Math anxiety can be cured with colors

From adding up lunch bills to juggling monthly expenses, mathematics can feel like a steep climb for many people. The frustration can become so intense that some avoid any numbers that seem daunting, losing out on jobs and opportunities in the process. 

It’s no wonder that organizations tracking adult skills keep pointing to math anxiety as a serious barrier to well-being.

Math anxiety doesn’t just hinder academic progress; it also impacts career opportunities, financial literacy, and overall confidence in navigating daily life.

Color transforms perception in mathematics

Artist and educator Brook Tate says he once felt paralyzed at the mention of even basic number problems. He had hoped to become a children’s nurse, but he struggled with the numeric test required for nursing school. 

While this setback discouraged him, he looked for a new approach that would make numbers less intimidating. He traveled, worked with children in India, and found himself questioning the usual ways of teaching math.

Tate, who lives in Bristol, was inspired by the legacy of mathematician Alan Turing and decided to mix art, color, and pattern to ease math anxiety. He says a vibrant dream on Munroe Island sparked his color-coded method, leading to ideas about how shapes and colors could represent digits from 0 to 9. 

“I woke up and thought, ‘That’s math, I don’t know how, but that is math,’” said Tate. He calls it the multicolour math method.

Patterns that calm and motivate

Tate suggests that assigning each digit its own color helps people see how addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division link together visually. The shapes are arranged like building blocks, and individuals can rearrange them into patterns that quickly highlight relationships between numbers. 

Tate tried his approach in workshops with both adults and children at Callicroft Primary Academy. The school’s teacher, Luke Guest, said, “I believe it’s going to help them.”

Advocates of this approach say that once math is presented as a puzzle of colors and shapes, the usual dread fades. The calmness of drawing and coloring encourages a new perspective.

Tate feels it’s been transformative in his own life. “I love math now, it’s cured my math anxiety, math for me is now like an endless poem and song.”

Why attitudes matter

Struggling with math is not just a classroom issue. Numbers follow people through rent payments, job interviews, recipe portions, and everyday money decisions. Those who feel overwhelmed by figures sometimes avoid career paths that require even modest math skills. 

That avoidance can have serious consequences later, since research shows that low numeracy can hurt job prospects and incomes. One study found that lower math skills may lead to fewer employment opportunities and more time spent unemployed.

Sam Sims from the charity National Numeracy has been urging businesses, public institutions, and community groups to join forces to help everyone gain more confidence in their math abilities. “Progress will require systemic change,” said Sims.

Number skills change lives and economies

Researchers note that limited number skills can come with emotional and financial burdens. Data from a study points to poor numeracy costing the UK economy around £20 billion a year, mainly through lost productivity and unemployment.

According to another international survey, 57.4% of English adults score below the level of numeric skill expected of children aged 9 to 11.3.

Educators warn that math anxiety can begin early and linger, reinforcing the notion that certain people just can’t grasp numbers.

A fresh way to learn

Tate believes his color-coded system offers a route out of these difficulties by turning numbers into something you can see rather than fear. He says that when teachers and parents encourage creativity in a math lesson, learners are more relaxed and willing to give new methods a try. 

Additional researchers have also shown interest in this approach. Tom Crawford from Oxford University finds the visual system intriguing and is open to a formal study with children and adults. “I’d be interested to create a more formal study,” said Dr. Crawford.

Meanwhile, some participants from Tate’s pilot sessions say they finally feel safe exploring math without embarrassment. One reason is that the approach gives them an immediate sense of playfulness, rather than the usual panic.

Placing colorful tiles or shapes in a pattern can feel more like a craft activity, and the final design draws the eye away from old feelings of shame around numbers.

New perspectives in mathematics education

Tate hopes his multicolor math method can bring new confidence to families, teachers, and even advanced researchers who find certain equations baffling. He wants to partner with more schools and possibly run large-scale trials in collaboration with higher education experts. 

Though he started with modest experiments, his belief that art and color can soften math anxiety has grown stronger, especially after seeing children grasp new concepts within minutes.

He knows his bright collection of shapes won’t replace traditional methods or official exams, but he’s certain it can give math-shy learners a foot in the door. Feeling comfortable with numbers leads to better prospects at work, improved financial decisions, and less stress around everyday tasks. 

These results matter for all ages, from students tackling their first times table to adults juggling mortgage payments. Tate’s dream-inspired discovery arrives at a moment when many people are searching for better ways to make numbers click.

Even though math can seem like a puzzle without a solution, Tate’s method shows that color might be the spark missing in conventional approaches.

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