DD (Year 8) really cannot do maths - what happens?

[pasanda]

My dd is in year 8 and next week has exams.

She is SO not academic (also dyslexic). She struggles hugely with science and the like, does better in english and geography, but absolutely HATES maths. Because she can't do it

Her Year 7 maths teacher kind of threw his hands in the air at parents evening (towards the end of the year last year) and basically said he had tried all the methods of teaching he could with her, but at the end of the day, 'he couldn't teach her'

Year 8 teacher just before Easter holidays said she might get a Level 1/2 in her GCSE's if she continues at the level she is now.

She does have a private maths tutor for an hour a week who has found methods to teach her which she does understand. But I can't help worry that an hour a week of maths is never going to get her anywhere!

She is in the bottom set for maths and is one of 5 students taken out of class for extra help with a TA. She likes this TA and says she understands it when she teaches her. Apart from that I can't see anything that her (highly academic) school are doing to help her.

To be quite honest, I don't particularly care if she fails maths. For her it seems to be like wading through treacle and if that is the way she is, so be it. She can't help it and to push and push her over something she literally cannot do seems unfair.

However, does anyone know of any websites that might be geared to the lower ability dc? Anything? What should I do do you think? (I just said I don't really care, but as a mum, I do really, I just don't want to stress her out!)

TIA

I agree with pp that the maths teachers do not sound good and that there is no reason that she should be written of at this stage.

Does your DD like her tutor? It is all very well the tutor being qualified and experienced and all the rest, but does your DD like them?

How is her numeracy? If she gets on well with YouTube have you considered an online tutor via Skype? For someone her age and as far behind as she is, being engaged is the most important thing.

I love happygardening's story.

Alongside teaching/tutoring, can you bring "everyday" maths more into your daily life with her - the sort of thing that doesn't "feel" like maths!

How about shopping and in the kitchen. Get her to work out the best deals on the supermarket shelf, i.e. how much per tin of beans in a 4 pack and compare with price of a single, or comparing different offers, i.e. different makes with different weights etc. Or decide to bake a cake and get her to do the buying of the ingredients and weighing out etc. Or compare the price of the ingredients for a home made spag bol compared to ready meals. Do it "quietly" and she won't even know that you're in "teaching" mode.

Or if she wants to buy something major, get her to work out how many weeks it would take her to save her pocket money if she saved it all, or saved half of it, etc.

Small steps, but confidence boosters.

My OH spectacularly failed maths (U grade). Went to college to do a catering course and dreaded the "maths" side of it, i.e. portion control, costings, etc. But it all "clicked" when he saw maths in action in real life scenarios and he ended up with a list of merits/distinctions. Now, he's numerate as an adult and even helped with our son's maths homework, surprising himself that he understood basic algebra and trig when he was helping our son! He's even seriously thought about doing Maths GCSE himself at the local college to prove to himself that he wasn't "crap" at maths, but that it was down to crap teaching at the time!

It sounds to me very much that your daughter is not being supported very well by the school.Consequently she has probably convinced herself that she's not very bright.Do the school offer any extra help for Dyslexic children other than in the Maths.Such as teaching assistants in other subjects, one to one help with organisation,teaching learning strategies for dyslexics such as the use of Mind Maps etc.Does the School make her feel valued in any other areas?
My Ds was in this position but with a change in schools and the extra help offered plus some external tuition he has improved massively.The problem is unless helped at a very early stage ( in My ds state juniors it was totally ignored) these children label themselves as stupid when they're really not.

Dd is good at maths but just can't copy. This means that if she reads numbers they get jumbled in her head and so when she writes them down for calculations they get jumbled up and she gets the wrong answer. She doesn't have dyslexia but she does have severe visual stress. She uses coloured filters and is currently waiting for glasses which when she was trying lenses substantially increased her reading speed and stopped the letters moving around. You probably have already explored it but if not it is worth looking into particularly if she seems to understand the theory but gets the answers wrong.

Look up mathswhizz.
Fantastic online course that works out maths age, sets appropriate work and adds reinforcement when needed.

SuperRainbows, I just had a quick look on sample lesson for mathswizz.
But it only lists up to yr8.
Does it go beyond yr8?

Forgot to say, the site looks great. And thinking about changing from ixl.(good site but very repetitive.)

I teach in an SEMH school and a lot of our students have difficulties similar to those you describe. We use a one-to-one intervention called "plus 1" and "the power of 2". I teach English but I have seen incredible progress in my tutor groups ability and confidence.

The books are not cheap but I think they are very effective. They also have the bonus of having been used in prison etc so are not babyish at all but still very basic.

Wow - so many replies! Thank you so much everyone.

DD already has the coloured glasses. Bit of a sore point because they cost a bloody fortune (>£200 ) but she is in the awkward/embarrassed stage where she thinks everyone is looking at her and laughing/judging her . Honestly, it really is difficult to get her to engage with anything at the moment as it's all soooooo embarrassing! I have asked the teachers to encourage her and I think she is better in english and history but not so sure about maths.

She does like her tutor, yes. She realises that she is the only one so far who has helped her and she is such a lovely, sweet woman who has the patience of a saint - dd can't help but like her.

I will look up all the websites and books and decide a way forward. Thank you once again for all the suggestions - you are all fab!

Irvine, mathswhizz only goes up to y8. I thought it might be useful for op's dd to build up her confidence and help her to catch up.

If you wanted something for older dcs, Khan Academy is a useful resource and it's free. It is set to the American grade system, but I know lots of home edders who use this for their maths work.

Thank you, SuperRainbows.
We already use khan, and agree, it's great.
It's a shame mathswhizz only goes up to yr8, I thought their sample lesson was great. More fun than simple talk style lesson of khan.

Would something computer-based appeal more? We've used Doodlemaths (there are KS1, KS2 and KS3 versions) and my kids don't particularly like it (Squeebles is whizzier) but it has the fantastic advantage of adjusting so that they always get about 90% right. So it's really good for building confidence (if you get everything wrong it goes right back to basics) and it's set up so that you cover the whole curriculum in a logical order that builds on what you've previously learned.

Lots of great suggestions here. I have been in exactly the same position with my DD who has just completed GCSE.

I would get her screened for discalculia. This will gain her extra time in the GCSE exams. Does the school offer Foundation level GCSE. If so, take this up, it does make a difference.

I found your comment that you don't care if she passes maths slightly alarming: she will need to keep retaking it till she gains a level 5 so best put plans in place to get it passed first time round! I would aLso advise against focussing on maths at the expense of anything else she is actually good at. Confidence is key and if she feels good generally about other subjects she enjoys she can take this forward to her maths.

What we have found is that repetition is the thing for DD who cannot "see" what a question is asking. A bit like rote learning she tries to recognise certain words and knows that the question is asking for x or certain diagrams so she knows it's Pythagoras or trig etc. We will see if this approach has worked when the results come in August!