Extra maths out of school

[Steggie]

DD would love to go to a Maths style club after school or at the weekend. She does love Maths, but I am very hesitant to find her a 'Maths Club'. I gave her the choice today of Maths or Gymnastics. She picked Maths...again.

Where does one find extra maths for a keen child? She is not behind in her maths at school so she doesn't need extra help, more just indulging a passion! I've offered to do some extra maths with her at home, but apparently I am not what she wants!

What is available for her? Things like Kumon seem too repetitive and drill like, but then I haven't looked into them in too much detail. Any ideas?

Many thanks!

have you tried Mathletics? Its an online site which is quite fun, and also your child can compete(although not too seriously) against others kids all over the world. My dd1 enjoys it and she does not love maths! I have only heard about Kumon and yes it is repeitive and not too social but kids who love maths do seem to love it! So might be an idea to go along on your own to see what it is like.

Mathletics is fantastic. My kids have to do it every night as part of their homework, and always ask to stay on it longer than they need to.

How old is she?

At year 7/8 level look out for 'maths in motion' extra curricular clubs often offered through schools. It's a really fun maths through virtual car racing activity. To be honest it would be accessible to younger kids too, but seems to be offered at senior level only around here at least.

I've not been aware of all that much maths extra curricular stuff for younger children. Some people opt for private tutoring, but you need to be careful about getting too far ahead of what they are doing in school and so getting bored there. Sodokus and maths puzzles can be good or chess might be an alternative?

Not so much an activity, but my ds liked reading 'murderous maths' books and I'm told there are good resources on nrich, but those are more solitary than group things which may not be what you are after.

I've looked at Mathletics, it looks very good. I'd rather not have her on the computer too often- she tends to get very obsessive about it and her behaviour gets awful...even with restricted time. I'd also like her to get a bit of extra social interaction rather than working on her own...hence a 'maths club' but they don't seem to exist.

She is nearly 5 now and in Reception. She loves the Horrible Science Books so the Murderous Maths might be right up her street. I'd best pre-read them as my maths isn't that good and I need to stay one step ahead!

Maybe a tutor that could stretch her sideways rather than taking her further ahead, plus give her a social outlet. How does one go about finding a tutor?

It still doesn't feel right to be looking for a maths club, but she is insistent. Ho hum!

you may find the murderous maths series are too advanced for infants to be honest. Most are aimed at KS3 but accesible to keen KS2 children. The first one or two (called 'murderous maths' & 'more murderous maths' I think) are the easiest but still might be a bit much for a 5yo.

Carol Vorderman is launching a mathsfactor website which might be something worth looking at, but it will not have the social interaction aspect.

If you are thinking of heading down the tutoring road, you could always ask whether there are any other parents who would be willing to share lessons which would save on costs and also mean the lesson is more social.

Oooh - I've heard that there is a Numberjacks learning website being created. That would be fantastic! My sons have always loved Numberjacks and if I could get hold of this I'm sure it would be great! I'd much rather they had something fun that they wanted to do at home rather than have more 'schooling' with a tutor.

My DD same age loves www.coolmath-games.com which has a very nice mixture of different types of problem solving and number games. It goes from about her level to secondary.

can you let me know if you find out more about this about this please.
Ellen

can't suggest anything, but it's great that your DD is so enthusiastic about maths

I worked at Kumon for a year... death by worksheet. Yuk.

Will be looking into all the links suggested by others though!