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You may not believe it, but parents outside the US do not do anything special when a child doesn't understand math.

This seems to be uniquely American problem. Somehow in the US it's culturally acceptable and even normal to be bad at math. Elsewhere it's just another subject. You study it and get better. The expectation is that everyone in a normal school (not special needs) can learn the standard math curriculum.

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Bad at math is OK (and being too good at math means you are weird) attitude is (maybe was?) very prevalent in UK.

But why? Where does that come from? Why is it different in Eastern Europe? My experience was that it was just another subject; those that were more diligent were as good at it as at other subjects (many were girls, as girls tended to be more diligent in general). Many were bad at it but they were bad at most subjects.

I would guess the 'being bad at maths is OK' or 'maths is uniquely hard' is a self-fulfilling prophecy, meaning many students don't try as hard as with other subjects.

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