Maths resources

[TheRealMaudOHara]

Hi G&T mumsnetters. Posting on here because I can't ask anyone in real life without sounding like a complete dickhead. My DSs (just going into Y2 and Y4 this September) are both very good at maths - no idea if g&t or not or what that really means but they tend to get good feedback on it etc.

They have been asking for maths problems to solve over the holidays and I'm a bit at a loss. I'm not a teacher so only have a vague grasp of what's normal. Would anyone be able to recommend maths resources which would stretch them and also be fun?

As an example I tried to teach the Y4 about square and cube numbers today and he got it fairly well so we might do some more. The Y2 knows 2, 5, 10x tables already but what's the next one to teach? They're not geniuses and miles and miles ahead but if they're interested I'm really keen to encourage it!

Thanks!

Recommend the nrich website

Thanks @cornflakegirl that looks good. I'll try and use some of their ideas! For want of sounding lazy I'd love something with worksheets or structured ideas which I could use if anyone has any good ideas?

I worked through the CGP books with mine. Youngest is year 3 and has moved onto the year 5 books now - but I made him learn it all and complete the question book as well as the revision guide.

eldest taught herself and completed the year 6 course in year 4 and then ks3 in years 5&6, and just got the gcse textbook in two weeks it was done same with the revision workbook. She did her gcse at 13 and did a level at 14. But she has now got 1-2-1 with head of maths at her secondary school. She just gets it.

Places like Home Bargains always seem to have lots of workbooks in, especially for maths. Usually drywipe with a pen so can be reused.

Another thing to try with the older one is get him reading recipes and weighing out ingredients, especially if you say you want him to make half the amount/ a third of the amount.

My dc use a site called Times Table Rockstars - not sure if you can have non school subscription to that?

You can use bitesize to mix it up as well and do practicals so weigh out 10 g 100g etc but of different things and same with liquids. Use real money and then go to euros and an exchange rate etc

With times tables I did
x0
x1
x10
x2
x11
x5
x3
x 4
x 7x8x9x12x13x14x15

I also made sure that it wasn’t just a number they new that 4 x5 is 20 same as 5X4

i wouldn’t ask for 15 pegs if I was hanging the washing out but 3X5 lots and lots of nets and arrays
I introduced division at the same time and then decimal point and units tens hundreds to do bigger calculations

Wow thanks everyone loads more good suggestions! Halving/doubling amounts for a recipe sounds like a really good practical way of using numbers.

We do have TT Rockstars through school which the older one does a bit but I think it's quote repetitive - will definitely use some of these ideas to mix it up more!

Rather than teaching the curriculum ahead I would really try to go sideways instead or at least look at why things are as they are.
(After 2,5,10 the next easiest are 11, 4 and in my view 9)

So (these might be too hard for both, depends)

• can they find prime numbers to 200


• can you show them binary and hexadecimal, can the elder one see how to add binary


• can they play with why number tests for 3 and 9 are as they are


• can they use a pair of compasses to make patterns


• by some logic puzzle books (eg 5 people at a table A says ... B says... where were they seated


• look at a mobius strip


• can they make 3D shapes such as cubes, square based pyramids, and can they work out which different nets will give cubes and which won't


• look at coding

If you teach next years curriculum you are just setting them up to be bored next year (bar times tables, get them good with those, forwards, backwards and upside down)

Money is a good one for the y2. Grab some items and price them up. Hand ful of coins and do shops with them giving you the right change. Don't need to role play as shopkeeper etc just do the maths.

Next time you do a takeaway, read out the prices and have the kids add them up on paper.

@TeenDivided I totally see your point about the curriculum but I'm afraid I have no idea what half of your suggestions are myself! I can see I'll have a lot of googling to do - I consider myself fairly intelligent but am definitely an arts type person and dropped formal maths and science learning well over 20 years ago. No idea how I've managed to produce two such maths crazy children!

(Sorry name change fail above!)

Agree with Teendivided on extension rather than blasting through the curriculum. That's why I like the nrich stuff - it's about investigation and patterns and problem solving.

Scratch is great for coding - block based so they don't have to type anything, but brilliant for learning the logic, and they can make fun little games.

Dragon Box maths apps are great too - we did the algebra and elements ones. Not sure they actually retained the learning by the time they officially learnt it at school, but they were fun anyway.

I signed upto twinkle in lockdown - I'm not a teacher but dd likes the worksheets - some type as she gets from school - it's not very expensive x

Buy the workbooks for the year above and see how they go. Buy maths based games - we got ours in charity shops. Get them to make question cards themselves to test each other.

Topmarks and ict games

Another vote for nrich.
Also, sudoku and other maths like problems you find in the newspapers.
Not sure about the youngest, but board games like blokus, mobile, hive are popular here. Along with puzzles from places like thinkfun and smartgames. Tanagrams and 3d puzzle cubes.
Basically, using maths rather than teaching further ahead.

Teacher here!

Please look at time....it's one they always struggle with!

I don't know nrich, but from the other comments it sounds good.

I may have pitched my suggestions at the wrong level as my DDs both struggle with maths, (I have a maths degree.) but as you posted this in G&T I thought better aim high!

I tried to think of things that might be interesting to an able mathematician that don't really appear ever on the curriculum (apart from prime numbers).

Your 'going to y4' is meant to know times tables to 12 by the end of y4, and there is no reason why an able child shouldn't know them by end y2, some effort now will play dividends later.

Also as the PP said, telling time - they don't spend very long at that at school, and it is generally very useful, so worth doing that earlier. Both analogue and digital, and also reading bus/train timetables.

check out beestar and whiterose maths for worksheets but also get twinkl sheets for word problems etc so they can apply their math