At what age did your dc cover these subjects at school?

[mathsgeeks]

At what age did your dc cover the below at school, and practice and learn them?

Factors
Prime numbers
Square numbers
Square roots
Common multiples

Also, does anyone know what the point of learning them is, do they make it easier to do calculations in more advanced maths or is there some other erudite or practical purpose for them?

I was brought up in the Age of No Maths and Grammar, at my primary school it was felt only important to do art and drama, and though I subsequently learned some grammar, the above have somehow never featured in my life so I have no clue.

Y5. Have a look at this cd www.amazon.co.uk/Professor-Mathmos-Fractions-Decimals-Essentials/dp/B00FA7VKZC?tag=mumsnetforu03-21 - some of the songs are actually quite good as well as factual!

My son is in year 5 and can confidently do all of them

Agree with Y5 although multiples and factors come in from Y2 at my school.
I do think there useful to know. They lighten the cognitive load in problem solving and application tasks.

Definitely before the end Y5 even for low ability.

Knowing these is as important/useful as knowing times tables. They make lots of things easier to understand/do.

*they’re

Primary definitely.
y5 sounds about right.
They will be revisited and built on in secondary.

Thank you very much. Does anyone have examples of application, where they have made something easier to understand or do? Thanks again.

I'm not sure about 'point' but I factorise numbers for fun. Where I have has a 3 digit exit code, so I try to make sure I've factorised it down to its prime factors before I get back to my car. but I'm a bit sad

In real life? Not really.

In maths GCSE:
Doing questions like HCF & LCM.
Simplifying fractions.
Recognising squares for applying Pythagoras theorem.
Recognising squares for factorising algebra or doing 'completing the square'.
Very large prime numbers are used for encryption algorithms.

My daughter is in P5 (NI), she's coming 9 and she has just started very gently easing into some of these. My older two covered them by the time they had finished primary school.

@teenplustwenties your first post made me laugh out loud, so obviously not sad at all! Henceforth I shall do as you do! Your second post very useful, I have somewhere to tag it all in my brain now which will stop me ever saying again "omg what on earth is a factor and why do they even exist?" ignoramus as I am

TeenPlusTwenties you missed out helping with homework from your list

This maths dictionary is also a useful resource as kids get bigger www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/tori-large/illustrated-dictionary-of-maths/GOR006843718?keyword=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr9qA2ZO95wIVAuDtCh0Heg1ZEAQYAyABEgLm6PD_BwE

Thank you for the links, blue champagne

What do you both think of the book How to Be Good at Maths: the simplest ever visual guide by Carol Vorderman?

Think most of those are covered in Yr 5, but DS in Yr 1 knows prime numbers and common multiples, and can do 2,5,10 multiplications.

Quite a few of these come in useful later in much more complicated equations.

Square numbers are useful when calculating areas, for painting, carpeting etc.

Year 3 definitely because I was homeschooling then, perhaps earlier. Dd is a maths whizz though

We just found Prof Mathmo on youtube to see what is like and it is great! So will be getting that and playing in the car. Fantastic.

For anyone who cares (probably about 0.001% of readers), a reason for knowing factors is this at GCSE level:

Solve x^2 + 13x + 36 = 0

You have to look at the factor pairs for 36 and see which pair adds to 13, so consider 1&36, 2&18, 3&12, 4&9, 6&6 => 4+9=13

(x+4)(x+9) = 0 so x = -4 or -9

I tutor for the 11+, so top of of year 5 kids.
I cover all of these, at the beginning of year 5, but it is as revision for the kids I'm tutoring. They should ahve already covered them before year 5. Although they may not know the correct names (eg I alwarys have to make sure they know the word 'factors' even though they can use them.

They are so useful, I'm not sure where to begin. It is a bit like saying is phonics any use for reading?

So much of maths relies on the use of factors and multiples, and by extension, so much of every day life, things we don't even think about.
The apples are 30p each, I want 4, do I have enough money?
(not a great example I know, but everyday maths for living uses factors and multiples all the time)
Factors and multiples are really another way of saying times tables and their application.
Squares and square roots are just a specific version of see that.

Kids that can competantly use these find maths questions and problems so much easier, as they see the patterns and links between numbers.

Primes I see less use for.

So much of maths

I care, and appreciate all this. I did in fact get a B at GCSE level so I probably did know some of this back then, it was a long time ago. We live abroad at the moment and it seems that the schools here are behind in maths, so checking what if anything we'd need to catch up on if we go home next year.

Gah, so many typos, sorry

I agree the kids need to make patterns as see the numbers as different.

It’s a thinking skill and joined up thinking at that.

steppemum our posts crossed - multiples are frequently used day to day, as you say, but I had wondered about common multiples - eg 12 36 24 48 are common to both multiples of 3 (1 to 50) and 4 (1 to 50) -I wondered if these are applied in practice somewhere in practice in more advanced maths - though I note what you say about generally seeing patterns and links between numbers.

DS has been doing common multiples and factorising numbers in Y4.
He knows about prime numbers, and a number multiplied by its self is squared. Not sure he knows the inverse as a root in name.

well, it is useful to know that if I need 12 of something I can either buy 3 packs of 4 or 4 packs of 3.
That is common multiples right there.

It is SOO much a part of daily life we don't even notice I think.

Well yes, though not sure in day to day life we'd be wondering about the higher common multiples. But I am now inspired to crack the whip and be strict about dc learning these things well, after this thread!