Y2 Maths help

[thebird]

My DD1 is in Y2 and seems to be struggling a bit with maths. She has recently been moved to another table/set for maths and is very upset about this. It has really affected her confidence as she sees this as a demotion to sit with the bad people when all of her friends are in the top set:( . She also she says that the kids at this table do not like doing work and just want to mess about. She is a bright girl and loves school and seems to be doing well in other areas. Her teacher has said not to worry just do lots or practice with numbers etc. which I am doing. I have bought some KS1 maths workbooks and we go thorough these together as much as possible. Is there any more I can do? How much is too much? I do want to help her progress as I know she wants to do better but at the same time I not want to make it a huge issue or it might effect her other work and most importantly her confidence.

I could have written the same post!

My ds is in exactly the same position except that he hasn't been 'demoted' yet (I've been waiting for it I have to admit, as he's said himself that he finds maths difficult and the teacher said he was struggling). Like your dd he's doing so well in other areas.

I googled some maths practice sites and he's been working on one to practise his times tables (www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/.../timestables/game.shtml), but I think I need to do much much more.

Sorry I'm not much help, but I'll be following this with a lot of interest.

Good luck.

So you child was moved from the top set to the next. There is a huge distance from being moved from the top set to struggling in math. Your child is struggling with that move, not with math (unless I am not understanding it) and so are you.

I empathise. My dd was moved 'down' from top set for reading after Christmas and it was very difficult for her. But I did not conclude she was struggling with reading. She was struggling with her self-confidence and with the pressure she was putting on herself. I think she has learnt lots from that event though.

If she wants to be back on the top set she will put enough pressure on herself to do so. I believe it is a mistake to feed her anxiety with math training

ICT Games is fantastic for Y2 Maths.

She was not in the top set probably one down from that and seems to have gone down further. The teachers at the school do not acknowledge that there are sets within the classroom but it is quite obvious there are and the kids are very aware of it. Also it is not school policy to discuss levels or SATs. Its is all very hush hush which makes life even more difficult.

The move to a different set has reinforced the idea that she is 'bad at maths' and I can see this has knocked her confidence already. I know she gets anxious about it which makes her less able to learn. Of course I do not want to add to this but I also worry that if I do not give her some suppport at home she will really slip behind. She says she really likes maths and wants to get better. If she said otherwise I wouldnt push it as I know it would make things worse.

Have a look at "mathletics" - it is a subscriber maths game service that follows the UK curriculum. It won't "teach" any maths concepts but will allow child to practice parts of the curriculum at home and then maybe you can see which areas shw is struggling with (if she is) and then you can address those with the teacher/with your child.

Thanks Sam100 I will have a look at this.

A similar thing to mathletics is maths whizz. You can search for threads on both of these.

DD did mathletics in her last school and is currently doing mathswhizz which we pay for. I would say it does offer a boost of confidence because methods seem to be taught in similar way to school. Sometimes that extra bit of practise is enough to get them sharp and switched on again. I wouldn't say it hasn't turned my DD into a maths whizz but it has helped her start to understand that practising makes things easier.

Another fan of MathsWhizz here too.