Maths anxiety| How to help your child overcome it

6th May 2025 by Anita Naik

Over a third of adults (35%) say that doing maths makes them anxious, while one in five are so fearful that it makes them feel physically sick. National Numeracy's study of 3,000 UK adults found that numeracy can cause many feelings of fear or unease, while almost a third (29 per cent) say they actively try to avoid anything related to numbers and data.

The good news is that you can help your child overcome maths anxiety with some easy steps.

What is maths anxiety?

Maths anxiety is feeling excessive stress around maths. It can manifest as nervousness and avoidance around homework, fear over exams, reluctance to try, and a belief that "I'm just bad at maths!" It's common and often caused by pressure, teaching issues, inner beliefs, past struggles, or fear of mistakes. The good news is that parents can play a key role in helping their child overcome it with practice, encouragement, and the right support.

Signs your child has maths anxiety

1. Physical symptoms: stomach aches, headaches, insufficient sleep and mood changes before tests.

2. Emotional reactions: anger, frustration, tears, avoidance. Panic in tests.

3. Negative self-talk: "I'm bad at math," "I'll never get this", "I hate maths."

Why does maths anxiety happen?

Maths anxiety can happen for a range of reasons, from pressure to get good grades, past negative experiences in class and with tests and teaching methods that put your child off the subject.

There is also something called the snowball effect. Maths is a subject that is built step by step. If your child has a knowledge gap or misunderstood a key concept like times tables, later topics like algebra will feel impossible.

Then, when children get homework wrong, fail an exam, or see their peers moving ahead while they struggle, they start to panic and assume the problem lies with them, not understanding how to do maths.

8 ways to help with maths anxiety

1. Talk about how they feel about maths

Don't talk about how to work harder or study more, talk to your child about their feelings about maths. They may not know what they find challenging or be able to articulate it, but they can describe how maths makes them feel and when their feelings are worse.

Discussing this can help you find a place to start with them. For example, recapping foundational maths, which is an essential building block needed to succeed in more advanced topics.

Foundational gaps in knowledge can also be fixed with targeted practice, patience, and support, like games, real-life examples, or a tutor who breaks things down step-by-step (see below).

2. Practice with them daily

Maths is a skill that grows stronger with practice, just like getting better at video games and moving up levels!

The more your child works on basics like adding and subtracting, the easier bigger challenges like multiplication and algebra will feel. Try to do some maths together daily, even for just 20 minutes. This will help cement their learning and help them to see that the more they practice, the better they will be.

3. Avoid generalisations about the subject

Telling your child you're like me. I was bad at maths too." You may feel like you are showing understanding, but it also reinforces the fear that not being good at maths is innate and that you can do nothing about it.

Generalisations about maths also make your child think they are powerless to change things.

The good news is that maths ability isn't fixed. You can change things; confidence comes from believing effort and practice leads to progress.

4. Explain that maths is hard

Unlike subjects where creativity or memorisation can help, maths requires logical thinking and practice, which takes time and effort. Some struggles come from challenging word problems that mix math with literacy skills or speed pressure in tests that make brains panic.

The good news is maths isn't about being "naturally good"—it's about breaking hard problems into smaller pieces, asking questions, making mistakes and learning from them.

For example, by breaking a maths problem into small, manageable steps, you get to the basics, which are less overwhelming and easier to manage. In turn, this process can build confidence and help children learn to enjoy answering questions.

5. Use maths resources

Maths is now taught differently, so it pays to ensure you have resources to help your child. The following can all help:

BBC Bitesize has math resources, information, tests, and more, from primary level one to GCSE.

NRICH Maths Project - this aims to make maths engaging and relevant across the primary and secondary national curricula.

MathWorld—This site is billed as 'the world's most extensive resource' and contains an easy-to-access glossary of mathematical terms with precise definitions.

Mr Barton, this website aims to 'get everyone enjoying their maths a bit more' through a plethora of resources for tutors and student exercises.

Maths Zone—This is a hub of maths activities and resources for pupils up to and including Key Stage 4.

6. Play games that use maths skills

Board games like Monopoly, Game of Life, Uno, and video games like Minecraft all use maths skills for strategy.

Uno, for instance, uses pattern recognition, counting, and strategy.

Monopoly and Game of Life use counting, money strategy, and foundational maths skills.

Minecraft uses problem-solving and logic along with foundational maths skills.

Play these games so your children understand how math is used in everyday life, even in the games they enjoy.

7. Teach problem-solving strategies

Problem-solving is like a muscle—the more kids flex it, the stronger it gets! With maths problems, teach the "Plan → Try → Check" method:

Plan: "What do we know about this question? What's the goal?" (Break the question down into smaller parts.)

Try: Attempt to answer the questions and devise a solution (test, use methods, find an answer).

Check: Is this right? If not, what else can we try?"

Utilise real-life scenarios to help them develop problem-solving skills. For instance:

"If the recipe is for four people, but we need eight servings, how do we adjust the measurements?" "If parking costs £1.50 an hour and we need to park for 4 hours, how much do we need to pay?"If we pay £150 a month for electricity and the end-of-year bill is £2400, how much should we increase our monthly direct debit?

8. Find someone to help them

An independent study found that students who worked with tutors increased their confidence and grades. A maths tutor can offer bespoke help to children who struggle with maths and need help with their challenges with the subject.

A good tutor can deal with maths anxiety, explain things clearly, and use different approaches. Always read testimonials or reviews from other parents or students to help you see how tutors work.