To ask how I can support DS6 with maths

[cadburyegg]

DS1 aged 6 is coming to the end of Y1. The virtual "parents evening" worked well, one thing his teacher did flag up is that maths wasn't a strong subject for him and that it might be worth supporting him at home.

Unfortunately with maths I have a huge mental block which comes from not being great at it at school. I managed to get a C at GCSE but haven't done any since. I have no idea how to support him, what kind of activities I should do, workbooks, games, etc and I'm even nervous just thinking about it!

Any suggestions would be great, particularly specifics

Board games with dice. Snakes and ladders - yet them to work out what square they will get to without counting the squares first when they get good.
Any game that needs a score adding up - pick up sticks and pass the pigs were hits.
Cooking - weighing and measuring. Better yet if you need to double or half the recipie.

We like the CGP books, but not seen the lower primary ones. Might be worth trying - Y1 if he's struggling.

nRich is also enjoyed here, but again I've not used the lower primary resources, but could be worth looking at.

We also just ask questions. We borrowed 7 books from the library, but only 3 are here. How many more do we need to find.

Dont be nervous. Just play with the numbers, and if it goes wrong, go back - with him - and find out where you went wrong.

At that age I used to by the workbooks from The Works for my dd and she loved them, she would sit and do them for hours. They are age rated and linked to the curriculum so you know they are going to help. There is also an app we have used called prodigy maths which is basically a pokemon game where you win the battles by solving maths problems. I think I pay £30 a year subscription but it’s also linked to their age and curriculum and is ‘smart’ so consolidates skills and gives you reports on strengths and weaknesses. You can also set goals and rewards.

Dd us y2 and a maths whizz. She wasn't always like that but someone recommended CBeebies numberblocks when she was in reception and it worked wonders. The later episodes are more advanced than the first which just introduce the numbers. We also do lots of board games.

Top Trumps

Watch numberblocks on cbeebies, kids really enjoy it and it's amazing how much sinks in.

Play lots of dice & counting games. Snakes and ladders etc.

Bring a bit of arithmetic into every day life eg at supermarket "DS, if we have 8 guests for a bbq and cook 3 sausages each how many sausages do we need? Then "the sausages come in packs of 6, how many packs?"

When playing eg with lego, describe pieces based on number of dots and encourage him to work out what size he needs to fit a space etc.

Do junk modelling etc and use talk about the shapes "let's make a rocket, is there a good cylinder in the box?" I think we'll need a cube here so the sides are the same size". Shall we put a cone on top or a pyramid, or a hemisphere?

Pocket money. Offer up small amounts for jobs around the house and set up a mini sweet/treat/sticker shop so he has to count the coins he's got and work out what he can afford.

Set up a play cafe and get him to take orders and add up amounts.

Grow a sunflower and encourage him to measure it regularly and work out how much it has grown.

My DC is in yr 1 and we practice the 2,5,9 and 10 times tables daily.

Slowly trying to introduce the 3&4.

She’s also been playing a game with 2 dice.

So say she rolls a 3 & 4 she would write down

3x4 =12
4x3 =12
12 divided by 4 = 3
12 divided by 3 = 4

This has really helped her.

She also uses mathletics.

The maths factor....

Probably not fashionable, but teach him his tables.

Do you have a tablet? DD absolutely loved SumDog (maths games) when she was in P1/P2. She's bloody cracking at maths now as well.