How to approach teacher about bright dd struggling with Math?

[Spottylu]

Dd has recently started a new school and has been put in the bottom group for maths. I understand this given our circumstances.
She skipped up a year due to the rules on age/schooling in the UK when we returned from the US. So went from end of grade 3 (US) to end of Yr 4 (UK).

We have always felt she is bright and capable of much more. She is an exceptionally good reader (above grade) and has a head for facts.

We recently had her assessed by a private tutor who described her as a very bright child and said she should be doing much better at Math and the school should be providing help especially as she has effectively missed a whole UK year.

My concern is she is coping so will not raise alarm bells but she is certainly not doing as well as she could be in Math.

I tried to get her assessed by the Senco last term but instead was offered a chat with her then class teacher. Possibly we did not push hard enough.

New teacher this year and I would like to ask for some more help from school. Is this reasonable and how would you approach the teacher?

If you can afford it the best thing would be to pay for a private tutor or enrol her in one of those extra maths classes that are available. Most schools don't really provide extra one to one tuition if individual children are a bit behind in some subjects. Whatever the rights or wrongs of that are you have to do what's best for your child. I've paid for private tutors when I thought it was necessary.

Honestly? I would probably pay for tutoring or use online resources to bring your daughter up to speed, if she is bright, like you say, she will catch up. If she cannot grasp mathematical facts I'd then look to get her assessed.

My son was struggling with both English and maths in yr 3, he was at the bottom of the class for each. So I dedicated 30mins-1hr a day to help him for maths and paid for an English tutor. Now he is within the average level. I don't think his school would ever have done anything unless he dropped even further.

Get a tutor. Schools don't have the resources for 1-1 in many cases.

The thing is - all children would benefit from some extra help. Your child is being taught at the level she is at now along with all the others at that particular level - barring no particular special needs.

As a pp said, if she is bright she will catch up. If it transpires she has a particular learning difficulty then that will also become evident.

If you want to boost your DD then you need to give her extra help yourself or pay for that extra help. She is not more deserving of it at school than any other child. They would all benefit from extra help.

She is not more deserving of it at school than any other child. They would all benefit from extra help.

I certainly do not think she is but I do feel all kids should be taught towards their potential. Does this mean that gifted kids shouldn't be given extra help. I know with class sizes these days it's a hard ask but I find it depressing that we would not focus on every child reaching their full potential.

It was entirely our choice to live abroad, hence my hesitation in asking for help but I guess with 30 kids in a class this just isn't possible.

Spottlylu There's nothing wrong with approaching the teacher and highlighting the maths as a surprising weakness, and discussing ways in which both them and you could accellerate her up to where (might) be her normal level.

Teaching kids at the level they're at is how all kids are given help, you can't just go, well spottyluDD is really bright so we'll ignore the basics and just stick her in with those secure in it. That would harm her in even more. If the issue is simply about some missed grounding due to different curricula alignment across the different education systems, then a tutor would also rapidly overcome that.

"all kids should be taught towards their potential"

I agree, but most schools just don't have the resources to do every single thing. My dd is extremely bright is maths (on the flip side to ds), so while I give him additional help to cover what he is struggling with, I give her extra work over and above what the school give her as she says that school maths is too easy and boring.

I guess what I'm saying, is regardless of where your child is in the system, additional help can work.

Does this mean that gifted kids shouldn't be given extra help.

But that is still teaching them at the level they are at - not extra help as such.

I use US online resources to help DD s with maths. The equivalent curriculum is about 2/3 years ahead in the UK, So if you want resources for a UK 7 yr old you need to skip to the resources for US 10 year olds. It's shit, but the UK maths in primary is harder than in US for same age so a lot of bright UK kids struggle with maths.

This is why I think you might have unrealistic assumptions of where you child should be placed in UK maths

My dc were educated abroad and were miles behind when we returned to the uk so we worked with them to catch them up and to fill in the gaps in their education.

My youngest still has a tutor almost two years later which she wouldn't have needed if she had been to school here.

Your daughter has not missed a year though because yr4 is the same as US grade 3. Remember they go to Grade 12 ( we go to yr 13) It must just mean that the school she was at in the US was not teaching her to the correct level.

If she is a bright kid elsewhere I suspect even buying some workbooks from WH Smith and working through those would be helpful or getting a tutor or using something like Kumon or Kip Mcgrath would get her up to speed in no time.

I was educated overseas at an international school which I think followed a more American-style curriculum. I was really behind in maths when I got back to the UK. I was about the same age as your daughter.

The school had not given me a thorough grounding in maths facts, especially things like tables, or sufficient practice with basic algorithms.

How are her tables etc.? Number bonds? Is she quick and fluent with the absolute basics?

Like pretty much everyone in this thread, I recommend getting a tutor. Sad to say this, but you are probably pissing into the wind if you are trying to get help from school--right now state schools don't have money for helping even children with profound difficulties, let alone kids who just need some extra work.

You will also need to do extensive work with her yourself at home. A tutor once or twice a week is not enough in themselves. A tutor can explain difficult concepts to her, level-check her, give you an idea of what to focus on and provide support and encouragement, but it is likely that she needs lots and lots of practice to build speed and automaticity, and this means doing some work daily. Get some workbooks and do practice with her daily, of whatever the tutor thinks she needs help with. Try the Singapore Math workbooks, Saxon Math or Kumon.

Be prepared to be firm if you get resistance from her--bribe her a bit if necessary in the early stages if it all feels like you are wading through mud.

And the golden rule is: fluency with the absolute basics builds competency in the next stage. If you are so quick with your tables that you can remember them like a snap of your fingers, it means that that is one less thing you will have to think about when you are doing, say, a fraction that involves a multiplication table--so you have more room in your brain for thinking about the other aspects of the fraction problem.

And don't lose heart. I started back in the UK at age 9 very behind my peers. By the end of Y7, after putting in some hard work with my parents and at school, I and my best friend basically tied for top place in every class maths test. I went on to get good maths qualifications and go to an excellent university. I'm so glad my parents sat down and did the work I needed to help me catch up.

Your daughter has not missed a year though because yr4 is the same as US grade 3. Remember they go to Grade 12 ( we go to yr 13) It must just mean that the school she was at in the US was not teaching her to the correct level.

No not a whole year but at this age they are def not on par. UK kids are ahead of US in early primary but the US kids catch up later. So still an issue for us.

Does she have good basics?

I don't think so. We are working on this ourselves but yes, I think we will need to go the tutor route.

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

I second doing work daily, doing number bonds and multiplication in the car, basic maths in the supermarket (how much will strawberries and cream cost in total? How much change from £4?, is it cheaper to get one big pack or two little ones?). That way it won't seem like such a huge drama.

Spottylu sadly our education system is so underfunded now that schools just don't have the resources to provide the extra help that your daughter requires.

I agree that supplementing her education with a weekly tutor will bring her back up to speed.