New School

[mistymom]

Hi my girls have moved to a new school last month.They are in yr2 and yr3.My oldest is starting to learn her times tables.At what age should she know what tables,also what order do i teach them.My youngest is reading books with a gold sticker on the side.At her last school the books had the reading age on them how do i tell what level she is on know. Thank you x.

Hi My dd1 is in yr3. They are all expected to know the 2 5 & 10 times table and are starting the 4 and 8 times tables.

To be honest I don't do any 'teaching' at home - but you could always do some mental maths with her. We sometimes do fun things in the supermarket like there are 6 yogurts in a pack - how many if I buy 4 packs - it is surprising how fast it can be worked out for chocolate yogurts!

At dds school they tend to do a set of the ORT books and then a phase of free reading from appropriate level books that have a coloured sticker. I imagine this is so they don'y get too bored with Kipper and friends!

It may take a few weeks for the teachers to fully assess what level each of your dds are up to with reading / numeracy but I'm sure they'll be fine.

Re the level your youngest DD is on; the best thing to do is ask her teacher. As she is new to the school, the teacher is probably trying different reading matter in order to find out where your DD is with reading. A chat with the teacher will probably sort this.
Times tables - we all have to learn them, and a bit like medicine, the quicker, the better. My DS is 7 and knows them all (smug emoticon on behalf of DS). I taught him, so here goes - I started with 2x, then 10x, then 5x. The learning of each table is rewarded with £1 (in our house, because my mercenary DCs like cash.) After the 5x he can learn to tell the time - easier when you can multiply by 5.
After that, just move forward with 3x, 4x etc. with cash/whatever rewards as appropriate. Once they have learned the wretched things, you have to keep them current, IYKWIM, so regular practice is needed, or else they forget them, and then they and you (aaggh) have to start over again

Thanks for you posts. Have spoken to teacher about her reading book, told she is on band 9. Didnt want to ask to many questions so do you know if this is okay for a 6 yr old. My other daughter is doing ok at her times tables, but finds it hard to do them out of order. Thanks again for your replies.x

is that Oxford Reading Tree level 9? That's spot on for year 2