Arithmetic vs reasoning in maths

[sharkysharks]

Hello,

DC (yr 6) was told in class by his maths teacher that he was unusual because he has very good with complex reasoning questions & struggles more with arithmetic. What does this mean? And how can I support him? He is GD anyway, is it just the way some brains work?

It means that he struggles with the quick and “easier” number formations, such as family of four, quick multiplication / addition / subtraction but is doing well in problem solving, questions that ask you more detail such as “if Molly buys a cake for £2.25 with a £5 note, how much change will she get” he would find it easy to write out his working but find it harder to do the quick maths of £5-£2.25 whereas other students would find the quick maths easy but would struggle to get to the working - this is an easy example just to put it into context.

if it helps, I am very similar and struggled with maths in Y6 and then received A* in GCSE and A Level and work in a maths dominated field

Thank you @inquisitivemind

It’s possible he tries to get through his arithmetic paper too quickly because the questions are so straightforward and as a result makes silly errors. That’s usually where my GD people go wrong.

Yes, he has a tendency to not read things properly

I'd second looking at the possibility that he's making 'careless' mistakes in the arithmetic because it's too easy and a bit boring, so he's not focusing properly.

If that doesn't seem to fit, another possibility is that he's good at the reasoning and the mathematical concepts, but not so good at (or hasn't practiced enough) the memorisation and quick recall expected in arithmetic.

Arithmetic is all about quick recall of facts. For example, does your son know his times tables by heart, or does he still need to work out something like 6x7 by counting in 6s?

If he has good reasoning skills it means he understands the language of maths. He can read a problem and understand what he needs to do to solve it, even if it takes a bit of time to get there. Whereas his peers may have great recall of key facts, but may struggle to understand what operation they need to use to solve a problem.

If he's GD I wouldn't worry too much. Likelihood is, if he enjoys reasoning, he probably finds the arithmetic paper really dull. If he doesn't have instant recall of times tables it's not the end of the world, as clearly he has adopted strategies which work to get him the correct answers to real world maths problems and he can clearly still work out the answers to the arithmetic paper in the time given, as he is getting GD scores. It's perhaps just that his peers get there quicker, finishing that paper before him, whereas he comes into his own on the reasoning paper while some of them lose marks wasting time working out what they need to do.

Something like TT Rockstars could help give him a boost with instant recall.

It suggests that his rate of error is higher within calculations themselves than within breaking down a problem to understand what to do.

The difficulty of the maths in a reasoning paper is typically less but it's wrapped up on words and so takes a bit of cognitive effort to unpick. In the arithmetic, the calculations are given to you but some can be larger or more difficult.

Whilst you say he is GD, is this a classwork-based grade or an exam-based grade? I ask because around a combined 90% accuracy rate in the exams is needed to typically guarantee a scaled score in the 'Greater Depth' range and this can lead to children who are GD mathematicians in class not actually achieving that on the exams.

This is me and DS1.
Both dyslexic, both struggle with e.g. instant recall of times tables, both great at more complex maths. I've got a STEM degree, and DS is heading that way.

Yes, he can struggle with his times tables, despite them using TT rockstars in school but he does well on those 144 tests. He just isn't super quick. do think some of it is carelessness/laziness as he often skims questions whereas if the question appears more complex he will actually read it.

@Iamnotthe1 based on recent mock SATs results, he is also GD in reading which may be why he can understand the reasoning ones better?

Thanks for all the advice.

If he is GD, he's not actually struggling at arithmetic is he? It probably just means he's dropping proportionately more marks on that paper, possibly down to inaccuracy rather than not knowing what to do. For example 35/40 on arithmetic and 34/35 on both reasoning papers, would be GD, with more errors on arithmetic, but 35/40 is not struggling.

Thanks @Melancholyflower I spoke to his teacher & she said she expected him to get all of the arithmetic correct & thinks he rushes/doesn't read the questions properly. So she is going to keep an eye.

My dd makes lots of unforced errors and has asd/adhd and i think slow processing.
She still got greater depth but took a lot of work.

Just print lots of the arithmetic papers. She was getting 39 or so with practise.

@Chippychoppishy yes the teacher has set him some extra maths work

This is my DS. He's working at greater depth across reading, writing and maths but the arithmetic paper is harder for him. Not only is his mark a bit lower, he finds it a real slog whereas he enjoys the reasoning questions.

The arithmetic paper is 30 minutes for 40 marks, for reasoning papers they have 40 mins for 35 marks. The arithmetic paper is deliberately designed to require fluency and automatic times tables recall. DS has slow processing and working memory weaknesses relative to his general cognitive ability (he's dyslexic, plus possible undiagnosed ADHD). He understands the maths but his slow processing and working memory issues mean that he's not super quick, times tables recall is wobbly and he can appear to make a lot of careless errors. But compensates through his strengths so still gets good marks overall.

@TimeForSprings thank you for sharing this - I just read your post out to my son and it's put a massive smile on his face.

This is exactly me - I would always use my fingers. But did maths as part of my degree and top grades at GCSE and A’Level. I’m also dyslexic.