Support in Y3

[LostittoBostik]

My DD started Y3 today and I'm concerned about her transition into this stage.
She was mostly meeting expectations by the end of Y2, but not in maths - which surprised me as teachers had previously said she'd been borderline exceeding.

I worked with her in maths a bit over the summer and it's clear that she's actually further behind than anyone realised. I think so far she's been coping on learning by rote but doesn't really understand what maths is all about.

I know it's all about to ramp up and she's already saying that wishes there was more play time etc.

add that she's very young in her year - she was still 6 a couple of weeks ago! - and the level they expect of them now is high but I'm so worried she will slip behind.

Can anyone give me advice about how to help support her without overwhelming her or putting her off school entirely?

I also work four days and have a toddler too so until now I haven't pushed her hard on homework (esp as she's so young) but I know I will have to really ramp it up this year.
I know learning isn't linear and maybe it will all click soon. But in the meantime can anyone ease my anxieties about Y3 and also offer any tips?

Could tuition be a solution if you could afford it? Kumon does repeated patterns which help and I think you can order the sheets off of Amazon and do them everyday rather than paying to go to the centre if that is easier.

We got DD a maths tutor in year 3 when we discovered she’d fallen behind. I wish we had done it sooner.

I don't know why but I feel really weird about extra tuition at this young age.

How did it work @Rainallnight ? Did you have someone come to your house once or twice a week?

I work in a primary school, yr 2 last year and yr 3 this year. Your daughter sounds very similar to a girl in our class. She could learn by rote but once the problem was worded differently or reversed, she couldn't apply her knowledge.
When it comes to maths, you'll honestly need to get a tutor for her and somebody who understands exactly how maths should be taught. It sounds like she doesn't have a strong understanding of the base concepts of mathematics and what we call 'number sense.'
Without these, she'll only be able to learn by rote and won't develop a deep understanding of how to figure out problems, which will become an issue when maths gets harder throughout KS2. Look into the 'mastery approach' to mathematics.
To be honest, I'm a TA and if you offered me even just £20 to stay behind for an hour after school and tutor your child I would take it. We're not paid a lot and usually stick around for an hour unpaid at the end of the day anyway to help set up for the next day. Just ask around and see what kind of rates the TAs would want, I wouldn't lead with £20 as an offer (that's just as low as I'd go)
Good luck

Also, please don't ask the school to allocate any extra time to her either 1:1 with a TA or intervention. If she is not technically underperforming, she won't be put in any additional support groups and also won't benefit from them. It sounds like she is a clever girl to be doing so well in rote learning and she will be far too advanced for a maths intervention group.
Our intervention groups in year 2/3 are for children who cannot tell you what 2+2 is for example. I'm sure your daughter can do far more than that.

Thanks everyone.
I can't exactly say the responses are reassuring - I feel even more nervous now - but it's good to have a strategy.
I'm going to work on things with her at home til Xmas and see how things are at the first term teacher conference. I'm hoping a new teacher might help.
If things haven't improved I think we will look at tutoring.

I'd have a chat with the teacher asap and explain your concerns.

You can do a lot of fun learning with Maths, playing games and using it in real life situations. Make sure you do the school homework thoroughly.

Ask for feedback from the teacher at regular intervals to help you help her.

Im a primary teacher and I would suggest getting LCP year 1 books to work through to go back to basics and iron out any misunderstandings. When you find something she struggles with then keep coming back to that in short bursts e.g. in the car, on a walk. Then move onto Year 2 LCP books.

My daughter is now in year 4 and I’ve spent the summer going over year 3 again and spotted areas that she’s not as secure in.

Would agree with this.

As an ex-tutor, I would get her help right now as year 3 is when they really start to fall behind. Find someone who is experienced in dyscalculia to assess her and fill in the gaps right from the beginning. I wouldn't recommend Kumon as it's just more rote learning. She needs to develop number sense which involves manipulating numbers and being able to work problems out. Also, expect to pay about £35 ph.

Thank you. The problem is that, bluntly, we have one in nursery too paying huge fees and we are really stretched financially at the moment.
How many hours would a tutor be?
I know my own anxiety about it all won't be helping. I suddenly feel like I've massively failed as a parent and should have pushed for her being held back a year when school started. She's an August birthday and started reception straight off the pandemic where nursery had been closed, and I can see how her younger sibling who is an October birthday is going to find everything about school so much easier.

Not exactly the same situation but after a pretty brutal parents evening in October last year I started doing some work at home with my Y3 ds. He was really struggling with English and honestly the difference that spending 1-2 hours a week (generally 15-20 mins before school) has made is huge.

We've kept going over the summer hols and am hopeful that our first check in with his teachers this year will be much more positive even though there is still work to do. Working with him and seeing where the gaps were did make me feel better as a parent and more in control I suppose.

Whatever you decide to do or not do please be kind to yourself OP! Our kids academic ability isn't a reflection on us as parents - noticing a problem and choosing to act to help shows how much you care!

I would agree with the above. Regular intervals using the CGP workbooks or similar like I suggested before, will really help. Target areas she finds especially hard but I’d start with year 1, going really back to basics. Regularly check in with her teacher as well to see what they think.

Apps can help e.g. times tables rockstars when she’s ready, until then find maths apps aimed at KS1.

There is hope, it’s a brand new year and you can achieve lots at home.

As others have said, 10-15 mins a day really makes a difference. So many on MN are down on homework, but I think little bits of practice a) helps children consolidate learning and b) helps parents stay connected with how their dc is doing.

we’ve had a cubie subscription for a couple of years now and are big fans - slightly more expensive than some workbooks, but we like the format, and it is certainly cheaper than a tutor. I have not been impressed with cgp books in the past, but maybe it is a bit hit and miss. Cubie is good it you are just looking to get more practice in - follows national curriculum, set bit of work for each day that should be 10-15mins, explores concepts in lots of different ways, can mostly be done independently. If you want something more systematic, I liked ‘maths no problem’ when we were trying to address some gaps for one of my dc the summer before last.