Maths for a 6 year old

[slithytove]

Please can someone help me? I am working through some maths work with my 6 year old and came to a question I can’t work out how to explain at a level he can understand.

It’s question two. There seems to be a massive leave from question one, and I just can’t figure out how to explain it. I started in on quadratic equations which was not the way to go 😂

Any tips?

Will also try with pasta (sweets will be eaten!) if the number line doesn’t work

You’re better starting with the pasta/counters. It’s better that he’s got a really good understand of what those calculations actually represent.

You can make up some of your own eg, start with 30... he writes 30 down. He physically takes 5 away...he writes “- 5” next to the 30, then writes = and counts how many left. Or similar for addition.

You could turn it into a bingo game. Two dice, cards with + - = written on and “boards” with numbers up to 12. Who will be the first to use all their numbers in calculations?

Also, in real life contexts (shopping is brilliant for maths) you can ask questions about how many more apple you need to make 10 when you’ve got 2 in the trolley.

Finally, try and get him to think about his number bonds so he’s not always counting on. Kids need more strategies than just that one.

Forgot to say, explaining “easy” maths is really hard, especially when you’ve got a high level of maths knowledge! You’re in really good company in finding it tricky.

Thank you! Didn’t get a chance to try it tonight as have pranged my car 😩 going to give it a bash tomorrow