Algebra.

[OhYesPlease]

My DS age 11 is in top set math class in year 6 prep, sitting for/has sat for 11+.

This question is stumping him, but when I explain it he easily grasps it. Is his teacher incompetent?

"if I treble a number & add 6, I get the same answer as when I add 16 to that number. What is the number."

so, if were trying to find the value of X

3X+6=X+16

taking the X to the left, and the 6 to the right

3X-X=16-6
2X +10
X=5

The number is 5

Sorry, 2X=10

5

Love algebra

Sorry, I understand the question. My question is, shouldn't his teacher have covered this?

He hasn't got the idea of finding the question from the info given. I can't imagine the teacher can teach how to solve all possible "written" maths question. So, has she talked through forming the maths statements from sentences? It surely can't be the first time he's seen a question like that?

It looks to me like a question to see if the kids are understanding why they might be solving something, rather than just the mechanical solving of them

Many schools don't cover algebra in KS2, but algebra questions often appear in 11+ papers.

Your DS needs to be able to use maths for himself, the teacher can't possibly go through examples of every single type of question he might ever encounter.

So the teacher isn't necessarily incompetent, however your DS needs to improve his using and applying skills (although this is a very advanced question for Y6 so it's fine for him to be a bit stuck on it).

Is it the wording which he found difficult or how to set up and solve the equation? I don't think you can asses the ability of the teacher from one question. Dd is about the same age. They often don't get what we think is simple. It would be better to understand his thinking in order to help him solve similar questions in the future.

Was it one question for homework or one of a group? How long is homework supposed to take?

If it was part of a group I would have expected the teacher to have taught a method. Bit if not, or if the rest of e questions will have taken very little time, then the teacher could have set it as a "problem solving" exercise. To be honest your son should have been able to solve it in less than 10 minutes by simple trial and error. (And that may have given him a much better understanding of Maths and thinking mathematically.)

Sometimes the child's brain works in a different way to the teacher's, so the teacher explains, the child doesn't understand; then someone else explains and the child grasps it immediately.

DD usually comes home after maths not having understood anything (she's in top set too, year 10), and I explain it and she goes "oooooooh!". I did the same when I was at school, and my brother or my dad would explain. The same thing happened with my dad when he was at school.......

Sometimes, of course, the child is distracted, or not listening properly etc. one to one with parent is very different.

Just gave this to dd and she came up with 3.3 recurring by thinking.

She then tried again and wrote the 3x+6=x+16. I have had to tell her quite a bit in the past that if you have an unknown number you call it a letter, so I was glad she remembered.

She could then move the numbers round to find 5.

I find it a bit hit and miss with dd. Sometimes she remembers how to do things and sometimes not. Maths is something that doesn't come straight away, but builds with practice.

I think that I would be looking to see what was the step that he couldn't get: translating the sentence into a mathematical equation, or solving the mathematical equation?

I'm not sure whether you can deduce very much about the teacher's competence from this.

It may just be a bit of a brain block about algebra. Both my DDs are/were top set maths, and DD1 got a high A at A level. But both in year 6 (and beyond) struggled to put a wordy question into an algebraic formula and then solve it - something I find quite instinctive. Typical comment "Ugh...you're always talking about algebra!" accompanied with flouncing, tears and door slamming. Or perhaps it's just not taught in the same way as 30 odd years ago.

What was the problem your DS had? Was it the setting up of the equations in the first place or solving them?

When you helped him how did you do it? Did the teacher assist him at all or was he just not able to start?

It's hard to tell from what you've said whether there is an issue with the teacher or not.

Hi Oh Yes:

This kind of thing + a whole bunch more is covered in 'Algebra school' through mathsfactor: www.themathsfactor.com/algebra/

It is a video game format - dividing algebra into three main categories:

Number operations (BIDMAS, etc...)
Using formulae
Solving equations

There are games to learn skills and then quizzes for which you when points which lead to parts of a greek temple you build or golden statues. My DD1 (Y6 just turned 11) really loves it.

You can skip through cartoony bits pretty quickly if they're too babyish/ girly - but the games/ practice are really good.

Like the arithmetic school - parents get information on how their child is doing, how much they are doing and e-mails explaining what they're working on next. There are no live videos with Carol Vorderman (which we miss a bit) - but everything is explained very clearly with lots of extra practice & you can go back & do more/ do a quiz again as you wish.

But in terms of learning how to take word problems and convert them into equations (like the example you gave) DD1 is currently working on that (USING FORMULAE) and having done one practice with her - the word problems are really tricky and I'm amazed at how well she's doing with it. The programme really does teach you step by step how to handle this type of thing logically (and calmly - which often is DD1's problem - she tends to panic a bit or just give up entirely if it seems too hard).

-----

Now mathsfactor Mighty Algebra school is a one-off fee of about £20 - but you can also learn algebra through Khan Academy for free: www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra

We tend to use Khan academy when we find the way something has been explained (either at school or on maths factor) isn't quite making sense/ working for DD1. It's just another way of doing this. These videos are largely presented by Salman Khan (founder of Khan academy) who started this to help his younger cousins with their maths work in high school in the US.

HTH