Maths Anxiety in Children: Where Does the Fear of Maths Come From?

Where does maths anxiety come from? Signs and causes of anxiety in a child who says they can't do maths, and how to rebuild their confidence at home.

"I can't do maths, my head just doesn't get numbers." Hearing this sentence from an adult is very familiar; but hearing it from a nine-year-old, with eyes full of tears, is painful. What's more, the same child can work out the score in their head during a football match in the neighbourhood, or figure out in seconds how many stickers they can buy with their pocket money. The problem is often not the numbers but the feeling maths stirs up in the child. Fear of maths, better known as maths anxiety, is an experience that can begin in the primary-school years and in later years reach as far as subject choices, exam success and the way a child sees themselves. In this article we talk about where this fear comes from, how it can be noticed and how it can be calmed at home.

What Is Maths Anxiety? What Lies Behind "I Can't Do Maths"?

Maths anxiety is a state of tension, worry and avoidance that appears when a person has to deal with numbers or solve a maths problem. This anxiety is not always in direct proportion to a child's maths ability. A child who is doing quite well in class can also experience intense maths anxiety; they may describe their mind going blank when they see the exam paper, even though they know the topic.

The sentence "I can't do maths" is often not an observation but a protective strategy. With it, the child both prepares themselves for a possible failure and escapes the risk of trying. If they don't try, they can't be wrong; if they aren't wrong, they can't be embarrassed. Yet over time this avoidance can turn into a real skills gap. Because maths is a structure built layer upon layer: a child who hasn't consolidated addition struggles with multiplication, and a child who hasn't consolidated multiplication struggles with division and fractions. Anxiety and the skills gap enter a cycle that feeds itself.

Signs of Maths Anxiety in Children

This anxiety does not look the same in every child. The signs parents and teachers may notice are:

• Tummy aches, nausea or not wanting to go to school on mornings when there is a maths lesson
• Constantly putting off starting maths homework, finishing other subjects and leaving maths until last
• Saying "I don't know" as soon as the question is read, giving up without trying
• Muddling up questions they know in exams, freezing under time pressure
• Being noticeably afraid of being called up to the board or asked questions out loud in class
• Closing the exercise book, crying or getting angry after making a small mistake
• Self-belittling remarks such as "My brain isn't a maths brain" or "I'm stupid"

One or two of these signs may appear from time to time. What matters is how strongly the avoidance and distress are linked with maths lessons and how long they have been going on.

Where Does Maths Anxiety Come From?

Equating speed with success

In many classrooms, maths is measured by speed: times-table competitions, timed tests, "Who'll find it first?" games. For quick thinkers these are fun; but for children who work carefully and slowly, every competition can reinforce the message "I'm not good enough". Yet mathematical thinking is much more about understanding than speed.

Memories of shame

A moment when the class laughed because they couldn't solve a question on the board, a harsh word from a teacher, or the red crosses on the paper... Even a single humiliating experience, especially in sensitive children, can link maths with a dangerous area.

A parent's own maths anxiety

"I was never a numbers person either; this child takes after me" is a sentence often heard at the study table in Turkey. Research shows that parents' and teachers' maths anxiety can be passed on to children, especially when they help with maths. An anxious parent, even with the best intentions, may give the child the message "Maths is something to be afraid of."

Stereotyped beliefs

Common beliefs such as "Girls are better at arts subjects", "Maths is an inborn talent" or "Either you have a head for numbers or you don't" can lead a child to think their effort won't make any difference. Knowing that maths skills can develop through practice and good teaching is the first step to softening these beliefs.

Gaps in the foundations

Illness, changing schools, a long absence or simply one topic not being fully grasped makes later topics harder to understand. As the child feels they are falling behind the class, their anxiety grows.

The early shadow of the exam system

In Turkey, even while a child is still at primary school, maths is associated with the LGS and later the YKS (Turkey's national high-school and university entrance exams). Remarks such as "Maths scores are decisive" or "Those who are good at numbers get into good schools" reach the child's ears before they even get to middle school. For a child who is only just learning division, maths stops being an ordinary subject and starts to look like the key to their future. Making mistakes in a subject loaded with so much meaning feels far more dangerous to the child than it really is. Relatives asking "How's your maths?" or talk about preparing for a cram school can also add to this load without anyone noticing.

Learning differences

Some children show persistent and marked difficulties with the concept of number, comparing quantities and following the steps of a calculation. This condition, known as dyscalculia, can be confused with maths anxiety; but the two are different things and often occur together. A specialist assessment is needed to tell them apart.

How Does Anxiety Affect Maths Performance?

Solving a maths problem requires holding information in mind for a short time while carrying out operations. This mental workspace is called working memory. When anxiety rises, the mind fills with thoughts such as "What if I can't do it?" or "Everyone's finished and I'm still on the first question". These thoughts take up part of the working memory. As a result, while doing a calculation they actually know, the child forgets to carry a number, mixes up place values or abandons the question halfway.

That is why a low grade for a child with maths anxiety does not always mean their knowledge is low. When you ask the same child the same question in a calm setting, without time pressure, you will often see that they can solve it. This difference is a strong clue that a significant part of the problem is emotional.

Anxiety also feeds avoidance. A child who avoids maths practises less; a child who practises less struggles more; and a child who struggles more becomes more afraid. To break this cycle, emotional and academic support need to be addressed together. Our article on exam anxiety may also be useful for similar situations that may come up in later exam periods.

How Can You Support a Child with Maths Anxiety at Home?

Bring maths into everyday life

Weighing fruit bought at the market, working out the price of a discounted product at the supermarket, doubling the quantities in a recipe, planning how many weeks of pocket money it will take to buy a toy... Even in homes where the rising cost of living is a topic of conversation, these calculations show the child that maths is a useful, real language. The question in the exercise book may be frightening; but working out the right change at the market is an achievement.

Make peace with numbers through play

Adding up the dice in backgammon, counting the tiles in okey, card and board games, number puzzles and jigsaws: all of these strengthen mathematical thinking in a pressure-free setting. Making a mistake in a game doesn't feel as heavy as making one in an exam. That is why children are braver in play.

Reward understanding rather than speed

Asking "How did you think about this question? Can you explain it to me?" instead of "How quickly you finished!" shifts the child's attention from the result to the process. Reaching the right answer by a different route is more valuable than finding it quickly from memory.

Turn mistakes into learning material

Look at a wrongly solved question together "like a detective": "Where did you reach a fork in the road, at which step did you turn in another direction?" A mistake is not something to be ashamed of; it is a map showing where support is needed.

Review your own language

The sentence "I was terrible at maths too", even when said to comfort the child, can carry the message "Maths doesn't run in our family". Instead, saying "I used to struggle too, but the more I practised the better I understood" emphasises that effort works. Take care, too, not to pass on gender-based stereotypes about maths to your daughter or son.

Build small steps of success

On a topic the child is struggling with, start with two or three questions they can solve easily. Then make it one step harder. A sense of success fuels the courage to move on to the next step. Also make a point of always ending a session on a success; finishing with a short, easy question after one they struggled with means the child leaves the table not with the feeling "I couldn't do it again today", but with "I solved this".

Teach them to calm their body

Anxiety starts in the body: the heart speeds up, breathing becomes shallow, hands sweat. Teaching the child to breathe slowly in through the nose and out through the mouth and to relax their shoulders before a test or homework helps their mind become able to think again. For other ways of coping with anxiety, see our article on anxiety in children.

Stand on the same side as the teacher

Sharing with the teacher the fear your child experiences in maths lessons can help develop a more sensitive approach to calling them up to the board or to timed activities in class. A classroom where the teacher can say "It's completely normal to get this question wrong; let's look at it together now" greatly supports your efforts at home.

A child who is afraid of maths first needs to learn not numbers, but that it is safe to be wrong.

Let's say a girl in fourth grade has cried over every piece of maths homework since the topic of fractions began. Her mother buys her new test books every evening, but the tears don't lessen. One evening the mother changes her approach: together they roll out pizza dough, the daughter cuts the pizza into four, then eight pieces, and they laughingly discover why it is hard to give her younger brother "a third". The next day, the same fraction question in the exercise book doesn't look quite so frightening. Anxiety doesn't pass in one evening; but this new relationship with maths, repeated over time, lays the ground for lasting change.

When Should You Seek Professional Support?

Struggling with maths and disliking some topics is very common. However, it may be helpful to get support from a professional in the following situations:

• If physical complaints, crying or refusing to go to school on days with a maths lesson have become regular
• If the anxiety has spread beyond maths to other subjects and exams
• If the child is clearly behind their peers in number sense, simple comparisons of quantity or basic operations
• If no clear progress is seen within a year even with regular practice and support
• If thoughts of worthlessness such as "I'm stupid" or "I'll never amount to anything" have become frequent
• If there is constant conflict within the family over maths homework

These signs alone do not mean a diagnosis. If a specific learning difficulty such as dyscalculia or attention problems are suspected, a thorough assessment can be carried out through the school's guidance service, a Guidance and Research Centre (RAM, the state assessment centres for special educational needs) and a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

How Is Maths Anxiety Approached in Therapy?

In child and play therapy, maths anxiety is evaluated not only as a school-subject problem but together with the child's way of coping with anxiety and their beliefs about themselves.

Mapping the anxiety: Together with the child, the situations in which anxiety rises are identified: Is it being called up to the board, a timed test, homework, or solving questions next to their father? These steps are ranked from the least frightening to the most frightening.

Cognitive behavioural therapy techniques: Automatic thoughts such as "I can't do maths" or "If I get it wrong everyone will laugh" are noticed and questioned in age-appropriate ways. The child learns by experience that a thought does not always reflect reality. Through gradual exposure, feared situations are approached in small steps.

Play-based work: In young children, anxiety is expressed and worked through in play. Number games can help reshape experiences of success and mistakes within a safe relationship in therapy.

Working with parents: The parent's own maths anxiety, the language of communication at the study table and expectations at home are reviewed together. Where needed, there is collaboration with the school and the teacher.

Frequently Asked Questions

My child still counts on their fingers. Is this a problem?

In the first years of primary school, counting on fingers is a concrete support for number sense and is entirely ordinary. Over time children move on to mental calculation; shaming a child for using their fingers, on the other hand, can increase anxiety. If, in third or fourth grade, they still depend completely on their fingers even for simple operations, it is a good idea to talk to the teacher.

What is the difference between dyscalculia and maths anxiety?

Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty involving persistent and marked difficulties in learning number concepts and arithmetic. Maths anxiety, on the other hand, is intense tension experienced in the face of maths even when the knowledge is there. The two can occur together; telling them apart requires a specialist assessment.

Is memorising the times tables essential?

Being able to recall the times tables quickly is useful because it frees up working memory for later topics. However, memorising them while understanding the relationships between numbers and with the support of games creates far less anxiety than doing so through pressure and competition.

Will private tutoring cure a fear of maths?

If there are gaps in the topics, a calm and patient private tutor can help. But if the lessons are also built on pressure and speed, they can increase anxiety; where the fear is marked, the emotional side needs to be addressed alongside academic support.

• #maths anxiety
• #primary school
• #learning
• #anxiety in children

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Eda Erkan Alapala

Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.

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