Help a Child with Math Anxiety

Though math is an integral part of life, it can be a difficult subject for many. Math anxiety exists in people who feel fear, nervousness, or pressure that inhibits their ability to do math. You might teach a child with math anxiety or the parent of one. Either way, you can work to help them overcome their fears through building their confidence in math and encouraging them to think positively about the subject.

Steps

Building Their Confidence in Math

1. Talk to the child. Find out why they feel how they feel about math. Something may have happened that you don’t know about Talk to them about their worries surrounding math. Go through their worries one by one to see what you can do to help.
   • For instance, one of your child’s worries might be that if they get an answer wrong, their teacher will think they are stupid. Tell your child that students get questions wrong all the time and that teachers are there to help.
2. Tutor them or hire a tutor. One way to help a child overcome their math anxiety is to give them some additional training in the subject. The child might be struggling to grasp the concepts in the classroom, but with a bit of outside help, they might be able to perform well.
   • Sign them up for some after school tutoring. One on one is best, when possible. If you are their parent, you can also work with them individually after school.
3. Teach them to take notes. The student might be experiencing anxiety because they don’t feel that they have any information on how to complete the math they are assigned. Many schools don’t allow students to bring home their textbooks, so your child might feel lost. Encourage them to take notes in class and to copy down any necessary formulas or tips that their teacher shares. They can use these to study before an exam or while completing homework.
   • Even when they don’t have a test or homework, encourage them to review their notes daily.
4. Encourage them to take their time. When they become stressed, teach them how to breathe deeply. This will help to calm them down they they feel overwhelmed. Many mistakes are made on math problems when students are frustrated or trying to rush. Talk to them about the importance of pacing themselves.
5. Teach them at their own pace. When tutoring or teaching a child, do not move on to the next lesson until they have successfully grasped the first. If you are a teacher, you might need to give the student some one on one time after class to keep them caught up so that the class as a whole doesn’t have to move at a slower pace.
   • If you are their parent, don’t move on to the next problem until they fully understand the work they have just done.
6. Take breaks when necessary. It is good to take breaks so that the student does not become agitated with math. If you sense that they are becoming overwhelmed, give them a five minute bathroom break. If possible, give them a snack or cup of water. Allow them to take a few minutes away from the subject to rest their minds.
7. Provide them with the tools they need to be successful. Though some students can learn from numbers on paper alone, others might need additional tools in order to get it. They might need visual aids or manipulatives likes blocks. Incorporate these into your lessons when possible to accomodate all types of learners.
8. Value their mistakes. If you are their teacher, don’t say “Wrong!” when they provide an incorrect response to a problem. Instead, ask if anyone else got that answer. Find out who got different results from that student. You will often find that there are several wrong answers floating in the room. Then say “let’s figure it out together.” Help them grow past their mistakes and know that they are not the only person making them.
9. Take the emphasis off of tests and timed assignments. Though testing is very important in today’s school systems, the ultimate objective should be to train students who are confident in and capable of doing math. Do not have pop quizzes often and avoid frequent testing. Focus instead on encouraging learning and application of knowledge.
   • Assign take home tests when at all possible. Provide additional time to students when completing in-class assignments.
   • If you are a parent, don’t rush them to complete their homework. Do not make this time any more stressful for them.

Encouraging Positive Thinking About Math

1. Speak positively about math. Talk to them about how cool math is. Watch movies or read books that feature famous mathematicians, like “Hidden Figures.” Teaching them that math can be fun will help them feel less anxiety about it.
2. Avoid spreading your own math anxiety to them. Don’t make comments like “I’m not good at math, either.” This tells a child that they are not good at math and that you are not going to help them at all, both of which increase anxiety. Even if you are not confident, make comments like “We are going to figure this out together.”
3. Study the material until you understand. If you are a parent attempting to ease your child’s math anxiety, take some time each day to learn the math that they are doing so that you can help them successfully. Contact their teacher to find out what they will be learning each week so you can review it ahead of your child.
4. Reinforce the importance of math. Math is used when shopping, cooking, calculating time, and in so many other daily activities. Though the math your child is learning right now might not seem to have much real world application, explain to them that they will never know when they will need to use that particular form of math.
5. Make math fun. Incorporate jokes, games, cartoon characters, or animals into homework sheets, if you are teacher. You can also do this if you are trying to provide your child with some additional assistance. Use brightly colored paper or pencils. Find fun computer math games or apps they can download to their phone.
   • Talk to older children about how flexible and interesting math can be. Talk about all the cool things math has allowed us to do, like travel to the moon.
6. Provide incentives when they do well. When your child shows progress or hard work, reward them for it. Take them for ice cream or buy them something small that they’ve been wanting.
   • Don’t, however, promise things in advance to them. This might make them feel even more pressure to achieve.

Sources and Citations

See also

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• Cheat On a Math Test
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