Just so frustrated with Maths!

[IDoNotMoisturise]

Arrgh! just have to vent!

Will this get better or shall I just admit defeat!

I am 53 and have never been able to do Maths so I enrolled on a Functional Skills Maths course, I have only been to about 4 or 5 lessons but its just too bloody hard! I never learnt timestables at school and I just cannot seem to learn them, so that is a big part of my problem, I don't know how to remember them

We have worksheets to do and an online portal to do some exercises such as reading and writing large numbers, I just cannot do them. For my diagnostic test I only got 9%

Maths has always made me cry😨

I feel the class is moving along too fast and there is just too much info and stuff to learn, I am already failing , there was talk of doing fractions next week! wtf, I have just learnt to subtract and do a bit of simple division

Is there a lower level course you can do? Functional Skills has many levels, up to the one that is equivalent to the GCSE level, and you don't want to be starting with that one! The diagnostic test should have put you in the right course - if they don't offer enough courses, then maybe look around at other providers or even online. Entry Levels should be at a more accessible pace.

You might have to go back and try some of the children's apps and programs for learning times tables - songs, rhyming stories, quick fires apps, etc, even if it feels like silly games. You can also just write them out if you need them - it's helpful to have them by memory for lots of reasons, but if you have to use them, you can count them out on your fingers and write out the ones you need for a particular problem. If you do that often enough, you might find that you are absorbing them anyway. Think about how your memory works and what types of things you remember most easily, and then see if you can incorporate that into times tables - like a poster you stare at, flash cards, songs, etc. Counting by 3s every time you go up each stair etc.

I think you are not too old, and you can certainly make progress. If it's possible, you might find a one-to-one tutor could help your confidence and get you started, and then a class might work.

You can do it, just break it down into step by step. Try a math app to help such as "Mathway" which provides answers but more importantly, step by step HOW the answer is achieved so you can learn.

Times tables are so important. But they are very learnable. Practise with times tables rock stars. Keep going with maths - you may learn to love it!

Don't give up! I'm going to suggest you print off a timestable square and use that to help you in the lesson and when you do your homework. Eventually you will start to learn some of the easier timestables and you won't need to look at the square so much.

For reading and writing big numbers, make sure they are separated into groups of three, starting on the right hand side. Then read each group of three as a normal 3-digit number, and then at the separator (comma or space), say the word that goes with that group (first one from the right is 'ones', which we don't say, then 'thousands', then 'millions', then 'billions').

So 4,608,952,083 is split into four groups:

4
608
952
083

and the four group names are billions, millions, thousands, and ones.

So you read each group like you normally would, then put the group name:

four billion
six hundred and eight million
nine hundred and fifty two thousand
eighty-three (ones, but you don't say that)

For writing, you look into the number in words to find billions, millions, thousands ,and circle those. Then read the words between those to get the three-digit number. If it doesn't sound like a three digit number (like if it just say fifty two), you have to add a zero in front so it's written like a three digit number (like 052) if it's not in the first group.

Thanks all for some great advice!

I think I am in the lowest group as there was an assessment to get on the course so everyone is placed according to their ability

I know its early days but never realised how hard Maths is!

My problems started when I was at primary school we were learning timestables and I moved schools half way through, I told the new teacher that I did not know my tables but she just said "nonsense, of course you do" but I didn't and never got taught them after that.

I have just done some exercises in reading and writing large numbers, I thought I would be ok with them but got most of them wrong!

Duolingo now do an equivalent maths app which might help

I'm so sorry you were treated so badly by your teacher, let's hope it was ignorance driving their terrible approach.

There are so many resources now to support you. Have you reached out to your teacher to ask for their help ? It is absolutely in both your interests to get the foundations correct before continuing to the next stages.

For example, for learning times tables, I still 'sing' to myself (but quietly, of course )

ttrockstars.com

Have you considered that you might have dyscalculia, OP?

I did wonder about this some time ago🤔

A lot of mental arithmetic is about turning one hard calculation into multiple easier ones.
E.g. 9x8 is quite hard, but that is the same as (10x8)-8 which is (80)-8 so 72 which is much easier to calculate than 9x8 directly.

Look for and try to recogise ways that can make the calculations easier.

My DH keeps trying to explain things like that:

9x8 is quite hard, but that is the same as (10x8)-8 which is (80)-8 so 72 which is much easier to calculate than 9x8 directly.

but to me that might as well be written in a foreign language, I just do not understand that at all😂

It might be worth doing a bit of research into how dyscalculia presents in adults. I'm not saying you should give up your course, especially if you feel your lack of ability in maths is holding you back in life, but it's possible that even with good teaching you could come up against pretty insurmountable barriers if you have dyscalculia.

It sounds like you really need some visual supports, to show you what things like multiplication and fractions actually mean.

Working on place value is helpful, as it shows you why 8x10= 80, and you could see that if you were working with things like unit squares, rods etc (those plastic or wooden cubes, sticks, flat squares, big cubes etc that you might remember from primary school).
Knowing that place value is all about 10s is very helpful, because you can use it to work out calculations with bigger numbers, just by knowing smaller calculations. So knowing that 3 + 5 = 8 means that you can do 30 + 50 = 80, and you can see why if you are doing it with the cubes and the rods. Or with money (1p and 10p coins).

Once you get the understanding of place value, then you can see why certain calculations involving 10 are quite easy, so things like 10x8 is an easy one. And you can start using those easy questions to work out something harder, like 9x8. You will learn that multiplying 10x8 means things like 10 groups with 8 things in. If you only wanted 9 groups, you'd have to get rid of one of the groups (with 8 things in), so you could take 8 away from the number you had. Drawing pictures of arrays of things, using physical apparatus etc is all very helpful. I teach people with dyscalculia and have had adults ,and they often need to go back to this very practical, visual way, and then they sometimes realise that actually they do know things. they just don't recognise it when it's written in more formal, mathematical notation.

But there should be a lower level class, or at least the teacher should be able to split the class into those who are going for things like Entry Level vs. Functional Skills. Look at the papers on this site and see if those look like the things you are working on (level 1 is the easiest, up to level 3).
https://passfunctionalskills.co.uk/functional-skills-maths-entry-level-1-2-3/edexcel-functional-skills-maths-entry-level-1-2-3-past-papers/

You probably need to look at some of that before going to the harder Functional skills.

But also look at some of the workbooks and practical apparatus designed for children, because it sounds like you've skipped that stage, and things will be so much easier if you get the basics of the place value system, how to use easier calculations to help etc. That is often what is missing in people with dyscalculia, and where you need to start working - getting a sense of number, how it works etc before trying to do harder problems.

Hi, take a look at doodle maths or IXL they are both good maths apps my own children have used. They give you little test to set you off then they work at your own pace. Also open university have lots of free courses on maths and English. Every day maths 1 is good for function skills maths

This is a bit left field maybe, but I think Kumon maths is great for really getting the hang of things. It starts from wherever you are. i. e. if you are just getting to grips with addition they start there.
Be warned, it IS repetitive, but that's what helps, I think. (Speaking as someone who loves Maths)

Maths is a language so it's no wonder it'll be tricky to begin with as you learn a whole new set of skills - and well done for stepping out of your comfort zone!

I recommend Khan Academy. It walks you through maths from nursery to university level. Good luck!