Numicon

[rainbow99]

Hi, not sure if I’m posting in the right place - hopefully am?!

I’m looking to get some home resources to help out my child who is struggling with maths at school (Y2) - even basic things like number bonds to 10. I have heard good things about numicon but looking online I’m not sure what set is best to get.

Option 1 - ‘homework activities intervention’ but you don’t get an activity book or anything, or

Option 2 - First steps with Numicon pack where you get a book but other things are missing that you would get in the homework pack - cards 0-21 and the table top number line plus a few others.

Does anyone have any experience of this and know what’s best to buy?! I can get the homework bag and then some bits separately (coloured pegs, base board etc) but not sure whether I will need an activity book or not

Sorry for the lengthy post!

Thanks in advance

Anyone?

I use numicon in school for those with really basic issues, usually the students have dyscalculia.

I find it very useful and for things like number bonds to ten it's great.

I would have a word with your child's teacher. They will be able to best advise you wrt resources , you will then have that consistency from class to home.

Also , it's worth asking about class planning so you can support your child with relevent areas.

Good luck.

Thank you both
I have spoken with the teacher, they don’t really use numicon, however I think some fundamental learning has been missed somewhere as he is not grasping the basics so I need to find a way to get him up to speed at home. There are a few different sets of numicon and I wasn’t sure which would be best. If anyone has any I’d be grateful for any info! 😁

Honestly , I would advise to use what they use op. Your child could struggle even more in class if they have numicon at home but cannot use it at school.

Have you searched past thread? There are loads of them. Also maybe better to post on primary education.

I would go for option 1 because it has the numbers and the basics you need. I have used Numicon extensively in a Pre-school environment and the best results are from consistent practice - always positioning the shape so the higher side is to the left, using the shapes to compare size, lining them up when comparing, counting from the left across each line before moving up to the next set of holes, etc.

It is great for number bonds and can be used in a variety of ways, eg, it weighs proportionally to size, so number bonds to 10 will equal in weight to the 10 piece.

As far as activities go, you can be as creative as you like - make pictures, print painting, hiding it in play dough and placing the pieces on the number line as you discover them, ordering them, stacking number bonds, etc.

Sorry, I forgot to add that Numicon is a good learning aid for visual learners as it helps visualisation and visual process skills. If your son is a visual learner then it is likely to help. If he isn't then it might not be the resource to help.

I would get the homework bag and then get a pack of 'numicon explorer' workbooks. They are a fiver on amazon.

Current thinking linked to the mastery concept is that children regardless of age need to be working with concrete and pictorial representations of number and calculation. Numicon is one way but I’d also recommend looking to ten frames and bar modelling. Collect coins ( you need ten 1p, 10p, £1 coins) to help with place value. You can buy counters but coins work just as well at home.

Thank you all for your responses - very grateful!