Multiplicaion in Schools

[numbers84boy]

hello is anybody else wondering why children seem to struggle with basic maths especially multiplication at the moment, is it me or do they seem to be over complicating it.

Which children ?
Isn't this something of a generalisation ?

I understand different methods help children to understand what they are doing, rather than learning something by rote alone, without necessarily grasping what it means.

Most children don't struggle with basic maths.

HTH.

'Children' ?

Most children don't struggle with basic maths or multiplication so I'm not sure what you mean.

I thought some of the new ways of doing things were pretty useful though some things can be taken too far like the example of the child who said 6x5 = 5 groups of 6 items = 30 and was marked wrong as it's obviously 6 groups of 5 items but I still use my DD's instruction to make numbers easier like 18x35 (using double and halving means it can easily be done in your head 9x70 = 630).

I was actually really sceptical about the very beginnings of multiplication and division coming down into year 1 - but (I've spent most of the year sitting in on Maths lessons - school have been helping me out rebuild references and get my head around curriculum changes) and actually I would say that it's impressed me how they've managed to grasp it.

I'd rather kids were taught the kind of ways they are now than when I managed to leave primary with not a fucking clue at all of how the hell long division just happened!

Maths mastery has been introduced recently. I teach it and it's good - much more about understanding the concepts in depth through practical and visual methods as well as written and a focus on reasoning and being able to apply learning in different concepts.

It's far superior to just learning the steps of a written method, although there were some children that were just fine with that. Mastery needs to be built up from the beginning of KS1 to work best though and education initiatives are rarely given the opportunity to run long-term.....

How do they teach it then?

Bet you anything OP owns a tutoring business or a magical website they're going to sell to parents who have kids who struggle with multiplication