Reception maths level

[ArgumentativeAardvaark]

Don’t know if this is the right place to ask this, and I hope it doesn’t sound like boasting. DS is 3.5 but September born so won’t go to school till 2021. He has got interested in numbers in a big way (mostly through watching Numberblocks) and fires questions at us all day. He understands squares (numbers not the shape) and is doing some simple multiplication and division.

I’m not sure if we should be encouraging this, and how it will leave him when he eventually starts school. I don’t have any idea of how maths is taught in primary and don’t want to confuse him, but I can see a year of number questions stretching ahead of me before someone who knows what they are doing takes over! Does anyone have any advice?

He needs to be doing things independently, ordering numbers to 20, be able to count toys, objects etc, you say a number he tells you what one more or one less is, adding and subtracting single digits. These are some key things but not all.

You said about squared numbers....that isn't in the curriculum until key stage 2 so I'd avoid that and focus on understanding number.

Sounds great! Can he add/subtract ok? - I assume that is how he is doing the multiplying? I also did a bit of number line with neg numbers, counting to higher numbers - hundreds, thousands etc.

Thanks. @Russell19 he can do all that already, he can pretty much count to 1000 and can subtract 1-9 or any multiple of 10 from a number up to 1000 (eg 37 minus 6, 135 minus 20, 18 minus 9) .

The multiplying yes I suppose he is adding up when he does two/3/4/5 times things, but he’s also asking me randomly eg what’s eight times nine, then memorising the answer so I was wondering whether to teach times tables. Squares is definitely from number blocks, they age several episodes about it.

I think you need to go deeper at his correct age level though rather than racing through jumping upwards. Look at NCETM maths problems for Reception/Year 1. You don't really want your 3 year old doing work for an 8 year old. It's all about understanding.

Thanks so much for the pointer to NCETM @Russell19. They have a whole load of materials designed to complement Numberblocks. Perfect!

They have certain way to teach in school. You can ask the school to get their math calculation policy/methods/whatever the school calls from school your dc will attend in future. They are in their website in my dc's school, but they tend to have written versions too.
But if you dc gets maths naturally, even if the way they calculate is different from what he has learned, it won't confuse him. He will get that there are alternative way to do it. But if you are pushing him to learn ahead, it may cause problem.

When he asks you what's eight times nine, does he understand what it really means? If he does, I don't think there's nothing to worry about. If he is only memorising what is 8 x 9, there may be.

Your child will need to know number bonds to 10 first - e.g. 2 and 8, 4 and 6 etc then to 20 then 100.

Can he write the numbers or just say them?

Learning times tables is really useful.

2d Shape names and features.

Telling the time.

Money and measuring.

(Play number games with him - blackjack, monopoly etc once he's got the numbers).

And carry on talking to him about it and encouraging him.

One thing, when you say he asks what's 8 x 9, does he get what's 72 divide by 8? If he does, he definitely understands the concept. There are children who gets it. Mine was one. And multiplication and division came together. Same for powers, not just squares. You would know if his ability is something special.

Instead of further learning in one direction how about broadening his understanding with problem solving and real life maths. Use a weighing scales, reading volumes, time. Application of what he can do.

This site is great.
nrich.maths.org/early-years
nrich.maths.org/primary

Thanks. That’s all really helpful. Just to say I am really not pushing him, he’s just constantly asking questions and it feels natural to try and explain a bit further rather than just be a human calculator! I guess I want to try to strike a balance between engaging with him and making sure that he doesn’t end up bored in reception if we’ve already done quite a lot. From talking to a few mum friends with kids the same age the interest in numbers seems to vary quite widely- mine is definitely not the only one with this level of interest so I don’t think he is special as such, just showing a specific interest.

Times tables are something that is memorised rather than needing to know what it means I think, as the memorising helps them to easily progress to more complicated maths later on I think. My y2 daughter hasn't learnt the 4xtable yet (she's fairly good at maths, I think that's just not covered yet) so he's clearly significantly ahead with this. If maths is going to be his 'thing', I wouldn't have thought it matters much which method you use, I'm not an expert though.

It helps to memorise the times table if the children don't get maths naturally. I am referring to the children who has natural aptitude for maths. So I asked if he understand the meaning behind it. He is still very young. When he says 8 x 9 = 72, he may be just rota learned with good memory. Or he understands the meaning of it, which indicates superior maths ability.

I’ll pay close attention to his thought process @somewhereinthesky. He left often ask me basically a whole times table so “what’s 2 times 8? What’s three times 8? And so on, and I do try to explain that we are adding another 8 each time and getting “seven lots of eight” etc.

One of mine is like this! I took the same approach as you and tried to give a bit of explanation rather than just the answer.

She's in reception now and hasn't got bored - they're really good at stretching her/challenging her.

No real tips, just wanted to reassure you that knowing a lot now doesn't necessarily lead to boredom later!

To visualise multiplication, lego are great. You can see using dots on them like 1 of 8 dots are same number as 4 of 2 dots, etc. (sorry, English isn't my native language, can't explain well. Hope makes sense.)
Also toy abacus is great for understanding numbers visually, and great for understanding place value too.

There’s also lots of other different types of maths that are taught at reception level aside from the mental arithmetic you talk about. So for instance, time, shapes 2d and 3D , money, weight, length, estimating etc.

George, yes, that's why I recommended nrich.

Music goes very nicely with maths. It is all about patterns and decoding.

Interesting @cabbageking. What sort of music activities would you recommend?

Learn to read music and play an instrument.

But start with rhythm. In Reception class they compose their own rhythmic
piece.

My dd also learnt maths from a very young age. 1to1, children learn much quicker than in a class of 30+.

I see maths as being much more about patterns than numbers, so I remember drawing lots of diagrams and illustrations. For instance: When I showed her number bonds I drew two lots of "steps" up to 10 on squared paper, cut them out and showed her, by turning one upside down, you had your number bonds to 10. Also, for square numbers and multiplying, I drew squares and rectangles on squared paper.

There is a site called senteacher, which has useful things to print. There are nets of 3D shaped, which you can print on thin card, cut out and make with your child.

Dd did end up bored in the later years of primary, when she noticed she was learning nothing new. She ended up in a really good secondary, which did provide a mixture of teaching to her level and letting her get on with her own work in lessons.

I chose to teach at the speed at which she had the potential to learn, rather than at the speed the curriculum dictated. Now, at A level, she is very good at maths and is glad I did.