Struggling with maths

[badbadmummy]

We have just found out dd(7) is struggling in maths. At her previous school they seemed quite happy with her progress, but at Juniors she's in the bottom group of the bottom set

What can we do to help? I'd love practical ideas of what we can do at home to build up her confidence and knowledge of numbers. School weren't very helpful when I asked for ideas...so I hoped there would be Mners willing to make suggestions... I've looked at past threads, but am confused where to start!

Thank you!

Do you know which areas she struggles in?

Try some things on here.

Start at the beginning, and get an idea of what she can and can't do, and then you can see what you need to work on.

Does she know number bonds to 10?
Number bonds to 20?
Can she reliably add and subtract within those ranges?
Number bonds should be instant recall, if she has to stop and think about them then you need to practice those until they're automatic.
Does she understand that subtraction is the inverse of addition (eg that if 6+4=10 then 10-6=4, etc)?
If she's confident with easy addition and subtraction, does she understand place value, and adding and subtracting in batches of 10, eg. 56-10=46 etc etc.

Once you're secure with that, then move on to multiplication:
Does she know her 2x and 10x tables? She needs to LEARN those until she can recall any of them randomly, ie. out of sequence rather than needing to recite the whole 2x table to work out what 2x9 is.
Then she needs to understand that multiplication is commutative, ie. if 2x9=18, then 9x2=18.
Point out the connections between 2 x table and doubling/halving.
Make sure she understands that division is the inverse of multiplication, ie that if 2x9=18 then 18divided by 2 is 9. For some reason the NC doesn't plug that as much as it should, and it's an important point.

Once you've done that, do 10x table (which they mostly find easy) and 5x (bit harder). Again you need instant recall, and understanding of equivalents and the connection with division.

Don't panic, I discovered massive gaps in my Y2 child's maths at the beginning of the year, but have been working steadily on it since then and she's pretty much caught up.

If you find specific weaknesses, there are good worksheet generators on the internet (google 'primary maths worksheets', or 'times tables worksheets' etc). Woodlands Junior School have online maths games. You can also buy workbooks to teach at home -- some are better than others, some can be a bit gimmicky. Bond do one called "No Nonsense Maths" which is pretty gimmick-free, and Andrew Brodie do one called "mental maths every day" which is ditto.

Sorry - long phonecall!

That's fantastic both of you! Was in a bubble of panic and just didn't know where to start... I don't think anything is automatic with dd, so lots of practice needed! Will go and look properly at your ideas and make a plan of action - looks like little and often is key...

Thank you

Yy to little and often.

If you know anyone who does Kumon, have a look at their practice sheets to get an idea of how to make her practise. DON'T sign up though, Kumon is very limited in what it does, expensive for what it is, and doesn't tie in well with what she'll be doing at school. But the principle of repetition is pretty good.

And this is fab for extra practice: Woodlands Junior School maths practice

I agree -- she needs number bonds and times tables very efficiently. If you focus here quite intensively, her confidence will grow exponentially and with confidence comes the ability to try, to make mistakes,m rather than thinking I can't do it.

I wouldn't do anything too fancy as it can be distracting -- focusing on number bonds and times tables can get you a long way at this stage.

What I mean is, if they are doing say, early fractions, an she's struggling, it might have nothing to do with the concept of fractions and everything to do with times tables and number bonds instead. Also I believe at this age there are word problems which can be so confusing that you need good speed arithmetic to do the question because it can take so long to work out what the question actually is.

Am I writing in English? That reads like a second language, sorry.

Definitely speaking English! Am feeling very guilty that we haven't been practising...She should know all this, I can quite see that!

What was her SAT score in maths?

I would second the little and often approach in building up a solid foundation ie. number bonds, x tables, doubling/halving, division.
My eldest struggles with maths and I am trying my best to make sure that DD2 doesn't. Incidentally, DD2 loves the WHSmith maths revision books, quite small and yellow, covering mental maths and times tables; DD1 looks at her aghast when she asks to do some!

They should be teaching her in school. Absolutely absurd that they haven't. How ridiculous that with such a basic requirement and six hours of school every day they haven't time to do this.

Good luck. I'm afraid too much is down to the parents.

As A tutor I have found this book www.amazon.co.uk/Dyscalculia-Toolkit-Supporting-Learning-Difficulties/dp/1412947650/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291646968&sr=8-1 and some cuisenaire rods really useful in helping children really "get" some of the basic maths concepts. It is not only useful for those with dyscalculia but with lots of children who need help in really understanding the basics. It is particularly good for visual and kinesthetic learners too. The cgp revision books are useful in giving you an overview of what a child is expected to know at a particular age.

Thank you all so much! She got a 2C in SATs, but more by luck than good judgement! I think she hugely lacks confidence in her own abilities, but also there are gaps which are getting wider. I think if we can get her completely secure and believing in herself, Maths wont be as frightening and she can work to her full potential - I don't believe she belongs in the bottom set, but they tested them when they got to Juniors and that must be where she fitted then...

If she got a 2c then she probably does 'belong' in the bottom set. ie children are 'expected' to reach 2b by the end of Y2.

Nationally only about 10% of kids will have got less than a 2c at Y2.

My DD got a 2c for maths and is not only on the bottom table she also has a maths intervention once a week.

PollyMorfic your list has been very helpful to me and has just started made a penny drop with where my DD is at. I'm looking to fill in some gaps as I know there are a few as we've moved countries.

I can see I need to work on number bonds with my DD. Are number bonds to 20 expected to be known by now for year 2 students????

Thanks for any info and sorry to cut across. Your list was very helpful.

Poppet

www.teachyourchildrenwell.ca/Freebies/freebies.htm

This is free stuff of the 'minute a day' type practice for all those underpinning counting skills mentioned by others above.
Scroll down to the maths freebies.

Glad it was helpful, poppet!

I don't know what the NC guidelines say, but common sense would suggest that Y2 would need to know number bonds to 20. It's an extension of bonds to 10, and means they can start spotting patterns like 7+3=10 and 17+3=20, which leads into equivalent patterns in bigger numbers, eg 27+3=30 etc etc.

look into an online tutor service called maths-whizz. easy to find on google. it's really helped my son and is quite reasonable price wise.

If your DS is still struggling with maths and you need help, I know of an excellent tutor who doesn't charge the earth and delivers results on a 1:1 basis.

If your DS is still struggling with maths and you need help, I know of an excellent tutor who doesn't charge the earth and delivers results on a 1:1 basis.

Pollymorphic - what great advice! read it with huge interest and thought it spot on from a parent of Y1 viewpoint