Are you able to teach your children maths GCSE?

[Fallinginlovewithmaths]

DD is in year 11 and doing foundation maths; she has a tutor but I am sitting down to practice with her/ do the tutor homework every day.

I mostly let her get on with it but I am realising I need to get more involved. The problem is I didn’t do GCSE and not even native English, didn’t grow up in the UK.

I am looking at conversions for instance. I learned this with a rule of 3; but the methodology they use here is different.

Are you able to support your child? I don’t want to confuse her 😬

How do I help her? She works well with the tutor but seems to get a bit stuck at home.

I would not be worried if she was achieving a pass; but last mock was a 2 in non calculator (close to a 3) and 1 in calculator paper.

OP, you should remember that knowing a subject and being able to explain it well are two different things.

I have a good friend who holds a PhD in physics. He got a maths tutor for his son, because he is simply not a good teacher.

You see a similar pattern at some universities: for basic undergraduates courses, it is much better to be taught by someone who isn't a world class scholar but is a good teacher, than by a renowned academic who may not necessarily be a good teacher. But the unis with renowned academics may have a better reputation, and that also counts, so there's that, too...

Maybe try to understand what topics she needs the most help with, and how they are taught differently here vs how you studied them

No I couldn’t, I’ve still not passed my GCSE maths!

Thank you.

I want to support her; but really don’t know how. It is true, not everyone can teach and I really don’t want to confuse her.

So not sure what support can I offer her, apart from sitting with her, reminding her of homework, driving her to tutor; feeding her and offering moral and practical support.

I am here listening to Mathmo and trying to understand his methodology on a simple conversion which I can do simply and quickly with a rule of 3.

Sorry to hear that. How has this impacted your career and work?

I was good at maths and a primary school teacher but now the methods are different. I think you can confuse a child if you use different methods. Bitesize maths can be very helpful.

Ive got an A level in maths, and wouldn't want to teach GCSE!

I have advised when stuck on homework (GCSE & a level) - my best moment when all the A level kids (via whatsapp chat)were congratulating themselves on finding a mistake in Mr Smiths answers, until Mummy Tap showed them where they were all going wrong! But im not even sure i could have got the right answer still - even tho I could set up the required solution.

Basically, no. Id seriously struggle to fo anything other than advise occasionally!

Honestly it hasn’t at all but I’ve been a SAHM for 13years now so I assume when I go back into the work place it’ll be something I need. I was a Nursery Nurse / Nanny and it wasn’t ever something asked for

Get the correct revision guide for the exam board she is sitting and use it to teach yourself the methods used. CGP are good.
Also look at the BBC Bitesize website - really simple step by step help. You can go back to KS2 and 3 as well to help with the basics.

I would try to find online resources or a tutor. I just googled the topic with my DD or there's Oak National Academy which is totally free - https://www.thenational.academy/teachers/programmes/maths-secondary/units

Interested. What do you mean by doing a conversion by rule of 3?
(Have maths degree, would like to learn what you mean)

Agree. I am just going to look at the videos and answers with her and try to figure it out if if she doesn’t understand something

She has a private tutor and a subscription to Mathmo.

Jamill rides a motorbike
The motorbike uses one litre of petrol for every 14 miles
How many liters of petrol does the motorbike use to go 168 kilometers

use 8 kilometers = 5 miles.

This is how I will work it out

8km 5 miles

168km ?

I times accross and divide by top left. It is always the same,

(168 x 5 )/ 8 =105mies

105/14 =7.5 liters

This is how we called it im Spanish: regla de 3 😅

Mathmo methodology is a bit different.

Unfourtunately the space in the rule of 3 doesn’t show that well.

I am pretty sure i will confuse DD.

Mathmo does a ladder

km Miles
8 5

X.      X 

14/5. 14/5

Hopefully you get the idea 😂

Thank you.
The 'problem' with that method is it doesn't really show why it works so is remembered by rote not understanding. This can be hard.

So I would do

8km = 5 miles
168km =

Then draw an arrow 8->168 and write x21
Fill in on right
5x21=105miles

105/14=7.5litres

(Easier to write by hand than type out)

Still different to what Mathmo is teaching, but all get to same results.

Oh god no, I’m very good at maths, my job depends on it, as a result my brain can’t comprehend that some people find maths tricky, so I’m the worst sort of person to build someones understanding and confidence in maths.

I know exactly what you mean OP and I have A Level Maths (30 odd years ago now) and have taught bottom set Year 10 GCSE as well!

My youngest is in Y10 doing Maths GCSE and eldest is in Y13 doing Maths A Level. I don't help either of them tbh.

But just to give my method: I would use what I call a 2-way table eg.

Distance vs Time
x metres vs y minutes
? metres vs z minutes

To work out the ? You have to find the multiplier to get from y to z. Then apply the same multiplier to x to get ?

I hope that makes some sense?

Also, my dc use the Dr Frost website if that's any help?

Just use chatgtp and ask it to break down every step? If you or her don’t understand ask it to break it down in simpler terms.
i did gcse foundation with one of my boys without it, which was doable with a B in gcse maths many moons ago, but AI is a gamechanger. Use it!

Dd overtook my knowledge in maths age 8. She went on to get a masters in maths and now teaches a level. I should have know really.

I think you should get a tutor.

Has the school/tutor given guidance on what additional support she may need?

I hit my wall during Year 9. I also wasn't raised in the UK, and the maths I learned at school didn't have circle theorems (the subject all my kids have hated that I had to put to my hands up and tell them they'll have to go back to their teachers).

I'm on my fourth kid going through GCSEs, third school, and all of them had support for all kids for math. My DS was on a part-time timetable with fewer GCSEs and had extra maths class during the week. My DDs went to weekly to fortnightly maths afterschool support plus homework club. My youngest going through it now goes to maths club. There is also a weekly support at our local libraries. I followed the guidance of their teachers on how to best support them, but it was largely my kids choosing to take up the opportunities to get additional support that got my older kids through it.

I have a maths gcse (top paper A grade) and a science degree and PhD so can do maths but without doing some study first I can’t just pick up what DD is doing for her gcse and help - year 11 top paper.
A lot of it is stuff you forget without practice and I don’t feel like I’m good enough at maths to teach it well by that level.
I am still ok at the year 7 maths my youngest is doing.

I have taught other people's children for over half my life, but trying to teach a pre teen fractions, during covid, was not an experience either of us wanted to re live.

Gcse revision, when i wasn't too busy to remember to give it a go, was most unlike the revision I do with my 'other' kids. Not sure either of us are ever going to recover from that either😆