Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

1 2 3

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Nothing special.

61 replies

learnandsay · 09/02/2013 22:12

My 4yo daughter seems to have grasped the fact that half of ten is five. And she seems to have grasped the fact that twice ten is twenty. And now appears to be chucking facts around like this means I have five, mum has five, dad has five and the baby has five. I'm fairly sure this is coincidence and is just because we've talked about fives and tens before. But I'm also pretty sure that I didn't chuck around mental arithmetic like it was confetti when I was four. I'd like to encourage her to do this but it's spontaneous. And I can't quite see how one extends spontaneity. Can one? Or does one just let it be?

OP posts:

Report

numbum · 09/02/2013 22:43

Let it be. She'll have picked it up from school who obviously know what they're doing

Haberdashery · 09/02/2013 22:53

This sounds absolutely normal. Leave her alone and give her space to think.

Haberdashery · 09/02/2013 22:55

Also, give her a big pile of dried beans or something. And don't interfere.

simpson · 09/02/2013 23:00

I agree with the others.

Let her count Lego, raisins if she wants to or if you have an abacus let her use that.

learnandsay · 09/02/2013 23:10

She has been able to do all the calculations up to ten on her fingers for a while, although she scrunches up in a ball so we can't see what she's doing while she does it. We've been visiting maths websites for a while. She has and can do number lines, number squares, counting in tens and knows that half of ten is five, and has done with me for some time. None of that is what concerns me. What concerns me is that some of it may have stuck.

OP posts:

Tiggles · 09/02/2013 23:13

What concerns me is that some of it may have stuck but isn't that a good thing? I know DS2 came out of reception knowing all his 'halved/doubled numbers' I assumed it was something they were taught, and therefore expected to know?

Kickarsequeen · 09/02/2013 23:14

I don't understand your concerns, she is playing with numbers, all normal and good stuff for her age group.

simpson · 09/02/2013 23:16

What happens if you ask her to do 15+3?

Does she count up from 15 or count from 1 (like my DD does).

Kickarsequeen · 09/02/2013 23:18

Why is your thread titled nothing special?

learnandsay · 09/02/2013 23:25

My concern isn't for her; it's for me. With reading I had a clear idea of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to achieve. With maths/arithmetic I had no idea. I taught her to recognise double digit numbers, the ten times table and some rudimentary addition and subtraction. The thing that worries me is that she wasn't supposed to use the info I was giving her. I was just teaching her to recognise basic numbers. But she does seem to be using it.

OP posts:

learnandsay · 09/02/2013 23:30

I haven't asked her to do things like that in a while. But she used to. I used to get a bit upset when adding one to ten she would start off: one, two, three

and I'd say but you already know you have ten....

We haven't talked about any of it for ages. But if she's stopped that behaviour and can add from a known number then it's definitely the school's influence and not mine. Because she sure as hell couldn't before.

OP posts:

simpson · 09/02/2013 23:57

That's my point if I ask DD to count from 15 to add 3 she will count from 1.

DD does play addition games on the iPad but that's about it. She has zero interest in numeracy tbh although I had a meeting with her class teacher on Friday and they have said they are going to push her a bit more in it.

Purpleprickles · 10/02/2013 00:04

Doubling and halving is now one of the ELG expectations for end of Reception so possibly she has been practising at school. I'm a bit confused by your concern? It seems like she is practically applying the maths skills she has which is the aim isn't it?

SavoyCabbage · 10/02/2013 00:07

What are you worrying about? She sounds totally normal for her age to me.

Kickarsequeen · 10/02/2013 00:17

I really don't understand the problem, talk to her about numbers, any numbers. Why would she not be supposed to use the numbers ? By the sounds of her progression she's doing fine. It's common for children to still be counting up from 1 until they get into year 1. Don't pressure her, don't get frustrated, just keep in fun!

mintyneb · 10/02/2013 09:13

Lands, you have made it clear in all your posts that you believe it is your job to teach your daughter to read, write and learn maths. Your view seems to be that school has a mere incidental role in this part of her education and that it is there really just to help with her social skills?

That being so, are you feeling a bit derailed from your objective as it is becoming clear that school IS teaching her maths? Are they starting to tread on your toes?

Whatever the reason, I would echo what the others are saying. Your daughter is only 4 but clearly is getting some enjoyment with what she is learning with her friends at school.

Keep things fun, if she wants to learn more help her, but certainly don't berate her for counting on her fingers or starting from zero every time.

numbum · 10/02/2013 09:13

I used to get a bit upset when adding one to ten she would start off: one, two, three

and I'd say but you already know you have ten....

You got upset because she was counting the way any child learns to and then you'd stop her because she wasnt doing it the way YOU wanted her to?

Your concern is you and not her? With reading YOU had a clear idea where YOU wanted to go and what YOU wanted to achieve.

You sound very controlling amd unable to accept that school now influence a lot of what she learns instead of you.

You really need to take a step back and give her some space!

lljkk · 10/02/2013 09:40

What concerns me is that some of it may have stuck.

OP is upset that her child has learnt math facts?

Cat98 · 10/02/2013 10:17

I'm confused at what the problem is, l and s?
It sounds good. If she thinks its fun I'd just go with it. Is it that you're not sure of the best way to teach/help her, maybe ask the school for advice?

numbum · 10/02/2013 10:22

Just buy her some workbooks from WH Smiths.....

Tiggles · 10/02/2013 19:03

"The thing that worries me is that she wasn't supposed to use the info I was giving her"
Presuming things are similar in England to Wales, the maths curriculum will focus very much on actually using maths rather than being taught random facts. e.g. DS3 is only in nursery, but is quite happy to answer questions like "We normally have 20 children in our classroom, but today 3 aren't here, how many children do we have here today?" I doubt very much he would be as confident to answer "what is 20 take away 3". Because the maths is integrated into the general day, it becomes natural for them to use mathematical language themselves within their own day. Just in the same way that (in English school in Wales) Welsh is used every day, so the children naturally use Welsh in their everyday language.

cumbrialass · 10/02/2013 19:06

I just think the OP is as mad as a box of frogs!

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Email address

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

learnandsay · 10/02/2013 19:32

cumbria, that's not very kind to the frogs.

I don't think mathematical language troubles her all that much. We've been playing "take away" since she was two. We also do "number stories" using wooden numbers and maths symbols and have done for about the same length of time. But the only reason why I did these things was because I wanted her to be comfortable with the idea of maths notation. Not because I wanted my two year old doing sums. We noticed that she could do really simple arithmetic in her head a while ago. She's comment on numbers in the car. Or we'd ask her things and she'd tell us the answers. But those things were really basic like five take away two. So we didn't think anything of it. But I think 10 + 10 / 4 in one step is a bit more than I'd bargained for.

OP posts:

mrz · 10/02/2013 19:33

Why?

learnandsay · 10/02/2013 19:41

I'm pretty sure that I think of it as two separate steps. We've always talked of five and five making ten and half of ten being five. It may be that she was just talking about numbers that she was familiar with (I didn't know she knew that 10+10=20) in close proximity to one another. And it just looked like she was doing a two step sum in one go. I doubt she could do it with fours and eights.

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.