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Maths website for kids?

18 replies

IHeartKingThistle · 23/06/2015 09:18

DD is in Year 3 and is doing OK in Maths but finds it hard. She's just hit 3c but her confidence is low. In particular she's finding clocks etc. really hard and fractions were traumatic earlier in the year!

Does anyone know of any fun websites that might help her? I've had a quick look but not finding anything.

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PastSellByDate · 23/06/2015 10:34

If you just want more practice some great free websites include:

Woodlands Junior Maths Zone: links to great games under various headings: resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/

Multiplication dot com has resources/ instructions and games to help support learning the times tables: www.multiplication.com/ - click the grey tabs and explore.

If your DD is find learning times tables tricky - we found the free downloads from Timez Attack very useful: www.bigbrainz.com/ - your child will be tested and the programme will start from where they are at (i.e. if they know x2/ x5 and x10 - it won't drill those too much but will move on to other tables). You are cast as a young ogre and search through a dungeon or a castle solving multiplication problems (presented both as multiple additions you count up - i.e. 4 x 8 is shown as 4 blocks of 8 and then counted up 8, 16, 24, 32 - and as traditional vertical multiplication problems you just type the answer in for). Every so often you have a quiz to review what you are doing with a medium-sized ogre and at the end of a level you have a quiz with the BIG OGRE. Once you've completed all tables you have a test which either sends you back for more practice and you pass. It can be very stressful - but that helps improve speed of recall I think.

There are more expensive versions with more platforms to explore - but we found the free version worked. There is also a division version (so inverse multiplication skills - 36 divided by what is 9?

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If the issue is that at core the basic calculation skills are shaky and you think your daughter could benefit from more structured practice many of us here, including me, have posted our praise for various on-line tutorial programmes:

mathsfactor: www.themathsfactor.com/

Komodo maths: komodomath.com/

Mathletics: www.mathletics.co.uk/

maths Whizz: www.whizz.com/

These are subscription services of varying prices - but they do present the techniques and structure what is learned, taking some of the work of figuring that out off your shoulders.

We used mathsfactor to great success for both DDs (Y7/ Y5) and I would heartily recommend it, especially for girls. Carol Vorderman's videos explaining what to do are very clear, I like the programmes structure (some do complain it can be slow paced - but you can select which lessons and move along if it's really dragging - however I am a complete-ist and had my girls do it all). We all found Carol Vorderman's presenting of maths incredibly enthusiastic and she seemed to make maths fun, which becomes contagious.

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If your school uses My Maths - you can go into the programme and select topics from the level your child is working and do the lessons/ practice tests for more practice free of charge. School subscriptions run all summer - so you can keep on using it now and then over the summer to keep those maths juices flowing.

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Khan Academy: www.khanacademy.org/math is entirely free and has now prepared work for primary aged pupils in the US. US grades are not = to UK. Grade 3 would be the Equivalent of Year 2, because we start school slightly later than the UK. However, at some point they do converge (?Year 5/ Grade 5 or thereabouts).

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Later on - KS2 Upper (Y5/6) BBC Bitesize KS2 has all sorts of maths games for practice and is entirely free: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/ - but that is likely to be too challenging now for a Y3 pupil.

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With all of this you need to do a bit of homework first - have an explore and see what is most helpful. I would advise including your DC in any choice of what to do - if they like the look of it they're more likely to do it/ use it.

HTH

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IHeartKingThistle · 23/06/2015 10:41

Oh my goodness you're a star! Thank you!

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lynniep · 23/06/2015 10:44

We also use the maths factor. DS1 is in Year 3 and his maths abilities have greatly improved just doing one lesson a day, especially his understanding of fractions and remainders

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jimblejambles · 23/06/2015 10:52

Both my ds love sum dog and mathletics. Ds1 year 6 uses my maths too. They were set up thru school but I think a parent can set them up

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user789653241 · 23/06/2015 10:54

I would recommend Khan Academy too.
We started using recently, and it's great. Each topic/skills comes with short tutorial video, so if dc get stuck, he/she can check how to do it straight away.

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mrsmortis · 23/06/2015 12:02

If you are looking to support her over the summer, the maths factor do a summer club. My DD did it last year and she loved it. She announced that it was 'very silly' at regular intervals. We are planning on getting it again this summer as she has asked about it. Its a less structured version of their normal programme and you get medals for completing things which my DD loved.

You do have to pay, but I think I have a voucher somewhere for referring a friend. PM me if you are interested.

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NoParking · 23/06/2015 13:29

I've just downloaded Doodlemaths, as it was recommended by a friend. It's set up for the new national curriculum and seems to be a bit more prescriptive than mathletics (ie they can't just do stuff they find easy and they have to keep on practicing topics they're less good at), which I think will be helpful. Early feedback from dd is good!

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meglet · 23/06/2015 13:33

I've recently paid for mathletics at home because the dc's school doesn't provide anything similar. iirc it was £70 a year for 2 dc's.

I can set tasks in advance with my log-in, they have to complete these before going into battle with live mathletics. 8yo ds loves it, 6yo dd tends to fanny around buy her maths is still getting faster.

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Rowgtfc72 · 23/06/2015 19:15

DD and her whole school are obsessed with sumdog!

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IHeartKingThistle · 23/06/2015 22:38

Thank you all! We've downloaded Doodle Maths to have a go with - she likes the format but found the assessment challenging (I explained that was the point!). I think if she needs some more structure over the summer we'll try the Maths factor.

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lifeissobusy · 24/06/2015 07:01

Hi I stumbled across this website by accident when looking for some help with maths homework. Its seems to be good and DD will often ask to go on there.
www.mathplayground.com/games.html

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Back2Two · 24/06/2015 07:04

Marking place but there is also one called Komodo

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WeekendDilemma · 24/06/2015 09:06

Marking place

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var123 · 24/06/2015 09:13

I'm not sure that I would call it fun, but IXL is very good for drilling the ideas into children until they have mastered them.

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meglet · 24/06/2015 09:17

math workout is basic but very good for times table practice.

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Holymoly321 · 24/06/2015 09:58

marking place

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CB2009 · 24/06/2015 09:58

Agree with others that we used IXL for few months with our YR/now Y1 son. Think we got three month free trial offer and then we paid for a while. He enjoyed at the start but it is quite dull and not very interactive. He covered Reception to consolidate and all of Y1 and some of Y2 in about 8 months. It did strengthen basic skills. Novelty at start was doing on my laptop but it did wear thin. Then his school bought subscription to Maths Whizz. My son started below real age so exercises easy. But he finds enjoyable. Loves exercises and challenges. Good visually. Has covered a lot of ground this year. Less drilling but certainly more enjoyable than IXL

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var123 · 24/06/2015 17:25

I used IXl to home educate when my children would have been in KS1 if they had been going to school. They thought of the awards for finishing each exercise as "stickers" and it kept them going.

I agree that it gets the children through the work quickly, but that wasn't a bad thing. It corresponded to where they found themselves when they started school i.e. very ahead of the rest of the class who'd been going to school every day.

Since then, I've kept the subscription on and off - you can hiberate for a while. If the children ever got stuck with something, I'd re-activate the membership for a month or two so they could practise something.

They are both in G&T maths now, not just top 10% but way ahead. I'm sure that its partly innate ability but IXL definitely helped. I don't know if this is how it is really, but it feels like they started out ahead (due to IXL) and somehow that made it easier to stay ahead. Maybe it was just a confidence thing.

Writing this has reminded me. It does go up to GCSE (maybe higher) but I think I'll log in now and cancel the account before I accidentally come out of hibernation and get charged! That's one downside.. if you keep it long enough, it becomes hard to delete the account because it contains photos of your DC when they were tiny.

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