Math Anxiety in Kids: Causes & Solutions for Parents

Dear friends – let us start with an interesting question today. As a parent of kids in the age group of 5-15 years, what is the first thought that comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘Maths’?

Is it ‘Anxiety’, or some kind of fear of Maths? Do you often struggle to generate interest in your child towards Mathematics? Do your kids often end up doing silly calculation mistakes in the exams that lead to their rank being dropped? Or are they slow in arithmetic calculations like addition or subtraction of three-digit numbers?

Today many parents would admit that the answer to above questions is YES. While Maths is a great subject and is a must-have to build a strong foundation in academics, it is sad that most kids struggle or run away from Maths.

Most Common Causes of Math Anxiety in Kids

We are listing below some of the most common causes of Math anxiety in kids. While the list is not exhaustive, these causes are commonly found in the majority of cases where the child has some kind of fear for Maths.

Lack of strong Math foundation at an early age

Young age of 4-7 years is very crucial to build a strong foundation of Maths in the kids since at this age kids start to learn the basics of Maths. I think we would all agree that often the teachers in younger classes are not experienced enough and lack professional experience due to which they are not able to teach the foundation Math concepts effectively to the kids.

Introvert or Shy Nature

If a child is of shy nature, he will not raise his hand in case of doubts. And in most schools typically the strength of class ranges from 20-40 so the teacher will never be practically able to give individual attention to every single student. While the child who easily mixes with others and is of an open nature will not hesitate to ask the questions, introvert kids often face the issue of lagging behind in the Maths concepts simply because they refrain from asking their doubts at the right time thinking they will solve it themselves later.

Cumulative nature of Maths – If a child lags behind in one topic, it often has a cascade long term impact

Mathematics topics are inherently designed in such a way that most topics are dependent on the previous ones. And with progression to higher class every year, the complexity of these Math topics keep on increasing. During the whole year, if your child lags in any topic even for just a few days (example you go out on a family vacation trip, or he unfortunately falls sick for few days), it can have a long-lasting impact simply because the teacher will for sure move on to the next topic in the school. Remember that the teachers have to strictly follow the school curriculum and they are under regular scrutiny to ensure that the course is completed well within the predefined timelines as per the school commitment. Due to this reason if the child has to miss a few classes then there is a high probability that he will struggle to understand the following topics effectively.

Most schools and parent Focus only on exam score, not the core concepts

You would often notice that many kids often cram the Maths topics also. If the same question is asked just by a little tweaking of language, the child may struggle in finding the solution simply because he practiced the exact same pattern of questions without really understanding the concepts.

Very heavy dependence on calculators from an early age

In the good old days, a child was allowed to use calculators in senior classes only, But nowadays, it is seen that many schools allow the use of calculators at a very young age. As a result kids do not develop a strong command in arithmetic calculations since even for simple calculations they end up using the calculator.

Easy and Creative Solution for Parents

Engage with children to generate interest in Maths

As a parent we should engage in positive learning with the kids and encourage them to indulge in simple games that can lead to interest in Maths.

Use Daily life examples

For children as young as 2-3 years, simple things like counting their own fingers or counting all the green colored balls in their toy shelf will help them learn the numbers effectively
For children in the age group of 5-6 years, parents should involve them in day to day interactions where Maths is used. As an example, you should encourage the children to pay the money themselves to buy chocolates from the grocery store. While doing the payment they must count the money and also validate the balance that the shopkeeper returns.

Do not depend only on school. Adopt creative and alternate techniques of learning Maths

Abacus Course

Abacus for kids is the best gift that parents can give to their children in the age group of 5-15 years. The Abacus trained kids are called the human calculators since they do even the complex arithmetic calculations in a fraction of second, and that too just in their mind. When you see such kids for the first time you will not be able to believe your eyes. And once a kid has a strong hold on calculations, he feels more confident overall in learning any new Math concept since he does not need to worry about calculations and can focus on logic. You can easily find good Abacus classes online today and must start at an early age to get the most benefit. Some of the questions that Abacus kids can solve in their mind are as follows:

Age: 7-8 yrs (Kids after completing Abacus Level-5
Multiplication
Sample Question	Sample Question
95	57
X 19	X 39
Answer?	Answer?
257	435
X 19	X 158
Answer?	Answer?

Vedic Maths for kids

For kids older than 11 years, Vedic Maths classes are a great option. It helps to generate interest in Maths by using the short cuts for almost every topic in Maths. Here is an example of just one simple Vedic Math trick. Using such numerous Vedic Math tricks a child can save precious time in exams and this helps him to get much better scores.

Multiply Double by Double – When Ten’s place is the same, and addition of One’s place digits is equal to 10

 Step1 : Multiple common number (ten’s place) with its successor

 Step1 : Multiple the two numbers which are at one’s place, and write in two digit format

 Example 44 x 46 = 2024

Step 1	4 x 5 = 20
Step 1	4 x 6 = 24
Answer	20 24

• Focus on Word problems to develop logical reasoning skills

Sometimes a child has a good hold on calculations, but he still struggles to understand a word problem. There can be a language problem or simply an interpretation issue. Hence it is important that he must practice the word problems under the guidance of parents or his elder sibling, or the professional coach. Today math word problems are included in most Olympiads and it is very important for a child to do thorough practice of word problems to have strong logical skills.

This article should surely help you to solve the problem of Math anxiety in your kids, which is undoubtedly the one of the most common challenges for parents of young kids. With right guidance and timely action, this is definitely solvable. While ending this, I would strongly encourage all parents to share their thoughts on this topic so that we can all learn from each other. Happy parenting!