Maths help for Primary PGCE

[Needmorewine]

Am due to start a PGCE in January and although I passed the skills tests I still think I could do with brushing up on my maths ! (KS1 & KS2) can anyone recommend a good textbook for this? Thanks

Have you checked out BBC Bitesize? I have been practising the GCSE maths for my PGCE.

This one's the most useful I've found. It sets out the methods and explains the vocabulary.
www.amazon.co.uk/Mathematics-Explained-Primary-Teachers-Haylock/dp/1446285871

There are some really great videos on YouTube, which give loads of short cuts and quick ways of working out the questions you'll be asked.

is the one that helped me the most but there are loads.

Please please spend time sorting your maths skills out. The ncetm website has loads of videos on the current 'ways' to teach maths through understanding. The nrich website will help with resources for your classroom practice.

Ask if you are unsure. The new curriculum places emphasis on formal methods for calculation, make sure you know them inside and out.

Agree with the recommendations for the Haylock book and also NCETM and nrich. NCETM has lots of questionnaires to work through different Maths topics, assessing yourself for how confident you feel at explaining different concepts. It's one thing to be able to do something yourself, but something completely different to be able to explain it to a child.

Thanks very much everyone - will work my way through these

' It's one thing to be able to do something yourself, but something completely different to be able to explain it to a child.'

This

Wait 'til you meet Y2 Y6 SPaG

"Wait 'til you meet Y2 Y6 SPaG"!!

" It's one thing to be able to do something yourself, but something completely different to be able to explain it to a child."

That one's particularly fun if you are a 'mature entrant' into teaching and were at primary in the 1970s / early 80s, when no grammar whatsoever was taught in many schools...

I score v. highly if I do the paper, mostly by reference to Latin, but can't teach children that 'the past progressive is what would be the imperfect, ending in -bam, -bas, -bat, in Latin'!

I'm doing a PGCE at the moment, and the book they recommend us for maths is Haylock, too. The emphasis is on really understanding what's going on with numbers (which is how we're supposed to teach, too), not just following a method without understanding why.

Also if you don't know all about clauses in grammar then look that up :p I'm a KS2 specialist and grammar is my nemesis.

Also I was at primary in the '90s and we did no grammar either! Parts of speech got a brief look-in but that was it.

'I'm a KS2 specialist and grammar is my nemesis.'

I thought the whole point of primary is that you teach everything. I've never been able to get out of PE, despite my lack of enthusiasm or specialisation in it.