To think my almost 7yo should be better at maths than this?

[wannajointhisbus]

She struggles with basic addition beyond ten. Tonight's tantrum was borne out of not being able to add 18 and 8. She also doesn't understand lesser/fewer, or concepts such as counting backwards and subtraction beyond 10. I admit to getting massively frustrated which is unhelpful but I am just staggered. She doesn't want to do the work which is a bigger barrier than any and of course....fuels both her and my annoyance. She was recently dropped to the lowest table at school which won't be helping her self esteem and I keep telling her she is good at it etc hut needs to work a bit harder....her teacher doesn't seem to be arsed that her maths is so poor:/

You might want to have this moved to primary education. :)

Is she supposed to be able to do all this? Are her peers able to? I'm pretty sure that my seven year old is at the same stage and is considered to be doing fairly well at her school. Have you asked her teacher if she's at the correct level / ability?

I think that is poor, DS1 is in Y1 and he is covering - and understanding - harder work than that.

Have you talked to the school? What is their view on things?

Can you get some fun workbooks for her to do which might help cover the very basics again and improve her confidence?

Speak to the teacher. My dd is dyslexic and up until about a year ago all our efforts were put into getting her reading. We all knew she had problems with math but it kind of got ignored - she is now 11 and in her last year at primary and only now has the effort switched into getting her more confident at maths. We are fairly sure she is dyscalculic and certainly at 7 (and until fairly recently) she had the same difficulties as you describe with your dd. I do recommend www.powerof2.co.uk/maths-support-book-plus-1/ to work through with your dd. It can be tedious but it really helped with our dd.
Also you must use concrete materials when doing maths work with her - pasta, buttons etc and a number line.

I come from a family that is naturally good at maths, so I don't know if this is relevant, but I do think maths is fun and stressing your daughter about maths isn't going to help.

I'm very strict on the idea that children need to put in the slog to learn their tables, but otherwise maths and maths homework should be a game. I used to compete with my daughter to see who could get the most correct answers the fastest.

Below are the statutory requirements for year 1. I presume your child is in year 2? if your child is not confident with the mathematical concepts below, then I would suggest going back to your dd's teacher to discuss the fact that you feel she is at least a year behind where she should be. If she has just been moved to the "lowest"table then her teacher has obviously recognised that she is struggling, so it's worth finding out exactly what the teacher would like you to be doing at home to help support the work she's doing at sch.

Year 1 National Curriculum

• Number and Place Value count to and across 100, forwards and backwards, beginning with 0 or 1, or from any given number ? count, read and write numbers to 100 in numerals; count in multiples of twos, fives and tens ? given a number, identify one more and one less ? identify and represent numbers using objects and pictorial representations including the number line, and use the language of: equal to, more than, less than (fewer), most, least ? read and write numbers from 1 to 20 in numerals and words.

Number - Addition and Subtraction

Pupils should be taught to:
? read, write and interpret mathematical statements involving addition (+), subtraction (–) and equals (=) signs
? represent and use number bonds and related subtraction facts within 20
? add and subtract one-digit and two-digit numbers to 20, including zero
? solve one-step problems that involve addition and subtraction, using concrete objects and pictorial representations, and missing number problems such as 7 = – 9.

Thanks all.

Little fish- she can't count backwards without significant help after 10. She can add and subtract but the tears start after 10/20 at most. She can't grasp lesser/more than for love nor money. We use an abacus as well as objects to help her. The homework causes so much stress that for my own sanity sometimes, I let her skip it. I've spoken to her teacher but I get that feeling she is pretty ok with dd being where she is. I'm not though, and feel pretty pissed off that she is allowed to just be the way she is. She is really good at reading, ok at literacy, an average kid really. Never gets picked to do stuff/represent the class in any way...,is quiet and as such is always at the back in an assembly. She is a happy child though - no mistake. I just don't want her school to be ok with 'ok' if that makes sense. I am happy for dd to be average but not for her to say she hates maths/doesn't want to learn it, but also says she is ashamed to be on that shitty lowest table. (Wtf is that labelling of tiny kids all about??)

Btw teacher said that she will keep an eye on it but nothing since.

Dd is one of the youngest, which I think makes a difference cognitively. Tell that to Gove and co though who will by the time dd does her sats at the end of the year will be fucking well 'labelled' again as below average or whatever.

Your last post sums up where we were 3 yrs ago, I felt everything you do at the moment and yes I was told by her Teacher at the time everything was ok and by the end of the year she (The Teacher) would have my DD where she should be in relation to her age. I wish I hadn't of listened, my gut was telling me to get some extra tuition, as it was ability but also lack of confidence that was killing any movement forward.She now has a tutor once a week for 45 mins and looking at her SATs results and watching her confidence blossom over the past year, I am so glad I finally took it upon myself to act.

I've just realised I have posted this here, what a twonk! Sorry! Will ask for it to be moved

I wouldn't wait for your primary teacher. There are a number of great ways to make maths fun and. on the cheap. It needs to be built in everyday language if you can... Go for a walk and look at nature, work out patterns, look at bus stops, speed signs. Talk numbers without even realising you are.

There are some excellent online resources as well, subscription based and free, including BBC's children site. I can drop you a few if you like.

Make the move from calling it homework and integrate the maths dialogue. My dad is 6 and I'm introducing her to timetables now in the 'real' world.... Starting with groups of her favourite jelly beans!!

Your teacher can only do so much but with a bit more creativity, tailored ''tuition'' I think your dad will go a long way very quickly.

Dd not dad!! Mobile spell checker duh!

Thanks cooking, I definitely think I need to make more effort....I hated maths myself and am pretty sure it's being relayed to her on some unknown level:/

Ds1 is the same age as your dd he was also findingaths hard, and really couldn't get his head around it. I bought some Collins maths books and he does a page or two a night. I have just had parents evening and his teacher says it's really made a difference and he's improved loads.

Maybe she picks up on your feelings about maths. Do you struggle to find ways to explain things to her?

For example I'm quite visual. I don't know my times tables off by heart but I am shit hot at mathematics generally so I would teach someone using visual concepts, pictures etc etc. Teaching the times tables - I wouldn't know what to suggest as nothing really worked for me as a kid (and almost destroyed my confidence until I got the right teacher).

My sister had this problem. She used to get incredibly frustrated too. Maths requires abstract thought, so she got a bit stuck with the idea of two numbers being added together - it generally helped a bit if you said 18 kittens (or whatever).

She can now do these things, although is inclined to guess when she can't be bothered to work it out properly.

Dyscalculia does sound likely, btw.

Can you get her some of those clicky together block things? They are very good for basic number concept type work. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Learning-Resources-Math-Link-Cubes-set-of-100-cubes/170903721804

Some kids are just slow to start in some areas, dd1 was ok for maths but didn't read until about 7ish when it kind of clicked iyswim. She's in top sets for everything now.

I never heard of dyscalculia, very interesting. I find it very very hard to explain things to her.....dread maths homework so so much. It's ridiculously easy (for me) but struggle so much to teach it to her!

Thanks everyone, great food for thought here

What are her grades like? I was in a similar situation with my dd (she will start secondary in sept) I always knew she wasn't good at maths and it came to a head at the end of year 4 and year 5! I had to really push then scream and shout to actually get the school to step in and help but they finally did after I got the school governors involved!

My dd was working at a maths level of a 5 year old (year 1) she couldn't even add to ten without thanking ten minutes to count on fingers!

For the pass year (year 6) she has made a massive improvement (still very behind but a lot better) she has a maths tutor once a week before school for a hour paid for by the school, she has 15 minutes a day of one to one in class time and also attends lots of different maths workshops after school every week, she was referred to a specialise from the LEA and she is assets every 3 months!

If you child is struggling that much I would really urge you to step in and put pressure on the school to help! The secondary school my dd is going to this year are fantastic and already know about her issues and they themselfs are going to asses her in June so they can get a action plan in place ready for when she starts in sept

Wow minty-good on you for being so proactive! In terms of my dd's grades, they say she is working a sub level below average but that that in itself isn't cause for a huge amount of concern. I agreed at the time given that she is nearly a year younger than the others but now I am not so sure. She is judged by the same standards than the others unfortunately so she needs to keep up. I have ordered some numicon last night based on advice here as well as some Collins books. I am going to be a bit more proactive at home with maths as well.

I recommend the book I linked to before as well - it goes right back to basics (counting forwards and backwards, in 2s etc). You do it daily - It is really, really good for developing confidence. We used it with dd last year and feel it made a huge difference (she could barely count back from 20 when we started!) But to reiterate everyone else, make a huge fuss at school to get something done now. I am kicking myself for letting maths take a back seat with dd while we concentrated on reading.