Help please Ds struggling.

[Clarabumps]

Hi I'm not sure if i'm posting in the correct section but I was just looking for some advice.

DS is 7 and in Primary 3 (Scotland). We moved him before the summer holidays to a school that was a lot closer to our house as we moved last year.

Since moving, I feel that he hasn't been learning at the same level. They hardly get any homework and he struggles with concepts that he has already covered. I have spoken with the school and they say he's doing fine but more often than not when he does have homework, he has no clue what it's about.

His reading level is good and he flies through his reading books no bother but he struggles with Maths. Is there any way I can be supporting this at home. I feel like when it comes to Maths, he is getting left behind.
Can anyone suggest any home Ed resources I can be using at home to try and boost what is is learning in class?

It's not that I want him to be some sort of Maths genius, it's just that when he doesn't know how many pennies are in a pound I think thats a basic.

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

Numicon? I am a primary school teacher in Scotland (on mat leave). It is a visual representation of the number system and there are resources specifically for home.

global.oup.com/education/content/primary/series/numicon/numicon-at-home/?region=international

How is the school approaching CfE in regard to Maths? New equipment? New scheme such as Active Heinemann Maths?

Active Maths.aspx

Is it Maths he struggles with or just number work? Orchard Games do some great games for time and money.

www.orchardtoys.com/games

I was leading outdoor learning in my school as part of CfE so I will include ideas for that

www.hope.ac.uk/media/liverpoolhope/contentassets/documents/education/media,25538,en.pdf

I hope some of that is useful.

Top trumps games are great for acquiring an ease with numbers. Get a set in something he likes such as favourite football team or Ben10.
Shut the box game.
Junior monopoly.
Use search on here to find the CD of times tables songs that everyone raves about.

Really sorry to hear your ds is struggling - that must be hard for both of you.

I second the suggestion for numicon. My ds1 used to talk about numicon all the time when he was in reception, so I asked the teacher to show me what it was. It really is a great toy resource. She said that most of the teachers have bought some for their own children to play around with at home.

Today, ds1 came home from school asking if he could watch his "maths songs" on YouTube. They turned out to be a bit noisy, but I was impressed with how much he loved them, and how much dancing was involved. Try typing "dance counting" into the search engine on YouTube. The best ones were made by "havefunteaching", and covered the basics (counting in twos, fives etc) in a wonderfully happy and non-patronising way.

If you're concerned about money in particular, is he too old for a toy cash register? My boys and their friends have loads of fun with ours. You could give him a budget, and put prices on things? You can get play money quite cheaply on Amazon and eBay, but real money would probably be more fun (about a fiver`s worth of coins?)

Cooking is great for maths (weighing, measuring, dividing things up, deciding how much to make) and lots of children love cooking, especially if they are allowed to cook "all by themselves" and eat the products afterwards.

A builder's tape measure is a great toy - you know, the sort that extends to about 3 metres, then retracts and has sharp metal edges that can slice your fingers open if you're not careful. So many children love measuring things.

Good luck with all this, hope your ds starts feeling more confident again soon