Extending maths

[CertainSlant]

DS has just started school. He loves numbers - and because he enjoys it he can add two digit numbers, do basic multiplication, count in numbers up to 11, and do a little bit of division.

As I understand it, in reception they basically just teach them through play which is great. Two questions though. First, since he can already meet the end of year targets, should I expect them to teach him any new maths this year (ie will they do extension for him?) And second question, when it comes to more formal math classes in Year One, what will they do with him?

Would love to hear how other schools handle this scenario.

Thank you!

[Allthebubbles]

My son is good at maths although at the beginning of reception was not nearly at your sons level. I found in reception he learnt nothing new in maths although he did learn a lot in reading/writing etc. It then got more involved but I would say it was only towards the end of Yr 2 he was stretched in any way.
In some ways it felt like a missed opportunity but he has learnt so much through infants in terms of literacy that I'm not sure pausing in maths development is a problem.

[CertainSlant]

Thanks All. I agree that he has huge amounts to learn, so I am not worried if he doesn’t make progress - I just want to know what to expect. (Without being “that” parent and making a fuss at school!)

[user789653241]

In my ds's case, reception was quite good. Since most of the day was learn through play, it seemed easier for teacher to differentiate. Also the teacher was maths specialist, so knew what to do.
He was sent to yr2 for maths. Had different homework from others.

It became more of the problem in ks1, and ks2 is total disaster. Some teachers try to extend, some are totally uninterested.
He does quite a lot of maths at home now, to compensate lack of challenge at school.

But as Allthebubbles says, there are so much more they can learn at school apart from maths, which are equally important.

Anyway, you may need to have a proper meeting with teacher about what they are planning to do.

[Allthebubbles]

I remember asking about how reception would extend in maths and inwardly cringing at how pushy I sounded!
Your son sounds quite gifted in maths and may just keep discovering it himself- I don't think my son falls in this category I think he's just one of the more able but not exceptional and now he's in Juniors the extension stuff seems about right for him.
I think most schools have a gifted and talented programme, might be worth asking?

[ThreeAnkleBiters]

My DS is very good at maths(in Y2 but can do most of the y6 curriculum and some beyond).in reception his teacher would give him open ended sheets instead e. G. The class would be filling in the missing numbers up to 20 and he would make up his own number sequence (he did the powers of three up to 3 to the power 20!). In Y1 it was more difficult he did y2 workbooks which he found very easy. I think this year I'll push for him to be stretched more. The advice I'd offer for at home is to avoid teaching him anything on syllabus look for problem solving he can do with existing knowledge. However he might end up teaching himself (DS has taught himself to add and multiply fractions!).

Remember also that as well as learning the material he needs to develop fluency so going over material isn't useless (almost everyone in reception knew the entire syllabus anyway but they are practising their writing and getting used to sitting at school and doing worksheets etc.).

I would let his teacher know but it probably won't be a problem until Y1.

[HoverParent]

You cannot leave maths to schools. You will have to do some work at home, it simply is not difficult enough until Key Stage 4. We were lucky to have a guest from Japan visiting with a child in Reception, they were doing triple digit multiplication and long division already at that age. It was a big wake-up call for how the rest of the world is doing it. We have since been doing maths at home, and our kid was assessed at a Year 6 level when in Year 2. But it would be considered Year 2 maths in Japan or Singapore, so there is no need to slow down. Get hold of some maths books and workbooks and then just rock through them.

[BubblesBuddy]

In general terms, many primary school teachers find it challenging to teach extended or deeper maths, outside the primary curriculum. They should be able to but in practice they lack skills and confidence. Maths specialists or the lead in maths teaching should be able to suggest how the school will meet his needs. He actually has special needs. Gifted children do.

Ask if they are able to extend him by going into other classes. Some schools hate this, but others facilitate it. By the time you get further up the school, you need secondary trained maths teachers to teach because he needs an extended curriculum. Most primary teachers cannot do this. Around me I am aware that excellent primary teachers have been mentored by the maths teachers at the grammar schools. See if your school has a maths link with a nearby secondary.

Do keep it in mind though that schools should meet the needs of all children and your child will have a special need but in a way the school will rarely see.

[Feenie]

The rest of the world is not doing triple digit multiplication and long division in Reception, fgs.

[sanam2010]

DD is very much like your son, in Year 1 now. She is at a selective private school though. They noticed quite quickly. Initially they were going to put her in an extension group with other kids but then said she was too advanced for the extension group, too, and then she had 1-1 extension with a teacher 3x a week, covering division, word problems, times tables, double digit addition and subtraction, word problems, puzzles. They always made sure there were challenging puzzles for her in the classroom. So far, she has never complained that she is bored. Long may it continue.

[CertainSlant]

Hi,

Just wanted to pick this up - over the last six weeks DS has gone from doing sums all the time for fun, to not showing any interest at all and possibly even going backward (I guess from less practice?).

I completely get that at the moment he is learning lots of other things (starting school, we are in new place etc) so he may have less mental space for numbers.

But I would be really interested to know if anyone else had a similar experience? Does interest ever go in phases?

I don’t think he is doing any maths at school, his teachers told me they were impressed when he knew what 150 - 10 was, which is so far off base (compared to what he was doing over the summer). We have Parents Evening coming up, I am not sure whether to mention this to them?

Thank you for any advice.

[Kokeshi123]

We were lucky to have a guest from Japan visiting with a child in Reception, they were doing triple digit multiplication and long division already at that age.

???

I live in Japan, speak and write Japanese fluently and have a child in public school here (as do most of my girlfriends--I know the curriculum here inside-out). This is absolute errant nonsense, sorry.

For a start, compulsory education does not officially start till age 6 yearthe equivalent of Y2 in the UK. Reception-aged children are in kindergarten here. Japan does not have an officially mandated kindergarten curriculum-the kindergartens and daycares here run the full range, from "forest school/100% free play in the mud," to very academically focused kindergartens (however, even these ones are not teaching long division to 4yos as standard, seriously. And I do know what I am talking about because I have known one or two people who have used them).

The majority of kindergartens and daycares do some academic work but at a similar level to the average reception class-if that. A lot of parents do do work with their kids at home during the 3-6 age range or use Kumon etc, but again it depends on the parent and the area. When the kids start public school at age 6, the curriculum literally starts from zero in terms of literacy and maths. Of course, you will get some private schools that are more pushy, but these are not for the majority of kids and again, they are not expecting that kids will have been doing long division at 4yo eitherI know this, because I've seen the past-paper collections in the bookstore.

The Japanese public school curriculum moves at a similar pace to the average English school in the early elementary school years. The main difference is that everything is more "solid" and there is a lot more emphasis on really, really practicing stuff and getting very fluent and quick (they get send home with a lot of summer homework and there is targeted maths practice homework every single day during term time). The kids therefore tend to be in a position to make faster progress with maths as they approach secondary school age. I don't like everything about Japanese schools but I think maths for the most part is well taught.

My kid is in second grade (age wise, that is like Y3 in the UK). They are doing double-digit adds and subtractions and starting multiplication tables. That actually sounds a little late to start by UK standards--on the other hand, they make them practice and chant them like hell, so the kids really really do learn them and are expected to be fluent by the end of the year.

Kids who are tutored outside school (which becomes common in urban areas from the equivalent of Year 4 onwards) will definitely make faster progress than the standard curriculum. But then, you will also come across a big range in attainment levels in English schools too, especially (again) in big cities where tutoring is common.

I don't know what on earth this "visitor from Japan" was trying to tell the previous poster, but this is not representative of the Japanese school system. Maybe they had some kid who is a maths genius and is also being juku-d to death, who knows.

Bear in mind that Japanese people overseas often see themselves as ambassadors for their country and give a "PR" version of what goes on their country for foreigners, depending on what they think the person wants to hear or depending on what impression of Japan they are eager to create (which is why you get people giving either ridiculously accelerated ideas of educational attainment for the kids back in Japan, OR insisting that Japanese kids do zero academic work before age 6--my experience is that neither of these things are actually true).

[brilliotic]

CertainSlant,

yes IME interest comes in phases. Being ahead of the curve puts you in the comfortable situation that you can go with the interest. You do not have to push daily maths practice ''to keep up' - even if your child goes 'backwards', he will still be way ahead. You can limit any maths practice at home to times when he actually is keen to do some.
What is it he is wanting to do at home after school these days, when he previously would have been doing maths? You can follow his new interest (perhaps it is building social connections with his peer group, so facilitate play dates) and never worry that the maths is falling behind.
And just occasionally give him some 'fun' maths thing to think about, so he doesn't forget that maths is more (and more fun) than counting to 20 with the rest of the class. E.g. read a Murderous Maths book to him for bedtime or some such.

Regarding school, there is a problem sometimes that teachers only assess the children against their expectations, and therefore never realise that the child is capable of doing work significantly beyond their year group expectations. Not knowing accurately what the child can do means the teacher won't set appropriate work. Even the work planned as 'extension' will still be too easy.
So if you feel this is happening, do mention to the teacher. If that doesn't help, work with your child on strategies. For instance, ask them to every time quickly complete their work and go to politely ask the teacher for harder work. Or encourage the child to challenge themselves, so as another poster's child used to do, when the task is to find pairs of numbers that make 10, the child can use all four operations rather than just addition; can use negative numbers, decimals, fractions, ... thus having a fun challenge whilst showing the teacher what they can do.

DS was good at maths in reception too (not the same level though) and he didn't make any progress in maths that year. He didn't go for the open-ended stuff that he could take as far as he wished; he spent most of his time playing dinosaurs. That was fine too. He was still easily ahead of expectations at the end of the year. I didn't mind that he hadn't moved even further ahead. I was very pleased at the quality of some of the friendships he had started to build, though.