To ask you to PLEASE help me with DDs maths?

[ICameOnTheJitney]

I am so afraid of maths ....I was terrible at is as a kid and my knowledge stops at multiplication thanks to an evil teacher who bullied me and also a lack of natural ability.

DD is 9 and struggling a bit....she's getting anxious about it all and I plan to speak to her teacher to see if some extra support can be offered.

In the meantime...DD is doing some MyMaths and doesn't know how to work the following out.

The sum is 8 x 3 over 5....the 3 over 5 is written with a three on top of a 5 with a line between...I can't do that on my keyboard.

I just can't work it out. DD has some idea but my support is shit...please explain it to me Veeeeeeery slowly?

You can do it practically with lego bricks. Make a stick of 5 bricks - each little brick is called a fifth. Make 8 of these sticks. Break 3 bricks (fifths) of each stick. Put the remaining 2 bricks from each stick back in the box so they do not get in the final count. Now make sticks of 5 bricks from what you have. You should have 4 sticks of 5 bricks and a stick of 4 bricks. 4 and 5 fifths. You can do all sorts of fractions with lego.

cheval As wise and well meaning as your advice is, it's just a bit ignorant too. I have no time to dedicate to maths classes which won't earn me money. I work...when I'm not working I am looking after my children.

Pudcat great tip! Many thanks...DD loves her lego.

Maths may not get you a job however it will almost certainly financially benefit you. Anything financial involves maths - loans, debt, interest, shopping, mortgages, savings, pensions, insurance etc, to extract the most benefit from these you generally need to know some maths. Much of the UK financial industry is based around overcharging people who can't do basic maths.

There is a blue circle on the top right corner of a mymaths homework- it links you to 'see the lesson' Perhaps you and your dd could go through that together and you both could improve your understanding.