10 Ways to Overcome Math Anxiety

Overcome Math Anxiety & How to Prevent It

A not-surprising report was published earlier this month about parents’ thoughts on the importance of math education. There was no mention of math anxiety.

How many of these parents have expressed negative or confidence-lacking feelings about math to their children?

There’s no way to know for sure, but it’s probably more than a few.

A school is a place of formal, structured learning.

Learning doesn’t need to be formal or structured, and it doesn’t start when a child crosses the threshold of a building or online portal – it begins at home.

Avoid Negative Math Comments

Math anxiety is not always innate but is created at home. Parents freely state their real or imagined math challenges or, worse, tell their kids that all they need are the basics.

Please don’t pass your math anxiety to your children. You’re probably better at math than you realize.

Chances are you use math every day without thinking about it.  Math has become ingrained in your routine functioning.

Take a moment to recognize how often you use math daily.

Sometimes the best way to reach a person challenged by math is to avoid the “school tools.” Us math in conversation and daily routines without being overt about it.

Suggestions for Developing Math Skills

1. If your child struggles with money, measurements, etc., try detaching from the normal. Replace the standard unit with something else. You can find examples in our Toy Blocks post.
2. Have them calculate the drive time to a location.
   • You can factor in weather conditions, time of day, etc.
3. The kitchen is an ideal place to hone math skills.
   1. Ask your child to help you double, triple, or divide a recipe in half.
   2. Allow your child to measure the ingredients.
4. If you have a change jar, let the child estimate how much is in it.
5. When making a purchase, have the child calculate the total before and after tax.
6. If you and your child are sports fans, there are many ways to use math.
   • At some point during the season, based on the current stats, pick a player to predict where they will finish the season in baskets, home runs, goals, etc.
   • While watching a game, examine different scenarios for how the trailing team/player can overtake the current leader.
   • Watch related video. The NFL and Math
7. Play the lemonade stand game.
   • Children will learn to order supplies, account for weather conditions, and calculate profit margins.
8. Play Tower of Hanoi
   • The puzzle may not look like math, but it is.
   • The object is to restack the rings in the least number of moves. You can increase or decrease the number of rings.
   • Larger rings cannot be placed atop smaller rings.
   • Continue to increase the number of rings.
9. Watch Engineering Catastrophes on the Science Channel.
   • This reinforces the importance of math and precise calculations and is an excellent way for young people to receive exposure to women and people of color in STEM fields.
   • The program examines design and engineering gone wrong, sometimes tragically wrong.
   • It may be a bit intense for younger children.
10. Watch BattleBots on Discovery.
    • If you’re unfamiliar with the show, an apt description would be that it’s a mashup of robot design, engineering, and the WWE.
    • Not only does the design of the robots require a deep knowledge of math, but once they enter the arena, the drivers must consider speed, angles, and other factors.
11.  BONUS: Examine the art of Leonardo DaVinci (Note: Vitruvian Man is a nude). Da Vinci was a polymath.

Math & Science

Math is essential to science. Number precision is paramount.

Try the experiments offered by Arm & Hammer as directed, then adjust the ratios to see what happens at different ingredient levels.

Record the results of each modification. Discuss the outcomes.

These at-home STEAM activities from Strawbees are simple, fun, and engaging.

Once you’ve tried a few of these suggestions, think of others that may encourage your child’s love and appreciation for math.  

When you want a more traditional approach, try the math links on our K-12 Learning Resources page.

Do you have other ideas to overcome math anxiety? Please share them in the comments.

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