Moving to secondary school is often a worry for children and parents, especially since Key Stage 3 Maths is stuffed with new concepts and complicated topics – all taught at a faster pace than ever before.
Yet, in reality, Year 7 Maths teachers will be building on what your child has already learnt in their primary school about number, calculation and place value.
While tougher concepts such as probability, algebra and geometry appear in the secondary school curriculum, our experienced Maths tutors here at 121 Home Tutors recommend taking the following positive steps.
Make Everyday Maths Fun
Maths isn’t just an alien topic studied in stuffy classrooms. It stems from the real world.
A really good way to normalise Maths is to include your child with every day mathematical uses:
- Work out cooking measurements, pizza fractions
- Addition/multiplication when shopping
- Practise division when divvying up some M&Ms, for instance
- Work out distance and speed when travelling
Lots of everyday problem solving are mathematical based. At the very least, these activities enable you to have positive conversations about Maths.
Practise Times Tables
Success in Maths is underpinned by knowing your times tables. Make it FUN rather than doing the old fashioned drill method.
Any game that involves numbers offers new ways to practise those pesky numbers!
- Play UNO. Lie your card down, then multiply it by the top card on the pile
- Play Multiplication war by turning up two cards and multiplying them together
- Play Go Fish by asking whether your opponent has two cards that multiply to a specific number – for example, 8×5 =40
- Dice and dominoes can be used to practise multiplication, subtraction, division and addition.
Also, don’t forget that there are plenty of Maths games online that your child can play. Here’s a Bitesize one.
Don’t forget that there are lots of sites such as Corbett Maths that offer free Key Stage 3 Maths resources to learn from. Check out Maths Zone too…
Maths Made Easy with a Maths Tutor
Of course, there is always the option of getting right to the heart of the conundrum. Working with a professional Maths teacher can make all the difference!
Contact our lovely team of trusty tutors if Maths is causing problems your child needs to solve.
And if your child struggles with dyscalculia or anxiety, we can help with that too.
*Image courtesy of additudemag.com
Tags: addition, Corbett Maths, division, Dyscalculia, Maths Anxiety, Maths Zone, multiplication, times tables