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.

No. DH is.

Kids with dyspraxia, dyslexia, or slow processing just don't fit into the standard maths box. They need a totally different approach. But once you switch things up and teach them in a way that works for them, maths actually becomes fun—and you realise just how brilliant they are！

Research shows that dyslexic kids are often amazing at 3D spatial thinking, geometry, and spotting patterns. Even Laurent Schwartz, who won the Fields Medal, thought he was rubbish at school simply because he was a slow processor!

It's all about tailoring things to your child. Like Jo Boaler says, real maths is about deep thinking, making connections, and creativity—it was never meant to be a speed test or memorising formulas. Given the right visual tools and encouragement, these kids can really love maths and do incredible things.

Is this a calculator paper?
I don’t feel like it needs a special method?
You need to figure out how much petrol is used for 5 miles/8km. 168km is conveniently 21 times 8km. So if you work out how much petrol is used for 5 miles and then multiply it by 21, you’ll have the answer. We know 1 litre gets you 14 miles. So divide 1 by 14, then multiply by 5, then by 21. = 7,5L. Or is that not showing the right method?

Any method is ok.
But working out what you have to do is the tricky bit for many lower ability students.

Interesting. I am reading about Jo Boaler. I may need her yo tutor my child, wondering how many teachers follow her approach.

The majority of people just forget maths once they stop studying them which means everyone just memorises it just to pass it

https://old.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.php
https://corbettmaths.com/2023/04/16/ultimate-higher-revision-video/
https://www.drfrost.org/browse-courses.php

In all honesty nothing would make DD think maths is fun. We all have different interests & aptitudes. She might play sport, read or draw for fun, but do maths for fun - no. I did try the oft suggested mumsnet idea of bringing maths into everyday activities like baking when she was little. However, she was totally unimpressed by this. Basically "why are you spoiling making cakes by quizzing me about numbers'. Other kids might enjoy maths puzzle books etc. They weren't for DD. Maybe im just not skilled at this approach. Now she is older we just accept it isnt her favourite thing, but practice brings progress. Maybe for some practice isnt needed, but for myself & DD it is.

Don't forget BBC Bitesize; it explains really well and there are quizzes at the end of each section.

Is her basic maths secure? By that I mean, all four operations, place value (and x by 10/100/1000 and vice versa), times tables etc? If not, spend time on these. The problem with the foundation paper is you need a really good grade to pass.

Thank you. Her maths basis are secured. from what I have seen she knows more than she thinks she does.

True re foundation paper. I think she needs 63 percent to pass, and there is quite a lot to cover.

I enquired the school about trying the higher paper as I understand you only need 20 percent for a 4; but the Head of Maths said it is easier to pass the foundation paper.

Is this correct? I asked if she could be moved to higher maths because the teachers are better and she is getting nothing out of her current teacher; but I guess it doesn’t work like that.

Will try BBC bitesize. Thanks. She uses maths genie and YouTube. Doesn’t like the explanations in cobbermaths

Just to add a small perspective: I would say don't worry about teaching her the wrong method, as the methods she learns will all add up in her head to give her flexibility to solve the problem in the way that she wants to in a given situation, which is really valuable: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/08/12/developing-flexibility-math-problem-solving

Your energy and enthusiasm is invaluable! Add to that the fact that the more maths she does with you the more she is graving those memory & skill pathways through her brain to make it easier to remember in future :)

If her latest results are a grade 1 on the non calculator and a grade 2 on the calculator paper then no school is going to permit her to attempt the higher paper. It is far, far harder.

yes, technically you need a lower percentage to get a grade 4 on it but that’s because it starts either the grade 4 questions and moves up through grade 5,6,7,8 and 9 questions.

your dd is currently able to do grade 1 material without a calculator and grade 2 material with.

she won’t stand a chance on the higher she’ll just get 0 and a U.

I suggest you have a look on here for the topics by grade.

https://www.gcsemathsrocket.co.uk/topic-lists

you’ll note that grade 2 topics include basic addition subtraction multiplication and division of whole numbers so that’s a good place to start.

grade 1 is about equivalent to year 4 maths in primary and grade 2 about to year 5.

I actually would worry about confusing a less able mathematician. Multiple methods are great for those that can handle them, but are more to remember / muddle up for the less able.
Unless they don't understand the school method but do understand and 'get' yours.

I taught DD1 how to do solving equations by a much clearer method than school which she didn't 'get'.
They were happy for her to use what I showed and even explain her method to others who were struggling.
(I can't remember for the life of me how school taught.)

Thank you. Makes sense

Honestly no way I could have done some of those topics she is studying in year 5 either, like areas of circles. I think I only learned algebra in secondary school too.

She was quite close to a 3 in the non calculator; but took the wrong/broken calculator for the calculator paper. I don’t think that helped.

Which makes sense. Pandemic happened in year 5 and she really got behind as her tutor stopped teaching due to the risk. She was and old lady. Then we found an online tutor in year 9; but now doing face to face,

It seems to me she learns better with the one to one lesson instead of a bigger class; but have fallen behind.

I strongly recommend that your DD take the higher tier. As you said, the percentage needed to pass is lower, so you can skip some of the tougher parts and still have plenty of time to secure the marks needed to pass. Most importantly, the foundation tier is too simple; drilling it can make maths feel tedious and dull the mind. Minds need to be stretched to ignite a DC’s potential. Yes, we are all different, but you never truly know where your child's limits lie, do you?

I sat down with my son and we went through the chapter on logic in his maths text book together.

The calculator paper is basically impossible without a calculator.

i’ve had kids that did that in mocks (no/broken calculator) and they basically get nothing.

it’s the easiest mistake to fix.

you do get some muppets that don’t bring a calculator to the real calculator exam. We used to as a school have spares to give out because there were always a couple and without a calculator they would fail.

This is about the worst advice in this thread. How a kid who struggles with grade 2 questions is going to manage a paper filled with much harder questions is beyond me. You’ve been really patronising on this thread btw.

If you haven't been taught higher content (and based on her current working at grades I doubt @Fallinginlovewithmaths child has) the higher paper simply wont have more than a couple of questions you can attempt.

Practicing foundation level maths wont dull the mind. It will increase the chance of a pass. Furthermore, foundation level maths is the maths most people use in their daily life and jobs. Learning about percentages, measures etc is intrinsically useful.
There are students on the borderline of foundation and higher where higher can be the better option if they have relative strengths in trig & algebra etc., but i dont think this is the situation here.

The school make the decision & with a grade of 2 in Y11 they are not going to enter a child for higher.

Broadly speaking I disagree.

The % to pass on higher tier is a lot lower because the questions are a lot harder. Higher tier starts with some grade 3 and 4 questions then rapidly goes up to 5 & 6 and by the staples you are on grade 7. Doing higher tier when hoping to just scrape a 4 runs the risk of bombing out entirely with a U which screws up any college course that wants a 3. (No grade 2 or 1 given for Higher tier).

Foundation tier on the other hand eases you in gradually to build confidence so but the end of the paper they are more likely to 'have a go'. (The year DD passed it was 60% for a 4 on Foundation (and 70% for a 5)).

There will be exceptions to this of course, but school is best placed to recommend for particular students.

@noblegiraffe may have a view, but may be enjoying a well deserved half term break right now.

So many topics. Wondering how many adults will pass GCSES? sadly most is forgotten after the exams. One wonder why do you need to learn/memorise so much.

I have dyscalculia and so does dd, I stopped being able to help teach her any maths by the time she was in year 9. Imo it’s definitely harder and a lot more content to remember than when I did maths GCSE nearly 30 years ago! I managed to scrape a C / pass with lots of help from a tutor in year 11.

Now dd is in year 11 and for some reason she’s gradually slipped backwards from getting 4’s in year 9 to 3’s in year 10, and is now getting 2’s in year 11. She says it’s because the content has got progressively harder. We’ve recently started maths tutoring to help, which is supposed to be once a week but the tutor keeps cancelling so dd has only had 3 lessons in half a term.

At parents evening which was half way through year 10, dd’s teacher said she was a grade 3 but was on course to be able to get a 4 and pass, so not to worry. Since starting year 11 and doing a weekly test she’s been getting 2’s and we’re a bit confused about why she’s slipped backwards, dd says the work has just got harder.

I wish I could help her more, I can sit with her and help with support and finding resources etc, but if she doesn’t understand something then most of the time no I can’t teach it to her. Feeling very frustrated

I blame myself. I packed the wrong calculator 😬

In theory I could, I have A at A'level. In practice I wouldn't want to. I haven't looked at that stuff in 25 years. Teaching methods have changed. And I'm not sure it would bode well for family harmony