Right I'm determined to sort dd 7's complete lack of confidence and loathing of maths this summer sooooo ideas please!

[Rockpool]

It's really starting to be an issue and clearly school aren't going to sort it so it's down to me.

Currently thinking about getting the old no bonds to 20 licked (errrr any ideas)and getting a big head start on her times tables with daily practice. The idea being it will boost her confidence and thus her enjoyment ......and that's as far as I've got.

So anything else?????

big TIA

Maths Factor Summer School.

You can do it by school year to review - it's brilliant IMO.

My son did Sumdog online through the school. It was a great way to get him interested in maths as was like a computer game.

Not sure if you can just sign up as an individual but worth a look.

www.sumdog.com/

My dd used the Percy Parker app to learn her tables. There is a different song for each table which she found fun. I haven't heard of anything similar for number bonds but it might be worth checking.

Top trumps - something like hello kitty /moshi monsters / cute puppies that she will like. Seriously, play the game / find the biggest score for / sort cards into order of whatever etc.
Shut the box is an old fashioned game based entirely on adding up dice, it only needs two to play and is quite quick.
Online DS likes mangahigh.com - it's very cheap and the games are great. eg the one for ordering numbers is all about growing & cutting flowers (v simple). bbcbitesize is free but v limited.
Sharing sweets out is division

games, games & more games!!!!

Its strange isn't it - if you say 'what's 7 - 3?' its maths, so its horrid so the answer's impossible. If you say 'you've got seven cakes and give three to your friends, how many have you got left?' suddenly its not maths and is fun (and important for your stomach) therefore the answer can be found.

Wow, I could have written your op! Long story so won't go into it but basically I'm doing the same with dd. We've set up 'school' in the dining room and tried to make it fun by playing school with dd, me and dh. Sounds stupid BUT it's working!

One of us will be the other 'child' in class and dd is loving getting the answers before us. We bought a simple star chart and dished out the rewards accordingly and rather than use anything new we've focused on her old maths books and had a look ahead at what she'll be expected to learn in the new one. So far so good.

I have believed for years that dd had a major problem with maths. What I've discovered in the last couple of weeks is that it was her confidence and the fact that she never understood the basics - times tables - so she could apply them to all future learning.

We're going to drill the basics over the summer in whatever fun way we can think of and reward for spot questions at random times outside of playing school. We've seen already that she is, of her own accord, practicing the tables in anticipation of the random questions and loves the reaction she gets when she knows the answers.

In two weeks we've caught up on 6 months of school work. Fun, reward, confidence.

Wish you all the best.

Yahtzee (number sequences and bonds), Darts (subtraction), Card Games (e.g. 21 for number bonds) , making cakes and pizza (measuring and fractions), all easy ways to show that maths is fun.

I'm planning to do this too. My aim is to get dd to learn her times tables - or as many as I get her to practise. And I am going to go through her maths book, work out what the hell she is learning, and do some revision of basic skills.

My friend who is a specialist maths teacher recommends card games, as teas says; also Rummikubs.

I have experience of doing this and it was really successful. It is quite possible in maths to make a massive difference.
I used RM Maths, it costs bout £50 Is a great computer based way of helping all primary kids with daily computer based lesson. Yes yes to lots of tables and than also division sums once tables are learnt. Be aware they forget the tables once learnt so keep practicing the learnt ones each day. I also use 'Big Maths'. You can download daily work sheets with timed practice on basic sums. That's free and great. It took my kids a while to get fast enough. I also bought Kumon books(!) as they had lots of practice in them so I had to write out less. I wouldn't buy the books in WH smith etc as they provide so little practice on any one area. Keep at it most days and you will be so chuffed with the progress your child makes. Good luck!

massistar Thanks for the recommendation, DD had to be forcibly removed from the laptop at bedtime :) the avatar, coins and progression through the animals really helped to get her interested.

I'm another parent who's planning to do some maths work this summer, dd needs to improve on her times tables or she's going to start to struggle.

Thanks for all the great suggestions and for the encouragement.It's great to hear it could make a real difference.

Another recommendation for Shut the Box.

I did flash cards (made my own) for number bonds so 8 written on one side 2 on the other.

I used chocolate buttons as incentive to get stuff right. I also used 1p coins to show bonds of 10, so 3 this side of the line and 7 this side, but move one coin and now what do you have? (nicked that from school as I have done catch up maths with yr 3 children)

You might also find stuff on-line that is free, we liked freeing the whale here

Make it as fun as possible, go to the shops, get her to add up how much her sweets will cost, if she has 50p what can she buy.

It is the basics that let them down with work in the future so bonds of 10 and 20, and times tables are a must.

Glad to be of service TeaOneSugar :-)

My son's teacher set up a competition for the class on it weekly to see who did the most games and he was on it for hours!

Fizzy(or anybody else)could you list the bonds to 20?

Many thanks.

Maths Factor for times tables. The rest of maths factor isn't so good, but the times tables bit is excellent.

Junior Maths book one - Galore Park.
Balance Math and More, Balance benders - Critical Thinking Company (can be bought in UK through the Book Depository, but sample pages to look at to choose the right level of book are available on the Critical Thinking Company website).

Take your child shopping and pay with real money, get them to see how many change will be given back after buying something simple. Get them to count the coins in your wallet to find out how much money you have etc...

google woodlands maths, there are some great online games , my 8 year old is the same. I am trying to encourage without pushing too hard, I think games are the way to go!

we say 10 mins a day , but often ends up much longer, but some days she just refuses so I leave it.