Maths help for Year 6

[snowlie]

My 10 year old has admitted to me that he is struggling with maths - he is completely confused about percentages, fractions and decimals. Totally lost on sequences and I fear that is just the tip of the iceberg. He has asked me to help - first time I've had that request!

When he's not day dreaming, he's assuming that he knows it all already, so refuses to listen or discuss a concept any further, this is primarily why he has so many gaps in his knowledge. I know I need to go back to the beginning with him to find out what he doesn't know....place value is not secure either, which is causing further confusion with decimals.

We've agreed to do 10-15mins every evening, I feel the need for some structure, so I can build upwards from the basics, but what resources should I use - is there a good book that we can work through, using games etc to reinforce learning? I'm not keen on using Sats materials, I don't want him to feel that this is exam prep, because it isn't and there will be enough talk about that at school. My focus is to give him a solid foundation to build on in secondary.

Any advice or tips greatly appreciated.

You might like to look at here
It is the BBC maths skills site, it is for adults but it explains everything simply and has videos, games and exercises. Look at it yourself first to see which bits you would want to use.

Or the Woodlands Junior School maths zone here is excellent.

I used the letts ks2 revision guide and workbook. I used to go over each section about several times and set questions to do as we went along. Then a few days later dd would do the corresponding section of the workbook. The Letts Mythical Maths series my dd used to do herself to revise topics as they are fun to do. CGP and others also do KS2 books. I would say to go into a bookshop and pick ones you and your ds like the style of.
They are SATS books, but then if you are wanting to get your ds to a good year 6 ability it will basically mean following the curriculum. (They do cover all the topics he needs to know)

Hi Snowlie

I agree with both websites SatinSandals has recommended (BBC also offers KS2 maths revisions for SATs & there is a BETA (in design stage) website for KS2 maths as well - info here:

BBC BITESIZE KS2 MATHS: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/

BBC LEARNING/ MATHS topics list: www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/topic/numeracy.shtml

------

It does rather sound like your DS is suffering from not fully grasping the mechanics of these numeracy techniques - this could be for any number of reasons (not fully paying attention, poor explanation, noisy class so difficult to concentrate, etc..., etc....). My DD has a very boisterous class and was really suffering with basic skills at end Y2 (i.e. adding/ subtracting) and we went in for an on-line tutorial to help.

Many here (including me) have sung the praises of several on-line sites - and it may be worthwhile investigating what is out there and what would suit your son.

Komodo maths: komodomath.com/

Maths Whizz: www.whizz.com/

Mathletics: www.mathletics.co.uk/

Mathsfactor: www.themathsfactor.com/

The prices vary, but I think all of these offer free trials and what is good about maths is it is ideally suited to a video game format - so practice can be a lot of fun. These all will assess your son and start work with him from where he is at right now.

If in fact he can do the maths once he understands how, but is struggling with understanding how to do certain things or forgets how to do things if it has been a while - you may want to explore Khan Academy. This is entirely free, and can be a bit dry - but the basic principles of multiplication, carrying, dividing, decimals, fractions, percentages, etc... are all explained and you can review the videos as much as you like. Info here: www.khanacademy.org/about

example on percentages: www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/decimals/percent_tutorial/v/describing-the-meaning-of-percent

example on explaining decimal places: www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic/decimals/decimal_place_value/v/decimal-place-value

For my DDs we found learning at home, in relative quiet and at the computer has really suited them. I'm not sure if it is because it is a bit like a video game or if video explanations (we use mathsfactor presented by Carol Vorderman) appeals to my girls (to be fair this may not appeal to a boy and/or be too young for him) - but the regular practice and making it a game has hugely benefited both both of my DDs.

HTH

The CGP books are great value for money (about £3 each?). You could start him off working through the level 3 one and see what he struggles with, and then move on to the level 4, 5 (&6!) ones. If he gets stuck on something, then you can find additional materials on line to supplement. Fractions/Decimals/Percentages and the relationship between them is often difficult for DC, but once they've worked out it's 3 different ways of doing the same thing, it all slots into place.

Thank you all for taking the time to post your ideas and suggestions.

We have used Maths Whizz in the past, when he was at infant school. It worked well but eventually he got a tad bored with the format, I stopped at that point because I didn't want to turn extra work at home into a battle, maybe if I try something similar but different it'll keep him interested long enough to get the basics firmly established.
Will have a look at the books too. Explaining concepts you use without thinking can be tricky sometimes.