Y10 maths - any suggestions of a good resource to boost maths at home

[LilyBolero]

Ds1 is in Y10, and I want him to do some extra maths at home - simply because he has the potential to do very well, and also the laziness to not fulfil his potential! Although I'm a v relaxed parent in most ways, I think I need to channel a bit of 'Tiger Mum' on maths and instil a bit of Chinese-style discipline! (He is quite up for this btw, I think he knows doing a little bit every night is a good idea - I'm only thinking 20mins or so).

Any ideas of a good book to work from, or good resource to get maths questions? He's top set in a high achieving school, and should be aiming for A*, if that helps with guidance on levels.

Thanks.

There are GCSE maths work books that you can get with loads of questions.

Or I think you can downloads Maths Olympiad papers for more sideways stretching.

May ask gently ask though, if he is aiming for A* for maths, wouldn't the time be better spent on a different subject where he might be expecting a lower grade?

Tbh, I think his year will need to focus on maths and english because they are doing the new Gove levels in those subjects, which are supposed to be harder than GCSE, I'd like him to have a shot at a high grade but he will need to put in extra time I think.

Also, it's the only subject where I think lots of repetition is really really worthwhile tbh! (with the possible exception of languages, but he isn't doing any!).

Following this with interest as my DD felt she had a "rubbish" teacher right from the start in Year 9 and hardly improved her level. She's got a good teacher this year who she's had before but a bit of extra support wouldn't go amiss.

If there's a change of him getting an A* in any subject (or equivalent under new GCSEs) then to my mind that's only to be supported.

Have a look at corbettmaths.com/ - it has videos, worksheets and practice papers, but what we've found really good have been the "5 a day" sheets which we've been doing virtually every day all through the Summer holidays - 10 minutes or so which our DS has really enjoyed doing and which have really highlighted his weaknesses, giving us the chance to fill in the gaps he's not properly understood.

Corbettmaths was recommended on another thread which I stumbled across a couple of months ago following a very disappointing end of year exam for my year 8 DS. He'd previously been flying in Maths - over 90% in the year 7 end of year test and in monthly progress tests throughout year 7 and the start of year 8, but his Maths declined during year 8, mostly we think because the teacher never gave homework (only two pieces for the entire year) and his teaching style was to cover each topic by just working through a couple of questions on the board with the pupils just copying the method into their exercise books and never actually doing anything on their own! Contrasted with year 7 where the teacher gave two pieces of homework each week, both being 30 minutes of practice questions which the teacher marked.

At the end of the Summer holidays, we gave DS a full practice paper for which he scored 94%, so the 5 a day sheets, plus the odd video have really worked for him!

I tried Corbett with my ds 10.
He loves the 5 a day.

Mathswatch - there's an app & webpage. Has videos of easy to follow well explained examples & then worksheets and answers on every topic. We bought logins for the entire year 11 last year and they were invaluable & really very well used.

I was told by one of my old Maths teachers (ages ago) that 'Maths is not a spectator sport!' Given my DDs experience at GCSEs this summer, it is practice, practice, practice - and she ended up with an A*.

There are only so many maths questions that can be asked and it is a matter of identifying what the question is looking for (and not getting confused by the 'Hanna's sweets' story).

DD found out which exam board was being used and downloaded lots of papers and answered the questions. She was thwarted a bit - as the school changed exam boards half way through Yr 10/11 and the Gove interference factor. But in the end a maths question is a maths question.

A tip from her maths teacher was: in the early days cut up the papers and just do the questions that you have been taught and sort the other questions into the other topics to do when you are able.

Towards the end of the GCSE revision she was timing herself on the papers, but in the early days it was a case of reinforcing the learning, working out the marking and making sure that the answer was correct.

You can get the study guides for specific exam boards from Watersones and some schools sell them at cost price. Ask the maths dept if they do this at your DS' school.

Dd used the Letts revision guide and workbooks. CGP do similar ones as well. It depends which they like. She also used "Letts GCSE to A* in a week", for a bit of revision nearer the exam. I assume there will be similar books for the new exams.

For the bits she struggles with we used Kahn Academy. The videos make things a lot clearer. There is also Hegartymaths, which has won a teaching award. It was written by a maths teacher to help his students' learning.

Thanks very much, loving the 5 a day from Corbett maths!!! Brilliant tip!