Maths

All of our children enjoy a daily maths lesson, but an easy way to boost their skills and motivation is by showing them how useful mathematical skills are in almost everything they do.  Children can have fun:

• measuring their height and working out how much they’ve grown
• on car journeys – adding and subtracting with road sign numbers and number plates, and thinking about speed by dividing distance by time
• at the shops – weighing fruit and vegetables, working out change, budgeting with pocket money, and working out the value of products by comparing prices and weight
• in the kitchen – with weighing and measuring ingredients, and temperature and timings
• making 3D models and finding different shapes around your home.

To support their mental maths skills, you can help by practising times tables and division facts. regularly.

Also practise simple addition and subtraction calculations for example 45 + 45 = ? and what do I add to 3 to make 10.
Unusual and enjoyable activities are particularly useful for number facts that your child finds difficult to remember:

• Make up a rap or rhyme i.e. nine times five are forty five snakes alive
• Have a ‘fact of the week’ displayed in a prominent place
• Say them in a different voice i.e low or squeaky
• Put actions to facts i.e clapping or jumping
• Make and display posters
• Use everyday objects (i.e. buttons or lego) to illustrate groups and build on them to make multiplication facts
• Create flashcards and play games
• Speed tests – how many can they get right in 60 seconds?  Can they improve on their previous score?

Useful websites:

Figure This! – Maths challenges for families
Gridclub – Channel 4’s educational website. Loads of fun activities and games
Primary Games – Simple maths games, which are fun and help children practise maths from all areas of the numeracy curriculum.