"Maths anxiety is a real thing!" says Penny McGann - and she doesn't just mean for school students. 

When it comes to helping with maths homework there are plenty of reasons that it can become an afternoon horror show.

But Penny has made it her mission to change all that.

After 32 years of teaching primary school children, and raising her own, Penny took a break and set about creating a library of short, sharp and parent-friendly online tutorials designed to break down the language barrier that can make homework hell. 

"This idea had been boiling away for a while and it was just becoming more obvious something was needed to help parents," she said.

"The way maths is taught has changed so much and parents have been struggling to help with the homework being sent home.

"I'd get these emails, saying there were tears and tantrums with the maths homework this week.

"I had homework coming back with a big line through it and a note saying "this caused too much drama!" 

According to Penny, there can be a real fear factor for parents who lack confidence in mathematics.

"I noticed that parents thought the early grades were easy, and they didn't think they needed to keep up with the curriculum, but then by Year 4 they're thinking 'I don't know how to help them' and when they get to high school they can't even talk to them about maths."

Penny McGann's solution is available to parents all over Australia through her MathsBites website. IMAGE SUPPLIED.

She also says that telling your children 'I wasn't any good at maths at school' can actually reduce your child's confidence and make them switch off as they think it means they won't be 'good at maths' either.

Her MathsBites concept is an easy and practical way to help your child master maths.

"It all came from parents having dramas and I wanted to do something about it.

"I had to make a big leap, so I thought I'd put my big girl pants on and do it."

So Penny took herself out of the classroom and out of her comfort zone, throwing herself into designing MathsBites, a subscription-based suite of short animated videos.

"I use animated cartoon drawings because most people are visual learners," she said.

"I wrote all the scripts and timed the animations, the videos are on average only 7 minutes long, and demonstrate all the concepts a child will be taught, right through the K to 6 maths syllabus.

"It helps you make it concrete, using things around the house like pasta shells or stones - you could even use sheep poo."

You can almost hear the Walgett schoolgirl speaking!

Penny's early years were spent on 'Combogolong', a sheep station on the Castlereagh towards Coonamble.

She started school at St Joseph's Primary in Walgett. 

"I live in Newcastle now, but I wouldn't class myself as a city girl," she says.

Her vision is for parents, carers, tutors, nannies everywhere - even in the most remote part of the nation - to get the help they need to help the next generation become more confident in maths.

"I taught K to 6 all over NSW, in small schools, big schools, including composite and multi-age classes.

"At St Joseph’s Uralla I had Year 3&4 in the morning and Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 in the afternoon!"

Regardless of your location, keeping up with your child's maths curriculum can be tricky.

"Everyone is time poor but parents know they need to know, and honestly MathsBites will make sense to them," she said.

"It can help so many pockets of people, like early career teachers who might be still at uni, or anyone who doesn't have much time."

The struggle is real in the ever-changing world of school mathematics. IMAGE: CANVA

If you've only got a primary level education, or your own fear of maths means you’ve forgotten everything you ever learned, you can still use MathsBites.

And although it's online, you're not tied to a desktop computer.

"You can add a shortcut to the website on the homescreen on your phone, so you can have it like an app," she said.

"You can adjust the settings of the videos so they run slower or faster.

"And the beauty of a subscription is you can watch it now and then again when your child needs it later in the year."

Even if English isn't your first language, you can email Penny and get a script that's written in other languages.

"It's been an interesting journey, with a lot of problem solving along the way," said Penny.

Find out more about the MathsBites video tutorials here.