KS2 Maths/problem solving help needed (for me more than ds!)

[UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe]

Are you good at maths and good at explaining things to people (me?) Ds is in year 6 and has some problem solving work this week. Unfortunately, it’s making my brain seize up (I have dyscalculia so try not to mock me too much!).

Can anyone talk me through the process of how to work these out that would be easy and accessible for a 10 year old?

Q1) A car park is full.
1/3 of the cars leave.
60% of the remaining cars are red.
There are 174 red cars.
How many cars left the car park?

Q2) Eva has £6.05 in a money box.
She only has 20p, 10p and 5pm’s coins.
For every two 10p coins in the box, Eva has one 20p coin and three 5p coins.
How many of each coin does Eva have in her money box?

Thanks in advance for your brains

So 60% of what is left are red and that is 174
Divide by 6 and you get
10% of what is left is 29
So 100% of what is left is 290.

but the 'what is left is only 2/3 of the original.
So half of 290 is 145 and that must be 1/3 of the original

So there must have been 3x145 (or 290+145) = 435 originally.

For every two 10p coins in the box, Eva has one 20p coin and three 5p coins.

So you can divide up the coins into piles of that.
Each pile has 55p in it.

605 divided by 55 is 11, so 11 piles.

So 11 20p, 22 10p and 33 5ps

Q2 - total of one lot of money is 55p - 3x5p, 2x10p, 1x20p
11 lots of that in £6.05

You could do the first question by algebra: x cars in car park originally,
but a y6 wouldn't standardly know who to do that, so I think my working back approach would be more what is expected.

For Q1 you have to work backwards

174 cars is 60% of the cars that were left so divide 174 by 6 to get 10% of cars left then multiply by 10 to get 100% of cars left

174 ÷ 6 = 29
29 × 10 = 290

So 290 cars was what was left in car park after 1/3 left therefore 290 cars is 2/3 of cars

To get 1/3 just divide 290 by 2

290 ÷ 2 = 145 cars

Q1
60% of remaining cars = 174
So 1% = 174 ÷ 60 = 2.9
So 100% = 2.9 × 100 = 290
290 is 2/3 of total cars so an extra 1/3 is 290 ÷ 2 = 145
Total cars = 290+145 = 435

Hope that makes sense!

Bit of solidarity op.
My year 6 has spent a good few mornings in tears with maths as I just can’t help.
I can’t explain it and some of i can’t do, she’s brilliant at maths. But obviously needs stuff taught before being able to do it.

It just makes you feel very shit doesn’t it

At least you are getting your DC to do some schoolwork.
My 15yo has got so anxious/depressed she can't do anything.

I'm more than happy to help anyone with any maths up to GCSE.

Pictures really help.

If you can draw boxes - so you have a mystery number of cars.

Make 3 boxes - that's your 1/3.

Then from 1 of the boxes - make 10 boxes = each box is 10%.

6 of those boxes = 174

Then work backwards to work out what 1 box is

Thank you so much everyone, this has been a massive help! Where I got stuck was knowing that I’d need to divide by six for the first question, or make 11 piles for the second. My brain just couldn’t do that bit, even though it makes perfect sense on reflection! You’re all geniuses

EvilPea some stuff is really hard isn’t it! I hate seeing them stressed about it. I usually direct ds to khan academy online, they have good videos with working out. He does get to feel very clever in comparison with me though, which is good for his ego!

Teen that sounds really stressful for you and your daughter. That’s a stressful age to be coping with home learning. Some things are so in depth that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.