Maths workbooks for a 6 year old boy (Year 1)

[helyg]

I went to parents evening last night, and DS2's teacher told me that he needs to work on his maths in order to get it up to the same standard as his langauge skills. he can work things out in his head OK, but seems to have trouble putting it down on paper.

I'd like to get some (fun) workbooks for him to have a go at over the summer holidays, so that he can practice putting it down on paper.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

I know Kumon is generally frowned upon, but are the books of worksheets any good?

I actually feel slightly guilty that he is struggling with his maths as I have a degree in Economics and Accounting so should surely have been able to teach him, but it appears I have just passed on my love of reading fiction instead!

you could try the Andrew Brodie maths series (on Amazon) - mental maths for ages 6-7, 7-8 etc. My dc like them

Thanks, I will have a look at them.

My DC love numbersharks, it is a computer program and it keeps them occupied for ages. I know many teachers who reecommend it.I have bought many work books in the past and always started with good intentions but sometimes it ended up being a battle to motivate them to do them whereas numbersharks really makes maths fun.

Thanks Ruby.

He is actually fine at doing maths on the computer, it is writing it down on paper that is the problem

DS loves maths, so I have bought a fairly wide range. My mum, an education welfare officer, who regularly visits parents home educating, recommended the CGP series, which DS likes. It has a study book and then an accompanying question book which follows the curriculum closely.

He also quite likes the Letts ones, they inspire the imagination well, using wizards and dragons etc, with stickers so you can chart progress.

If he likes reading, or being read to, then the Usborne See Inside Maths is great for introducing mathematical concepts. Might spark an interest for him perhaps? Lots of flaps to lift!

HTH

Thanks taffeta.

What level would you say the See Inside Maths book is aimed at? As many of the reviews/descriptions I found when I googled it say it is meant for years 3/4. DS2 is one of the youngest in year 1 and as he is already having a bit of difficulty with it I don't want to put him off by giving him anything too difficult IYSWIM

I guess it could be aimed at Y3/4, but as all it does is introduce concepts, I treat it a little like I would a book for my 3yo, ie if I'm reading it, I will skip over bits that are over his head ( he's Y1 )and big up and talk through the appropriate bits/things he find interesting. So for eg there is a brilliant double spread page on how you use Maths at the supermarket. Inside each flap is a detailed answer which explains the concept. With some of these, I just translate into DS's level of understanding, which is more basic and not so detailed, iyswim.

I must admit to a bias to the Usborne See Inside books - I adore them. DS has about 6, and whilst many will be better for him in the next few years, I like that he has them in his room and can pick them up and look at them when he likes. Often we'll read just a few pages of one after his main book before bed. This may be a good approach if he's not that keen on Maths? I say this as I leave Maths normally to DH as I am hopeless at it, but love See Inside Maths!

Thanks, I like the idea of them as he is a really big reader (getting him to do anything when his head is in a book is almost impossible) and is very independant, so I thought maybe he could almost teach himself the concepts with them.

I am the opposite, maths has always come fairly easily to me (as it seems to with DS1) but as I studied maths based subjects at uni I tend to solve things with far too complicated methods! For example DS2 had the sum _ + 6 = 15 and I automatically went to show him that he should subtract six from both sides but then thought that probably wasn't the simplest method for a six year old who isn't that into maths!

Thanks for the Usborne books recommendation, sounds to be just what we need too.

In terms of workbooks, I recommend the Bond Series of books. Their No Nonsense books are divided into topics with a short explanation then some practice questions. Their 10 minute tests are sets of mixed questions and their third set of books has longer mixed tests. i like these series because they are divided by age group (5-6yrs, 6-7yrsetc) and they also have a link to further questions on their website. Each book costs around a fiver. If your child is struggling one idea is to start him on a book that is one year lower than his age to build up his confidence first and fill in any gaps in his knowledge.
I'm a former maths teacher and former Kumon instructor (search for the Kumon v Kip McGrath question for my advice on Kumon) and have just started a blog giving parents advice and tips to help them support their child's maths learning maybe you'll find something useful there.
Good Luck