exhibiting high levels of math anxiety. 

Math anxiety can make us feel that we are just not capable of doing math. This sparks a never-ending spiral in which math becomes more difficult, and our confidence in our ability to understand becomes increasingly diminished. 

This is also exactly what was happening with Anthony, Liam, and Elliot’s mother, Stephanie.  “My husband is excellent at math,” she explains, “but he was working around 80 hours a week.” As a busy mom homeschooling her six children, she needed help to deliver daily math lessons. 

Stephanie struggled to engage eight-year-old Liam, who was finding it challenging to enjoy math. “It’s a chore just to get him to listen to an explanation of his math work,” says Stephanie. Eleven-year-old Anthony loved math and was good at it, but Mom wanted to ensure he had the resources he needed to reach his full potential. 

2.) Finding Elephant Learning

Stephanie found the resource she was looking for in Elephant Learning. With its individualized approach, the app offered the extra help Liam needed while ensuring that Anthony received the challenge he required to continue progressing. She also applied for and received an Elephant Learning scholarship to help pay for the app's costs.

Related: The Three-Step Method to Teaching Math

3.) Anthony, Liam, and Elliot’s Experience With Elephant Learning

In addition to helping all three children with their math lessons, Elephant Learning managed to engage even a reluctant learner like Liam.  It also alleviated the stress of delivering math lessons to six homeschooled children, for busy mom Stephanie. 

And the results speak for themselves. Anthony began Elephant Learning almost three years behind most of his peers, but he had already caught up within six months. Liam was also slightly behind, but within six months, he had surpassed most of his peers. Six-year-old brother Elliot also gained over a year's worth of math in those same six months! 

Related: It’s About More Than Just Math: Fear, Growth, and Adaptation

4.) Anthony’s Results: 

• Age: 11 years
• Starting Elephant Learning Age: 8.4 years
• Current Elephant Learning Age: 11.2 years
• The difference after six months: 2.8 years!

5.) Liam’s Results: 

• Age: 8.8 years
• Starting Elephant Learning Age: 6.3 years
• Current Elephant Learning Age: 9.3 years
• The difference after six months: 3 years!

6.) Elliot’s Results: 

• Age: 6.4 years
• Starting Elephant Learning Age: 5 years
• Current Elephant Learning Age: 6.1 years
• The difference after six months: 1.1 years!

“It was a chore just to get him to listen to an explanation of his math work.” - Mom, Stephanie