How much Maths do you do with your 9/10 year old over the summer?

[loveyouradvice]

When I was at school we did no Maths at all over the summer, and I remember that feeling at the beginning of the autumn term of having forgotten lots of it.

Some of my friends get their kids to do a couple of pages of CGP books a day - so I'm guessing 10 mins or so.

What do you do? And how does it seem to work for you?

Big difference if you are prepping for entrance exams in September/October or if you’re just keeping skills fresh.

Yup - Im thinking generally, not a grammar school area....

I’d prioritise rapid and confident recall of all times tables to 12x12 including corresponding division facts and any fractions/decimals work.

Online games such as hit the button can be as good as the workbooks.

Mine is 8, so a bit younger. we do mathsfactor, one lesson per day (about 10 minutes).
He’s good at maths but not very confident - i want him to be confident in what be knows.

I used to try to keep maths skills ticking over by asking DC questions about things we were doing anyway (e.g. baking, shopping) rather than any particular workbooks. I also kept handwriting ticking over by getting them to write postcards, holiday scrapbook etc. Basically making it fun/functional rather than a chore if possible.

We’ve got the cgp book- one workout per weekday is the aim, I’ll be happy if it’s 4 times a week. Definitely trying to work on the times tables too but it’s a struggle as they are reluctant to practice them but I know it can really unlock a lot of maths confidence.

I think 15 mins maths a day or every two days is a success! Plus reading everyday and writing / spelling via crafts and scrapbooking

Just to add to my post: we do mathsfactor because he likes it. Ticking of lessons and modules gives him a sense of achievement.

Both kids are good at maths (like, insanely so - top 1% nationally) and we have never done work over the holidays that feels like work.

We take trips and they work out how long it is until we go, how long it will take to get there (time). They use a map to calculate distance using the scale.

They are given a budget to spend on food to cook / treats and the change jar and bag it up to take to the bank for holiday spends (money)

We bake daily and they help with meals (see money and weights / measures)

Jigsaws and games for shape and logic.

They do play chess for an hour a day at least together (that's how bored they get and they know chess entertains them both) which obviously helps too. Darts is another great one for mental maths and they play that with their Dad.

Maths should be a part of daily routine and holidays should be a chance to recharge.

Age 8 and 10.

Love this. Please share more ideas 😀

I think it also depends what you are after.
My son is great at maths, but lacks confidence. So mathsfactor suits us because he basically gets at least 90% correct every day (most days 100%), and it helps his confidence.
@JustMarriedBecca ’s kids seem to be good at maths and confident, so its about applying their knowledge.
Mine can do these sort of things, but his problem is confidence when he sees it written down.
Other might need to catch up, so probably needs some more guidance, etc.

An hour a DAY?

My husband won the Maths Olympiad or Kangaroo or whatever it was back in the day and skipped two or three years for maths (clearly they get their maths skills from Dad not from me) and he never practised in the summer holidays beyond application in real life scenarios.

It's really not necessary and, I know in my kids, would breed resentment they were performing monkeys.

very interesting thread - thank you all for contributions.

I'm interested in all answers - including the high-flyers!

But I'm especially interested where Maths isn't a strength, and how much you find doing some over the summer - whether maths factor or CGP book or something else - makes a difference in the autumn. And whether you think it is worth it. And what approaches work best. It's not something I've done before - I've always thought holidays were holidays, however long - but I'm thinking having a couple of weeks totally off, and then keeping maths skills ticking over and consolidating some skills could make a real difference

We talk about maths a bit and play the odd game, at time when I-spy might be used for smaller children. There's a lovely game where you think of a rule and the guessers have to give you numbers and you say if they match the rule. They the try to guess the rule.

It is very different if you have a high flier. My DD(12, so just past primary now) isn't quite as good as JustMarriedBecca's DC, but she's close. In the past we've done Kangaroo papers for fun - but they won't be fun if you've no idea how to start the questions. Today she showed me blog post about solving a question which she felt the writer was being very laboured about; we discussed a couple of ways of solving it. However if you have a child who voluntarily reads blogs about maths questions, then they can probably do absolutely no work over the summer, and still ace everything when they come back. I'm very much aware that I wouldn't know how to support a child who found maths more challenging.

My oldest isn’t a high flyer (he is able, but severely dyslexic). We originally discovered mathsfactor for him, and it worked well. However, his issue is more dyslexia and getting overwhelmed than actual maths!

OP, for balance, I am setting my kids a range of challenges this summer. The maths ones actually "step back" their skills a bit to return to real basics like times tables recall. So they have those solidly under their belt.

I wouldn't be letting them do 1h of maths or indeed chess. Even if they were keen.

For us, summer is about activity and outdoor time, minimal screens, good food and being physically active rather than sitting. So I am doing basic maths stuff but also:
Doing a piece of original nature writing from observation
Getting up and doing a distance run with me before breakfast
Learning to do a pull-up
Learning an independent life skill

I think "keep things ticking over" for academic skills but to keep engagement fresh you need to do something different, and then come back to it.

I'd keep prioritising recall skills such as digit sums and times tables.

When they go back and are doing 6 or 7 digit sums in their column addition they won't then have to struggle for any of them, and are less likely to make calculation errors.

Multiplication facts for column methods, division, and easy translation of fractions.

I did no maths with mine over the summer. I did make sure to put them in 2 summer camps if I could though. 1 sport/active one and the other academic, eg. coding, language based etc. We do try to put the work in over the year though. And it also depends on the kid too. If they enjoy maths and could do with improvement, then ya, why not do a bit or even maths games and make it fun!

Never even considered doing any formal work over the summer with mine (9, 7 and 6). The 6 year old reads but to me here and there like when I’m reading a story he will read a sentence then I will. But it’s not formal, he does it because it’s like a game. The older two read in bed for at least an hour each night.

no sitting down and doing maths with any of them. I guess they use maths here and there (cooking, dividing up sweets, playing Pokémon, etc) but it’s not intentional. Summer holidays are about completely recharging, spending time with family, experiencing a different culture on holiday, and mine will also do a sports or an art camp for one week of them as well. None of them are behind though or struggle at school, if they did maybe it would be more on my radar to do stuff throughout the holiday to keep their skills fresh

None. They need a break.