Helping DS with very simple sums - how?

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

I had a thread earlier in the week, my ds has been flagged up by the school at being very behind and finding it really hard to concentrate. I am trying to help him to build up his stamina with sums, spellings, independent writing, etc, at the recommendation of the headteacher.

Today I wrote out some very easy sums, just three on one page and asked him to do them - 2+1, 3+3, 4+3

he looked at the first two and did them no problem in his head, and said they were easy. the last one, he said was hard, and tried to use his fingers to add them up, using four fingers on his left hand and three on the other. the got confused counting up the fingers every time and ended up with one more or one less than he should. I tried using ten pennies and getting him to take four, then three and then counting up how many that made. He found this a bit confusing as well, but I think he could get the hang of it.

However, he wont have pennies in the class when they do sums. And he only has ten fingers! Plus, fingers seems to be a bit of a confusing method for him.

Could I use a number line? Is it just a case of ploughing on, and hoping it sinks in? I think im just confusing him and making the problem worse at the moment. Are there any good games on the internet we could do? He loves doing stuff on the computer...

The thing with number is - if he can add numbers to 10 and is then taught place value the right hand column represents ones to the left is tens then hundreds then thousands he can add any number so it pays to get the basics firmly understood

Right, I see what you're saying. I think I never really learned or at least became confident with the basics, or all of my times tables properly - I am definitely not going to make that mistake with ds.

another vote here for the sweetie method - fruit pastilles worked for us every time

The children who recognise the patterns in numbers find maths easy but some children need to be shown the patterns.

I would also recommend a good old fashioned abacus

OOOH WE HAVE AN ABACUS!!

At the risk of sounding totally numbskulled, what do we DO with it? Use the beads on one row to do adding and subtracting from ten?

I had not thought of using it....its in the ebay pile

Yes just use one row for adding or subtracting within 10 that way he can see that subtraction is the inverse of addition

excellent, thanks, I will dig it out. I think he will enjoy that.

and abacus shows perfectly that as the number at one side gets greater the other side decreases by the same amount

0 + 10 = 10 - 10 = 0
1 + 9 = 10 - 9 = 1
2 + 8 = 10 - 8 = 2
3 + 7 = 10 - 7 = 3
4 + 6 = 10 - 6 = 4

I agree with using lots of number games, throwing 2 dice and adding the numbers together is another quick one.

Also I've written on my maths blog about my DIY Kumon method, the key being starting at 1+1, then 2+1, 3+1 etc, perfecting the +1's then moving on to 1+2, 2+2, 3+2 etc. This can be done orally, especially if handwriting is an issue.

For handwriting, I bought some wipe clean number and letter posters from Waterstones which show the start points and tracks of each of the strokes. Writing on a wall poster seems more fun for my son than writing on paper!

Hope this helps

Children really love doing sums (or writing)on a little whiteboard too. I'm not too sure why but they do! Maybe it is because mistakes are so easily dealt with. If you are feeling brave and have a formica topped table you can let them write directly onto the table-top with a dry wipe pen or soft pencil - It washes off with a cloth and kitchen cleaner - but they love the slightly "subversive" element!

I don't think you would be seen as a pushy mum if you sent the work into school as the teacher was the one raising issues with you to start with. I think it would be useful for the teacher to see.

ah i see, Mrz, I have never thought of it like that, but see how that is a good visual.

Thanks caroline maths, we were actually doing quizzes like you suggest on your blog in the car :)

Sarahfreck, they use one at school I think :) Thanks, I think I will send it in, they might see a different side to him, as he is very proud of his folder and all the "work" hes done, they havent seen him do much at school yet...