Teachers, can you spot a difference between kids who use maths websites and those who don't?

[Iamnotminterested]

Am just curious as there seems to be sooo many sites out there vying for parents money and, dare I say it, preying on our insecurities.

Do they make a difference to a childs' classroom ability?
Do they speed up mental maths recall?
Do you recommend them?

Thanks.

much closer

I enjoy spending time with my children too but I'm too close to them (emotionally) to be an effective tutor. Yes they learn things from me but not in a formal sit down and study way.

By the way, mangahigh.com is not for teachers only, although only teachers can sign up full accounts. Parents can access the games and lessons for free by going to the Maths Games tab from the grey bar on the main page. The lessons are at the bottom of the maths games page and are good as the questions increase in difficulty or go down in difficulty depending on whether you are getting them right. They also have a 'show hint' or 'show worked solution' option.

For practising mental arithmetic I have found the Bidmas Blaster game to be very popular with my students, especially boys as it is a shoot'em up and you earn money for better guns, grenades etc by getting maths questions right. The questions can get quite fiendish!

"am sooooo patient with children that need help in school,I used to get a real thrill from plugging away with my SEN groups and got good results.We even had a speech and lang dep attached to the school and I was often chose as the class for these kids to be integrated with." Do you teach? I have just read your post on another thread asking for help to teach your year2 dd maths did i get it wrong?

Noble- great imput.

Should have been past tense, not for 8 years as I said previously.

I found doint the formal sit down and teach stuff really helpful with my dd - it gave her a renewed rspect for me because she could see I could beat her at maths! - may sound silly but she was so used to being top at everything and wasn't really stretched at school that 'competing' with her mum gave her back a sense of perspective that lots of adults did actually know more than her and I gave her much harder targets and picked up n areas of weakness that her teachers didn't notice or care about - as she was going to get level 5s anyway, she could just as well have been invisible.

I was pretty horrified by what she had been allowad to get away with = messy layout, some of her own random and ineffective methods (ie not school ones - she'd invented her own that sometimes worked - or didn't) and poor mental arithmatic. I was much stricter but as soon as she could see the progress - and knew I was being strict to help - then she was actually much happier.

Maybe it was precisely because I'm not a maths teacher that it worked - it was a process of exploration together for both of us so there was none of the frustrated maths genius talking at too high a level scenario.

Maybe why it doesn't work for mrz or feenie if they approach it more as a lesson with their classes?

I teach adults ie as equals so there is nothing inherent in my teaching methos which is talking down to pupils - I expect them to take responsibility for directing their own learning and valuing it. But it wrks well with motivated 10 year olds to - maybe not for v liitle ones?

apols for awful typos - dodgy keyboard

one should be aware of "deformation professionelle" treating children with respect is key, talking down to them will not help.

Can't speak for Mrz but for me when teaching my own dc I know my dd inside out.I know when she can't be arsed and would rather be doing something else. She's just not into maths,far more into literacy. When you know your child isn't doing their best it's hard not to loose patience which I really don't want to do so I back off when things start to kick off.

When you teach classes you're aware of what trying your best,putting your all into something is.I can sniff out half heartedness v quickly and your own child is far more likely to do that.It annoys me when you've taught kids of varying abilities who put their heart and sole into lessons you've prepared and you have your own child in front of you trying it on.

Also I'm aware they work hard at school,it's her free time and she's 7 ie I feel kind of bad anyway doing extra maths with her.

When you teach in school kids are fresher,they're there for a reason,they totally respect you(dd respects me but at the end of the day if she wants to examine bugs in the fruit bowl and chat about ponies she will because I'm her mum not her teacher)and keep to class rules and the behaviour you'd expect in school. There are very few distractions in school.

Then there is the simple fact dd and I are very similar ie we can clash big style.I see me when I teach her.

DD has 2 brothers who love maths and just seem more mathematical. When her brothers are off outside you get resentment re doing maths before you even start.

Being gifted at maths and teaching maths to a gifted child is a whole different ball game to teaching a child who lives in fairy tale land and would far rather be outside up a tree than discuss near doubles. Believe me it's a whole different game.I have a child who nags to do homework so I've experienced the difference.

Yes they learn things from me but not in a formal sit down and study way.
Perhaps I should explain what I mean

I confess I am a bad mother ... I never did any school work with my children when they were at young, in fact I hardly ever listened to them read

Because I was (am) a full time working mum and a widow free time was precious and not used teaching maths, spelling, reading ... Most weekends would see us in the car with an overnight bag (just in case) and going on a discovery adventure ... now that might be fossil hunting on the NYorks coast or underground exploring an old lead mine or building a wattle and daub Anglo Saxon hall (if you ever visit Bede's world we helped build it) exploring space at Jodrell Bank (eating space ice cream) waiting for Archimedes to take his bath at Eureka, making tiles at the Jackfield tile museum at Iron Bridge, helping at archaeological digs on Hadrian's Wall, weaving at the York Danelaw centre, bat walks, fungi foraging, hand shearing sheep, building bird boxes, making paper, or a million other thing.

So what did my children learn from me? Most importantly to ask questions and expect to find an answer, that knowledge is all around us not just in the classroom, learning is fun and no matter how old you are you should never stop learning.

That's lovely mrz.A good teaching friend of mine lost her husband young and used to do the same ie go on adventures at the weekend with her kids.

We do a lot of that stuff,you forget what you do do sometimes and what you have taught.I have 3 passionate about reading(my love)and we've done nearly everything on that NT trust bucket list of the outdoors,London inside out,museums a plenty so I guess I'm not a complete failure in teaching my own kids.

MrsH my son has ASD and when it comes to maths can do the most complicated calculations in his head. He told his Y6 teacher "you know I know the answer so why should I write it down for you to mark? we both waste time that way." He says he sees the answer in his head...
His sister is ok at maths but no genius and would ask for help (but because she is fiercely independent) would get annoyed with anyone (not just me) trying to show her how. So it was a delicate balancing act to just give enough encouragement without "threatening" her I don't need help independent character

Off to the beach now(if we can have breakfast without a bickerfest)!!!!!

That is my daughter!

My head sent me the NT bucket list and we worked out that we cover 45 -46 of them in school so may need to organise so wild overnight camping to complete it.

mrz - agree that what you did with your dc sunds ideal and I'm certainly not advocating missing that stuff to do 'lessons' - had my dd not been gping to do the 11+ maybe i wouldn't have bothered with the formal learning with my dd - but am glad I did, as what I taught will I think have a huge and disproportionate influence on her education - about how to structure one's work, how to lay work out neatly, how to prepare for an exam without getting stressed but instead ensuring ne is prepared, how to get into the habit of double checking all answers etc etc. Plus picking up on some rubbish methods and poor mental maths skills that wuld have landed her in v hot water at secondary schol of not picked up before then.

It's easy to say oh one shuld have fun with your dcs! as if anything else is second best - but in the absence of school teaching those essential skills I'm glad I did, and s is my dd. She appreciated the 1-1 time with just me. And knew it was for her sake not mine.

But agrree Mrs H that 7 is quite young for that - wouldn't have 'made' a 7 year old do maths lessons unless they wanted to. At that age, there aren't that many cncepts to grasp - just firming up mental arithmatic and times tables - so board and card games, number games, computer games etc etc probably more effective and all that is required anyway.

Once again I think you are misunderstanding me breadandbutterfly

Could be but not deliberately! In what way?

I'm not saying my children's schools were doing a wonderful job. In fact my son was totally failed by his schools and most of his teachers

Then you are misunderstanding me! - I'd advocate teaching one's dcs whether or not they were being failed by the schol because I genuinely found it a wonderful experience - as good as day trips to fun placs but different, obviously.

My point was just to disagree with the blanket assumption that teaching one's own dcs is bound to fail and shuld be left to the professionals.I think teachers cannot give that 1-1 input and parents are better equipeed than tutors to give that becuse a) it's free, b) it can be done when the child is ready for it not as a routine c) you know your own dc and don't waste time doing unsuitable stuff d) you care so put more oomph into it e) you and your dc benefit from the 1-1 quality time together.

I don't think anyone said teaching your own child was bound to fail. What I said was it is much harder than teaching a class of 30 pupils.

I have no idea whether maths websites help with speed, ability etc but for dd1, they seem to have helped her confidence.

She has bouts of thinking she's no good at maths, and a few minutes on Mathletics seems to help - which in turn helps her feel happier about doing her homework without major meltdowns and hair-tearing.

I think its because its not too challenging, is 'fun', and gives rewards. Whereas her school maths can be all those things, but possibly not consistently.

We'll have to agree to differ, mrz. However much 1 child can act up or fail to concentrate I think a class of 30 can do it much more! Plus you can't have half as much fun with a class of 30 as you can with ypur own dc or shoot through the easy stuff the same way...