How do I suport my year 3 DD with maths? Autumn Texts where do I find them?

[Luna9]

My DD is in year 3 in an outstanding school; I believe she is doing well but can't be sure as have not had her TLC yet; she does not get any maths homework either so I do not know what they are working on. She told me she is doing this Autumn maths test every week at school which she is finding difficult; I feel I need to support her with her studies and don't leave it only to the teacher as she got 29 other children; I do not want her to fall behind and feel she needs to practice a bit every day. Where do I find this autumn maths text? What other material al can I get for her to practice? We have used maths made easy books but I am not sure this is enough. Thank you

[AsBrightAsAJewel]

I'm sorry to tell you there is no such thing as an autumn maths text used in all schools. Some schools may use a published scheme that identifies term by term, but many don't use a set scheme. The objectives for the year will probably come from the National Curriculum but that doesn't break it down term by term. Teachers will be working through the objectives at the children's pace and differentiating accordingly. Also they may be teaching or consolidating objectives from previous years, as they have just transferred over to this new national curriculum.

[Luna9]

Thank you;that's a shame; will need to get other books then.

[PesoPenguin]

I think it must be something the school have just called 'the autumn maths test' could it be mental maths?

[AsBrightAsAJewel]

"Autumn Maths Test" could be anything - devised by the school, from a published scheme or from a published assessment scheme. It may be written or oral questions /mental maths. Sorry I can't be more help as there is nothing set nationally or even per LA. All assessment is now down to individual schools to decide and nothing is compulsory beyond end of key stage assessments / tests.

[redskybynight]

Can't you ask DD what she is doing and whether she finds it easy/hard? If you google "Primary curriculum" you will find what children cover in Year 3.

[Ferguson]

This might help with her understanding all the basic concepts, in case there are any weaknesses. The web sites mentioned at the end should provide practice at every level:

?QUOTE:

Practical things are best for grasping number concepts - bricks, Lego, beads, counters, money, shapes, weights, measuring, cooking.

Do adding, taking away, multiplication (repeated addition), division (sharing), using REAL OBJECTS as just 'numbers' can be too abstract for some children.

Number Bonds of Ten forms the basis of much maths, so try to learn them. Using Lego or something similar, use a LOT of bricks (of just TWO colours, if you have enough) lay them out so the pattern can be seen of one colour INCREASING while the other colour DECREASES. Lay them down, or build up like steps.

So:

ten of one colour none of other
nine of one colour one of other
eight of one colour two of other
seven of one colour three of other

etc,

then of course, the sides are equal at 5 and 5; after which the colours 'swap over' as to increasing/decreasing.

To learn TABLES, do them in groups that have a relationship, thus:

x2, x4, x8

x3, x6, x12

5 and 10 are easy

7 and 9 are rather harder.

Starting with TWO times TABLE, I always say: "Imagine the class is lining up in pairs; each child will have a partner, if there is an EVEN number in the class. If one child is left without a partner, then the number is ODD, because an odd one is left out."

Use Lego bricks again, lay them out in a column of 2 wide to learn 2x table. Go half way down the column, and move half the bricks up, so that now the column is 4 bricks wide. That gives the start of 4x table.

Then do similar things with 3x and 6x.

With 5x, try and count in 'fives', and notice the relationship with 'ten' - they will alternate, ending in 5 then 10.

It is important to try and UNDERSTAND the relationships between numbers, and not just learn them 'by rote'.


An inexpensive solar powered calculator (no battery to run out!) can help learn tables by 'repeated addition'. So: enter 2+2 and press = to give 4. KEEP PRESSING = and it should add on 2 each time, giving 2 times table.

There are good web sites, which can be fun to use :

//www.ictgames.com/

//www.resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/index.html

UNQUOTE

[PastSellByDate]

Luna:

First - I second a lot of what others have posted and highly agree with Ferguson that Woodlands Junior School Maths Zone is a fantastic resource.

Second - try talking to your DD about what is on the test. Addition (addition with numbers to 20/ addition to 100/ addition beyond?), Subtraction (with numbers to 20/ to 100/ beyond) - multiplication (times table facts - but maybe inverse times table facts - or applying this knowledge to word problems - i.e. Charlie has 5 friends coming to his birthday party and 30 sweets to share between them. How many sweets does each child get (including Charlie)?

Third - Teachers are busy - but you can slip them a note saying that you are aware from things your DC has said that she's finding maths a bit tricky and wondered if you could have 5 minutes one day after school to discuss what the problem is and what you can do at home to support her learning.

------

I would add that playing the games on BBC Bitesize KS1 Maths may reveal where the problems are: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/maths/ - this is set up for KS1 SATs for Y2 - so by this point your child should find these problems pretty straightforward. They come in ability levels: Medium/ Hard/ Really hard - start with Medium, if this is too easy try Hard, etc...

I found playing these games made it very clear that my DD1 was seriously struggling in Y2 - from there I went to doing more maths at home (we also had no homework to speak of - and by that point no actual numbers on maths homework - it was all colouring in patterns).

Lots have posted here about on-line maths tutorials - so you can just search other discussions. For us - we opted to go with an on-line tutorial (Mathsfactor - which has lots of videos explaining concepts/ skills which we knew was the main problem for DD1) and we've never looked back. DD1 improved beyond all recognition.

So don't despair - but do try and do a bit more at home if you can.

HTH