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Original poster

Alternate methods in maths

34 replies

TeenMinusTests · 12/10/2021 11:30

DD is re-sitting maths GCSE as she missed y11.

New college teacher is teaching different methods for things DD can already do and she is finding it confusing & stressful. (College is already highly stressful for her - huge backstory).

So, should I say it is fine to ignore teacher, or what?

OP posts:
Original poster
TeenMinusTests · 12/10/2021 18:25

She has no option. Because she got 3s she has to be in the GCSE resit class this year. (Even though I'd rather leave it this year to let her continue to recover more first). Before she was ill she was expected a 5, maybe a 6 on a good day.

OP posts:
user1495884211 · 12/10/2021 18:21

@Orangejuicemarathoner

maybe she should not be in a resit class. Resit classes are for people who have done the exam, know the content, but have narrowly missed the grade they require.

Maybe she should be doing an easier qualification, or be in a GCSE class for people who have not done the course before.

How did she come to miss year 11?

If she is struggling with percentages, maybe GCSE is not for her

She probably has no option. English and maths are compulsory alongside college courses for students who haven't already passed.
Original poster
TeenMinusTests · 12/10/2021 18:12

To answer questions:

  • she missed y11 because of MH issues, but was recovered enough to sit some assessments on limited revision at the end and got a 3.
  • she doesn't struggle with %s, she can do them fine, she just couldn't follow what the teacher was doing wrt what I call shortcuts.
  • by shortcuts I mean being taught without context that to find 25% you divide by 4, things like that.
  • by general method I mean to find y% of Z you do y/100 x Z (or Z/100 x y, whichever floats your boat).

I mean obviously 25/100 = 1/4 = divide by 4 but over the years DD has proved herself incapable of remember that alongside 20% = divide by 5 (or worse divide by 10 and double) plus the 1% and the 10% and other radoms some teachers like to throw in.

For context, DD struggles to remember which is left and which is right, but can do basic trig or factorising quadratics.

OP posts:
purplesequins · 12/10/2021 18:03

if she gets on with the methods she knows - ignore.

my dc changed school (and country) and different methods are tought. some suit my dc better than others and they are encouraged to fo whatever works for them.

noblegiraffe · 12/10/2021 18:03

I'm a bit confused as to what you mean by 'shortcuts' and 'general method' for finding percentages. Can you give examples?

Orangejuicemarathoner · 12/10/2021 17:58

maybe she should not be in a resit class. Resit classes are for people who have done the exam, know the content, but have narrowly missed the grade they require.

Maybe she should be doing an easier qualification, or be in a GCSE class for people who have not done the course before.

How did she come to miss year 11?

If she is struggling with percentages, maybe GCSE is not for her

NotAnotherPushyMum · 12/10/2021 17:55

Generally kids who don’t ‘get’ maths do better learning the shortcuts and tricks because they don’t need to understand the maths to do it.

Original poster
TeenMinusTests · 12/10/2021 17:52

I have found out what they were doing - percentages.

The teacher was teaching the shortcuts first and then presumably at some point will move on to the generalised method.

Now I know my DD would have no hope remembering 7 or whatever shortcuts, because we have tried before and she can't, which is why we focused on one general method. (I have regularly shown her why 50% is 1/2 etc, but the shortcuts just don't stick.)

So my revised questions are:

Why teach a bunch of shortcuts to DC who by definition aren't great at maths, thus giving them a collection of apparently unrelated facts, instead of teaching just the one method?

Why teach shortcuts before the proper explanation?

Are there DC who can remember and apply the shortcuts without being able to do the general method? For mine it is just more things to learn...
I'm hoping there are because otherwise I can't see why they would do such a thing. (DD1 had exactly the same issue in primary!)

Hoping to be enlightened.

OP posts:
sashh · 12/10/2021 12:15

She should talk to the teacher, for GCSE maths there are at least three ways to do most things, if I was teaching her I wouldn't worry about the method used as long as she was showing her working and getting the right answer.