Weekly addition timed tests

[Loobylou3]

Just after opinions/experience.

My dd is starting Y1 in sept. They then start weekly timed mental maths test. 3 minutes to complete 10 questions. Get them right move on to level 2 and get certificate, any wrong stay on that level.

I feel very uncomfortable about it and worry about the effects on her self esteem and enjoyment of maths. I will be raising it at the transition meeting in couple weeks but wondered what other people think or if they have experience of it.

Thanks

I'm sure lots of kids do love it mrz, but what about the ones who don't?

What about the ones who find it stressful and difficult week after week? What about any with SEN who don't enjoy the experience of always being the one getting 1/10 week after week?

I just think there's much more effective ways of teaching mental maths skills to the whole class than instilling a test attitude at age 5.

never met one in the 3 years we have been doing it ... will let you know if I ever come across one who finds 30 seconds once a week stressful ... reception are just 4

This is interesting.I wouldn't panic.My dd was in the bottom group of the higher half for maths and rocked the times tables tests.So much so she's gone up two maths groups.They've had a massive impact on improving her confidence and maths.

Get Squeebles,they love it.

Re damaging my DS came last in every running trial a few weeks ago(don't get me started on how that was handled)he was upset but got over it. Kids can't be good at everything,they just need to focus on improving their performance on things they find tricky.I'm sure her teacher will big up all effort and improvement probably more with the lower ones than with the ones who find it easy.

The fact is they need instant recall of times tables,it permeates everything and other countries are far pushier in this area than we are.

I'm only a parent - so no expert - but our experience with doing poorly on quizzes was that we used DD1's not liking that feeling to spur her on to do better.

Now in our case we had hoped that a school seeing 18 months of only being in the 11s club (only able to solve 11 simple additions with numbers under 20 - same test each week) might spur them to 'intervene' - but in fact they didn't. So we opted for help outside of school and went for using an on-line maths tutorial.

My personal view is feeling low about your achievement in one area shouldn't affect your overall view of yourself - nobody is good or even great at everything - that's very rare - even in primary school.

If you are struggling in an area - being honest that it's a struggle and putting that work in to do more/ to improve ('perseverance'/ 'ye olde protestant work ethic') can be an incredibly rewarding experience.

DD1 was horribly behind her peers in Y3 and she knew it. We agreed that she needed to do more - found on-line games/ tutorials she liked - put the time in and gradually, and in return for that effort - week by week we all saw an improvement.

DD1's learned all sorts of life lessons through this process that I hope will come in handy next time she finds something difficult or a challenge in future.

Fundamentally - the thing I object to with our school (I don't know if it is all schools) was a general attitude that children are either good at maths or they're not. There was no institutional belief or faith that practicing some of these skills/ having them presented in a number of different ways until the concept/ process made sense - might help students less able to grasp these concepts quickly.

I think it was this attitude that meant the school was not particularly interested in doing more (extra homework/ one to one sessions/ small groups/ etc...) with struggling students.

I stand by my belief that any child can add/ subtract/ multiply/ divide (with the usual caveats of no SN/ disabilities) - it's a matter of absorbing the principles, understanding the methods and getting in that practice so that performing whatever skill is done fairly easily (because it's familiar)/ efficiently.

I think schools make a huge mistake not encouraging more playing of maths related video games. Children adore games anyway - it doesn't seem like 'homework' - and 30 minutes here or there cumulatively really does add up.