year 5 maths

[Stressedtothehilt]

Hi all am looking for general opinions on year 5 kids maths abilities. I keep being told dds maths is fine but I really don't think it is. She was in a very underperforming failing school until the end of year 2 when we moved her to a different school. New school originally said she was behind on maths, the average, now apparently above average! However, I have my serious doubts. She is good with pie charts and graphs and things and is able to do adding and subtracting of 3 and 4 digit numbers if they are set out in traditional sum format. And she knows when to carry over the 1 etc. but the things she struggles with are :Dd cannot quickly recall her number bonds to 10 and 20 without taking a great deal of time.Does not know any times tables except counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.Couldn't answer when asked what 18 - 17 was! She started to count backwards on her fingers before the question being repeated and she still had to think. Took about 45 secs before she finally got the answer.Cannot multiply two digit numbers/long multiplication nor long divisionCan't do percentages or fractions Struggles a lot with maths word questions like Man X has ten sweets and man Z has twenty sweets how many sweets altogether etc.So how is she doing???? I found some 10+ maths assessments and she could only easily answer the normal + or ~ sum type questions and she really struggled with the rest. I seem to be forever in school about something and don't want to make a mountain out of it. I just KNOW she isn't above average like they're telling me! She is above average in literacy but def not in maths!!

[sittingbythepoolwithenzo]

Have school given you an idea of her National Curriculum level? I know my dcs' school expect all times tables learned by end year 4.

You may get more traffic in Primary Education?

[Stressedtothehilt]

No they refused to tell me when I asked but report is due out soon so we shall see! Thanks

[ihatethecold]

Sounds just like my yr5 dd.
I worry that she just doesn't seem to get it.

[MrsKCastle]

It doesn't sound good to be honest. I would expect an average year 5 to be fairly competent at mental maths e.g. knowing most of their times tables by heart (with the odd error), able to add and subtract 2 digit numbers mentally, able to multiply and divide by 10, beginning to work with decimals. They should certainly know number bonds to 10 and 20! Word problems like the one you mention should be easy by Y5 as well- they should be working with more complex problems involving money and measures.

You do need to speak to the school- push for a detailed discussion of her strengths/weaknesses and level.

[missinglalaland]

I'm just a parent, not a teacher, but I feel for you. I also have a yr 5 dd. It seems odd to me that the school won't tell you her NC level. It will certainly help you, when you have that information.
My dd had a poor year 4, and I didn't realise it until the beginning of yr5. I was a little shocked by how much she didn't know in maths. I bought a workbook on Amazon and we went through it together. Slowly covering all the topics. We did 15min a night, three times a week. We finished by Christmas, and I think she is much improved. I still give her some multiplication questions a few times a week to make sure she doesn't forget again.
If your dd is behind because of poor teaching for whatever reason, then I think you can put it right on your own with just a workbook, some free worksheets off the internet, and a little of your time. It doesn't have to be grinding or arduous, just consistent. Little and often.

[Stressedtothehilt]

Thanks thats what I thought. Yes will chat to teacher and get some workbooks

[Blueberrypots]

Definitely get some workbooks, this is what we did too. The thing is because of the way topics work, by the time the class has got round the next topic, some children will have forgotten the one before. We found this even with DD1 who is brilliant at maths. It is just down to practice.

We love the LETTS books, but there are loads on the market. I bought a couple and just re-did them, on average we did 2 of the same level for each academic year. Good luck!

[cingolimama]

OP, I really sympathise, and know what you're on about. The thing is that the maths curriuculum is extremely broad, and things like basic numeracy (which are the foundation of just about any kind of maths or IT further on down the line) are never really drilled into the kids. I had a shocker like you - what's 6-2? The idea that she couldn't tell me instantly in Y4 sent shivers down my spine. My DD goes to a not-great state primary, and the school was never going to tackle this. So I "tutored" DD myself.

I've used a combination of worksheets, Bond, and various websites. We worked 5 or 6 days a week for about 20 minutes/day. DD still does mathsfactor and the whole improvement programme that we did over about a year has made a massive difference to her confidence and achievement. She now loves maths and crucially, is unafraid of the subject.

My recommendations, for what they are worth, are:
www.komodomath.com
www.timestables4u.com
themathworksheetsite.com
www.themathsfactor.com

Good Luck!

[Stressedtothehilt]

Thats a great help thanks so much!

[missinglalaland]

cingolimama You put your finger on the problem! There is a lot more breadth than depth in the primary school now.

It's nice that my dd at age 9 recognises a tetrahedron, but I worry about her ability to multiply large numbers efficiently, to compare fractions etc.

[AllergyMums]

Hi - We realised last year that DD couldn't really add/substract quickly. It was a number bond thing. So we just practiced 5 minutes every morning. 10-7 =, 7+3= etc. Tedious but it works. Then moved onto 33-23 = etc. Just made up our own sheets. Funny how common an issue it is.

[Schmedz]

My DD is in Year 5 and has regularly been achieving level 4s in her maths assessments. What I don't understand is HOW, given that she seems to be so slow at recalling basic times tables/division facts! Will point her in the direction of those websites suggested above and hopefully her confidence in these areas will increase...