Piaget There are almost as many different varieties of issues that can impede a child learner from succeeding in a math class as there are particular remedies to ameliorate such a problem. One of the chief reasons that certain children find mathematics difficult is because they are overwhelmed by it. They find the concept of a never ending series of numbers (as well as similarly interminable operations which one can put them through and which are taught daily and tested weekly) beyond challenging to the point where it incites anxiety and fear.

Additionally, difficulties can arise from learning differences such as dyscalculia, or situations in which students may not be familiar with the language that the class is taught in (such as English Language Learners). These two factors can exacerbate the initial...

Moreover, it is important to realize that in math there is only one right answer (for most problems or questions). Thus, whereas learners in other more qualitative subjects (history and language arts come to mind) can reason or talk their way through an answer in which they may be able to obtain partial credit, the rigidity of the mathematical process, in which students must memorize a lengthy list of procedures and perform each calculation correctly to gain the right answer, can certainly seem intimidating.
Many of the theories of learning propagated and pioneered by Jean Piaget, however, can help to serve as correctives to several of the aforementioned reasons for difficulty in a math class. One of the most salient of these is the constructivist approach to learning, in which children gradually build their skillset or knowledge base through cognitive psychological approaches. Thus, students learn more from individual constructs than they do from the external environment, although there is a correlation between the…