Acacias Community Primary School
Maths Support
Targeted maths intervention at Acacias
Support for maths is also provided through small group interventions lead by teachers and teaching assistants to try to accelerate progress and enable children to catch up with their peers.
Our aim at Acacias is to support children who are having difficulty with maths; to help them overcome misconceptions and gain confidence and foster a love of number activities.
Mathematical Vocabulary
It is important for children to use correct mathematical vocabulary and have an understanding of what these terms mean. Being able to explain what they are doing will help your child to understand the maths in more depth and it will help them to apply their understanding, when tackling word problems and reasoning.
Below is a link to an online dictionary which provides definitions and resources which aid understanding of these terms.
Numbers Count
Mrs Bradley-Byrne is a trained Numbers Count Teacher. Numbers Count is an intensive intervention for learners in Years 1 to 6 who have the greatest difficulties with mathematics. It is delivered by a specially trained teacher who also supports other staff in school.
Numbers Count:
- provides targeted use of the Pupil Premium
- supports the new National Curriculum for Mathematics
- raises mathematical attainment for the lowest achievers
- creates an ‘in-house specialist’ mathematics teacher who helps to raise standards for all learners
- provides detailed evidence of progress and impact
- rigorous, active lessons focus on number and calculation, helping learners to develop skills and attitudes that will ensure good progress in class lessons.
Two programmes are available at Acacias:
- Numbers Count – for learners in Years 1 to 3
- Numbers Count 2 – for learners in Years 4 to 6
If you have any queries, please speak to Mrs Bradley-Byrne.
Advice and ideas for parents supporting their children with maths at home
It is most important that you talk & listen to your child about their work in maths. It will help your child if they explain their maths to you.
- Share the maths activity with your child and discuss it with them.
- Be positive about maths, even if you don’t feel confident about it yourself.
- Remember, you are not expected to teach your child maths, but please share, talk and listen to your child.
- If your child cannot do their homework do let the teacher know by either writing a note in your child’s book or telling the teacher.
- A lot of maths can be done using everyday situations and will not need pencil and paper methods.
- Play games and have fun with maths!
Below are some useful Web links that should help you support your child’s
learning.
100 square: http://www.primarygames.co.uk/pg2/splat/splatsq100.html
Number line: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/multiplication-square
Adding: https://www.splashmath.com/
Top Tips
Counting
- Practise chanting the number names. Encourage your child to join in with you. When they are confident, try starting from different numbers, and counting forwards and backwards.
- Sing number rhymes together – there are lots of number rhymes that nurseries and schools use and teach and lots of CDs available in shops.
- Give your child the opportunity to count a range of interesting objects (coins, pasta, shapes, buttons etc.). Encourage them to touch and move each object as they count. As they become more confident, try grouping in such 2s, 5s or 10s and count on in multiples.
- Count things you cannot touch or see (more difficult!) Try lights on the ceiling, window panes, jumps, claps or oranges in a bag.
- Play games that involve counting (e.g. snakes and ladders, dice games, games that involve collecting objects).
- Look for numerals (numbers) around you at home and when out and about.
- Cut out numerals from newspapers, magazines, birthday cards. Talk about the numbers and put them in order, think about numbers that come in between, before, after etc.
- Make mistakes when chanting, counting or ordering numbers. Can your child spot the mistake and correct you?
- Choose a number of the week e.g. 5. Practise counting to 5 and on from 5. Count out groups of 5 objects (5 dolls, 5 bricks, 5 toy cars, 5 pens). See how many places you can spot the number 5.
100 squares
100 squares are a really useful resource when teaching early number. Amongst other things they can help:-
1. Gain an understanding of place value from 1-100.
2. Counting on or back in ones by moving along the rows.
3. Adding or subtracting 10 by going up or down the columns.
4. To find lots of number patterns.
5. Investigate how even and odd numbers are situated in the square.
6. Show how multiples of different numbers are arranged.
Top tips – Fluency
Within the new Maths curriculum there is now a big emphasis on developing fluency in mathematics. This means children need to be able to recall basic number facts using mental strategies.
They can do this by learning certain calculations off by heart, such as pairs that make 5, 9 or 10, double number facts or multiplication facts. However, for many children it can be quite a challenge to memorise all of this.
* Addition and subtraction facts
Whilst it is helpful for children to learn some facts off by heart, others can be ‘derived’ or worked out, by using known facts, for example:
If you know 3 + 7 = 10, it follows 7 + 3 = 10 or 30 + 70 = 100.
Encourage your child to practise adding and subtracting single digits, always looking for any patterns:
If 5 – 3 = 2, then 5 – 2 = 3.
Help your child to learn all of the pairs which total 10 and the related subtraction facts.
0 + 10 = 10 10 – 0 = 10
1 + 9 = 10 10 – 9 = 1
2 + 8 = 10 10 – 8 = 2
3 + 7 = 10 10 – 7 = 3
4 + 6 = 10 10 – 6 = 4
5 + 5 = 10 10 – 5 = 5
* Doubling and halving ( x2/÷2)
Can your child double numbers from at least 1 to 10?
Make links with the related halving/division fact:
I know double 7 is 14, therefore 14 halved is 7
* Multiplication & division.
The expectation is for children to recall multiplication facts and their related division facts to 12 x 12 by the end of year 4.
A good way to do this is to think of Fact Families, and learn the division facts alongside the multiplication facts.
E.g. 4 x 6 = 24, 6 x 4 = 24, 24 ÷ 4 = 6. 24 ÷ 6 = 4
If your child can’t recall all the multiplication facts encourage them to use the facts they know and then count back or on in multiples of the number:
e.g. to solve 7 x 4, find 5 x 4 = 20 and then count on two more 4s or to solve 3 x 9, find 3 x 10 and subtract 3
Any time you can spend helping your child with their maths or discussing their learning is hugely beneficial. The more opportunities that children have to practise maths, the easier it becomes. These opportunities could come about through homework, when demonstrating to you what they have learned in class or even during ordinary everyday situations.
There are a large number of helpful websites which can help your child with their maths.
Some suggestions are below:
http://www.maths4mumsanddads.co.uk/
http://www.familymathstoolkit.org.uk/
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=SpeedChallenge
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/
http://www.ictgames.com/resources.html
http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/maths/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/