Year 6 math not challenging for child

[Starbuck100]

We recently moved to the UK from the US, so this is our first year in the British school system. I expected some differences (both good and bad) but the one that concerns me the most is that the math program does not compare at all to the one my DS was in. It appears that his class is now working on material that he covered 2 years ago. He is a bright kid, likes math and was in an advanced math program at his former school. I intend to have a conversation with his teacher, but I don't want to come across as a crazy American parent who has unreasonable expectations. Honestly, if there really is that much of a discrepancy I am doubtful that the school will be able to accommodate a child who needs a curriculum 2 years ahead of the one provided. I'm wondering if anyone who has longer experience in the system, has had a child who really needs a more advanced curriculum (in math or otherwise) and what sort of accommodations I can reasonably expect. I have math materials that I purchased before leaving the U.S. that if nothing else, I will have him work on once the 11+ is behind him. As we will eventually will be returning to his old school system in the U.S., if he doesn't stay on pace, he will return in a couple years behind his peers.

That must be very difficult & I agree he needs to be kept on track if he is returning to his old school system or he wont do well.

I don't know anything about the american system - so hopefully others will be along to help you soon.

However, I just wanted to say, most schools seem to take things 'easy' the first couple/few weeks back after the holidays to get the kids back into it and to see what their levels are like. The teachers need to get to know them and their abilities. I would give it another week, maybe two, work on stuff yourself at home and see what happens. If you still aren't happy then speak to the school. Most schools will work to the students ability - if yours wont, then you should probably look at changing schools anyway.

Good luck :) I moved overseas when I was 9 and it was frustrating not being able to work to the level I had previously - but things were different in the dinosaur era and so that was that.

Is this a state school?

If so, year 6 is about consolidation for SATs so there is no new work- just revision for SATs. My children are not as good at maths as your child but found y6 maths easy because of that reason.

It is still early in the year, so the school may still be assessing and working out his level. There is also often a lot of consolidation and revision after the summer holidays, as children forget a lot over the break, so don't panic yet. The work may start getting more complex soon.

Do you know if they enter any children for the level 6 maths Sats? Just in case you haven't heard about Sats yet, they are the national standardised tests children sit towards the end of year 6. The 'expected' level is level 4, the main tests can assess up to level 5, but for the past few years there have also been extra level 6 tests, which are optional, and for children working several years ahead of their age in maths. Schools which select a group of children to sit the level 6 papers usually run extra maths groups for them to do basic algebra etc. So, it might be worth asking the class teacher about this - though it may be too early in the year for them to have started working on level 6 material.

(I am assuming this is a state school - if it is a private school, they would usually have split the class into maths sets based on performance in entrance tests, and the top group of year 6 would be working on reasonably advanced material.)

Oh thank you. I figured that maybe I just need to take a deep breath. I know it is early and with that and the fact that at least some of the children are to be sitting the 11+ in about a week, I thought it might just be the easy time. Yes it is a state school. For what its worth, it seems like a really good one (based on parent's comments, ofsted, etc.). The SATs were mentioned at a meeting, but I don't think the higher levels were mentioned, perhaps when I do talk with the teacher I should ask about that. Likely, he is still in the assessment phase of things. It is really a shame to waste a year teaching to assessment rather than growing the children, if that is really what they do. I suppose all schools do some level of teaching to the test, so that is not unusual. I'll hold back for a couple more weeks and see how things progress before I initiate a conversation with the teacher. Thanks for the advice.

Hope things improve for you.

My son was at a state school with a very good reputation, and got bored to death with maths in year 6 because it was all revision for the Sats - but that was several years ago, before they introduced the level 6 papers, and from speaking to friends whose children have gone through year 6 at the same school since, things have improved a lot for the more able ones.

You will probably still need to do some work at home just to make sure that he is covering everything he would be doing in the US, as no doubt the curriculum is different anyway, but you don't want him to be totally bored with the work at school in the meantime.

I'd recommend a look at these 2 resources -
www.beastacademy.com by the art of problem solving - a great set of math comic books for bright math learners aged 7 to 11. This is from the USA - you have to ship the books over which is expensive. They have a comic book style and there are sample pages on their site.

Also www.komodomath.com which is an excellent self paced arithmetic tablet app for home use. My ds benefited from both of these.

do the school know what he was working on in his previous school? It might be worth showing them.

times have changed - we went to America when I was a child and we were way way ahead of our age over there, 2-3 years.