Help with maths

DD is the same. I tried helping but just seemed to make it worse (& I'm good at maths, but that made DD feel worse). I got her a tutor for just half an hour a week. She takes along any school work she is struggling with and she has come on in leaps and bounds, it has been amazing. DD is so proud of herself and loves her tutor, he gives her the confidence to tackle things she would have been frightened of. I think she might need to go up to 1hr lessons nearer big exams but for nowhalf an hour a week is making a world of difference.

Just read this without realising it was an update until the end (d'oh) but thought I'd just correct something from earlier upthread - a level 5A at the end of year 9 does NOT mean a student has no chance of a 'C' grade at GCSE. In fact, statistically (based on national figures) a C is the most likely outcome for someone at that level.

Brilliant news
I love the fact that she now thinks that she is a maths genius.

That is great news. Well done!

£20 an hour for private maths tuition at that level does seem cheap...a tutor from agencies around here costs around £45

how about that stuckonmaths website...they do recorded maths video tutorials with test yourself examples for GCSE and KS3...so at least a child can watch selected topics at his/her own pace....i might try the KS3 one for DS ....and it may help for me to watch it first as I am rusty on topics like algebra

Perhaps supplement that and textbooks with an hour a week private tuition to get back on track

When OP says an hour extra a week may be too much, though, I do wonder, as key I think to being good at maths is practice and enjoying the challenge also...and presumably even a tutor is going to set extra work in weak areas.

My dm is a tutor, and has tutored children like your dd.

I wouldn't say that she turns them around to love maths, but she stops them being scared of maths, and that makes a huge difference to their enjoyment of it, as well as ability,

One of her pupils said that just knowing that she could bring a topic she didn't understand to dm to explain meant that she wasn't panicking when a new subject came, and found she understood much more than she thought she ever would.

It is expensive, dm would charge about £20 an hour at that age, that's cheap, agencies can be double that. But she does have some pupils that do fortnightly, or even less often, just to give them a regular boost.

Foundation and higher IS the equivalent of the old divide between O level and CSE. The only difference is that if you get a C grade on the foundation paper (usually the highest you can get) you get the same qual as if you get a C grade in the higher paper. So although CSE grade 1 wa equivalent to O level C no-one really thought it was as it signified you were not thought capable of O level study by your school.

My experience with Kip McGrath is about £27 per session (an hour and 20 minutes) a week, but you get what you pay for. Also because it is a registered out-of-school provider you are able to claim childcare tax credits if eligible.

You can maybe talk about a six week block, rather than a whole term or whole year?

Because the foundation paper doesn't have as much algebra, and it goes down to a much lower level, it has
more arithmetic on it than the higher paper.

It will contain some problem solving on it, everyday maths (called functional maths) so she may get questions of the sort where information is given about various holidays and she has to work out which would be cheapest for a family of five.

Do you have a Kip McGrath centre to look at?

..and I got the impression from the OP that it was more to do with being able to select and use the right maths technique rather than numeracy per se.

I'm in the Scottish system and Maths & Arithmetic were, and I think still are, treated separately. I thought it was the same everywhere.

But numeracy is more important than problem-solving if you're hoping for a C at GCSE. The Foundation paper doesn't contain anything like the sort of problems in the maths challenge.

I'm going to be a bit controversial here and say that knowing your times tables is a help in Maths but it isn't actually essential.

I'm a grown woman who still struggles with times tables (also struggle looking things up alphabetically too) :(. I am however really good at Maths as it is more of a problem solving subject than strictly a numeracy one. I got an A band one (over 95%) in my O grade Maths but got a B in Arithmetic which is supposedly the easier subject.

My son is very similar to the point at primary that he would be in tears trying to complete a number grid but has just got a Silver award in the UK Junior Maths Challenge.

I bought the Carol Vorderman book when he was struggling with his tables and I was looking to the future and wanting to refresh my own Maths skills in order to support him, but actually we never had to use it with him as as soon as the work was not based more on Arithmetic, he came into his own and zoomed ahead.

OP, your daughter may be struggling more with the problem solving elements rather than the actual number stuff if that makes sense. So, boosting her ability to look at the task and deciding what it is they want her do is probably more important than actually getting the calculation right iyswim?

Ah... Reciting times tables actually isn't knowing them. The primary curriculum requires children to know their tables by the end of year 4. In my class this is having instant recall or being able to deduce them quickly. Ie if I know five fives are 25 then I know six fives are 30 and four fives are 20. They shouldn't have to start at the begining of the tables each time. They also need to know their division facts which isn't hard if they have grasped the inverse nature of division and multiplication. Tables aren't really about memory but understanding!
If the school can't give you booster sessions, I would suggest that a tutor is likely to be of more help than just revision apps or books. Sometimes children can have a particular gap in their mathematical knowledge that unless you understand how the teaching and learning of mathematical consepts works, can be hard for the average layman to spot and address unsupported. Not trying to do down your own maths skills but as my schools numeracy coordinator I spend a lot of time assessing where these gaps are in childrens knowledge.
Hope you get the help you need!

It's actually very well laid out and colourful so doesn't look really heavy and it covers the basics really well. I hope it helps.

This is a really good book - it explains everything really clearly:

www.amazon.co.uk/Help-Your-Kids-With-Maths/dp/1405322462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370642273&sr=8-1&keywords=carol+vorderman+maths+books

I think she does an on'line maths tutor thing too

If she was having booster lessons but hasn't actually been boosted by them, it would definitely be worth talking to her maths teacher to identify where the problems are so you (plus tutor?) can work on them at home. I would also talk to your DD and see what she thinks the problem is - does she realise if she carries on as she is she may not get a C, and how important that is?

How are her times tables? Often students at that level don't have instant recall of their tables and it holds them back all the time, from fractions to algebra, just making everything that bit more difficult. If that is a problem, you can start working on those straight away, and it will make a difference.