OK, be gentle.. I'm considering getting my 6yo dd a maths (and poss English) tutor

[MascaraOHara]

Is it a bit OTT?

My dd is not particularly 'academic' she's got a mountain of common sense and is very articulate, can read very well and has good conversational skills etc so IMHO there's absolutely nothing wrong with but

she's very average in her school work, her handwriting is very messy, she not great at spelling and she just doens't get maths.. she has just been moved down a group in maths and I can see that slipping further if I don't help in someway. I've asked for a bit of homework several times but nothing is forthcoming.

Her problem with maths is that she just doesn't get it, I mean the concept behind multiplication etc and so she can never 'work out' an answer.. if she doesn't know the answer from memory she can never get to the solution herself.

Would it be reasonable (and would it help) if I got her some one-on-one tutoring over a short to medium period of time?

Thoughts please... I don't know anybody else who uses or has ever had a tutor themselves..

TIA

I really wouldn't worry about the reversing number thing - my dd didn't really "trust" numbers not to do different things when she wasn't looking until she was, I think, year 4 or even 5. She learned how to do what she had to do with them to get the right answer, and got a 5 in her KS2 SATS but didn't "get" number properly til even later than that. I think some people's brains do it automatically, and some people's brains don't. It'll come.

I think she needs to SEE these things, be it smarties or whatever, so she can see that 4 smarties + 6 smarties = 10 altogether.

Hi, coincidefnce you just posted as I just loggedin

I think I'm going to try all of the suggests here and not pursue a tutor (I might reassess that in the future depending on what happens across the rest of this school year and into the next.

DD saw some maths game for DS that she pointed out and wanted so I'm going to get her that for christmas as well (as she has showed interest)

I agree that seeing it might help, will try and incorporate little things like that into everyday life, when doing housework sorting washing etc

Thanks again.. you've all given some really great advice and insight.

Thank you

Just to point out that multiplication IS taught in Year 2, and that according to the new framework they need to learn their 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s by heart.

Would second the poster who said ictgames is very good - it splits objectives into Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, so your dd could play the earlier games to build her confidence a bit and help her grasp concepts which she has been struggling with.

Mathszone is excellent too - has games for every conceivable topic, and tells you which age they are suitable for if you hover the pointer over each game.

hmmm the bit about her just not getting the concepts of maths makes me think of dyscalculia which is very rarely picked up.
An author called Steve Chinn (I think) does excellent books about helping chn with maths difficulties.

hi mascara I wanted to post because my ds2 has had problems similar to your dd. he is now 7, yr 3.
At the beginning of yr 2, he couldn't consistently count to 10 either forwards or backwards, his writing was poor, etc etc but verbally he was brilliant and could tell you just about anything about british history.
I got no help at school and so had a tutor throughout yr 2. She was fantastic in that she concentrated on his handwriting and basic maths like number bonds, the 4+6=10 is 6+4=10.
He loved her and tried hard whereas I struggled to keep my cool with the painful repetition at home, so in that respect a tutor was really worth it. I have now moved him to a different school,we don't have a tutor anymore and he does actually have dyscalculia and is being assessed for dyslexia. the difference is, the school is totally supportive, he is a million times happier and I know that people are taking my concerns seriously.
Before getting a tutor try talking to the school again,ask if they've noticed any difference between her verbal / non verbal reasoning skills, see what her predicted SATS are.
After that, go for it on a tutor...ours helped us make the decision to move schools which quite frankly is the best decision I've made in years.

Hi again,

Thanks to those who recommended sites, Rainforest maths has been closed down unfortunately but we plan to use the others..

DD has asked for a maths game for her ds that she saw so will get her that and I'm just going to generally encourage her. She wnts a maths book and handwriting book for Christmas.. At the moment she is adamant she want sto be a vet, so is very 'into' learning because she knows you have to study really hard to be a vet.. I don't know what'll happen when she goes off the vet idea

Thanks again, might come back to this in a few months depending on how we are getting on

hello!

I have not read this whole thread (it is long!) but here is my input.

My ds is 6 and has a tutor. He goes for a hour and a half a week. I use Kip Mcgrath - www.kipmcgrath.co.uk It uses a mixture of traditional methods and computer software.

My ds is not struggling - I just felt that his class size is very big - and although I cant afford private school - this was plan B. she goes over all subjects with him - but if your childs struggles in a specific area - they can taylor their teaching to help.

It has been GREAT! He has come on leaps and bounds. She has really helped him with his handwriting (which was appalling before. It is great for him - because anything that he misses at school - or is too embarrased to aske his teacher - he asks his tutor. She also gives us constant feedback and a greater insight to ds educationally.

A good example is - with his handwriting she noticed that he wasnt forming his letters incorrectly and that he started to high up - within two weeks of working with him he has a 100% improvement. He is in year 2 at school and they have never picked up on this - probably because they are so busy.

Ds also uses 'education city'. www.educationcity.com/home/en there is a free trial at the moment. It cost us £30 for a year (a bargin) and he loves it. He also uses this at school.

I hope that this helps - if you need any more info let me know.