Month: August 2007

Teaching Tables: software review

Teaching Tables: software review

Teaching TablesTeaching Tables by Primary Games Ltd
Tables, tables, tables, the nightmare for so many parents whose children just don’t seem to ‘get’ them. Founded by Mark Cogan, an ex teacher, this is one of a collection of CDs or downloads aimed mainly for schools but could be very useful for home use. It contains both games to play and worksheets to print, all aimed at improving knowledge of tables. There are 5 games: Continue reading “Teaching Tables: software review”

Maths worksheets: Rounding to the nearest million. Y6

Rounding to the nearest million

countingLarger numbers can be rounded in just the same way as rounding hundreds or thousands, always referring to the digit below the one you want to round.

Eg rounding to a million, look at the hundred thousand digit:

2 345 456 is rounded down to 2 000 000 (two million) to the nearest million because the hundred thousand digit is only 3.

2 987 654 is rounded up to 3 000 000 (three million) to the nearest million because the hundred thousand digit is 9.

Children are often fascinated by large numbers and there are plenty of good sources in geography, such as population figures, areas of countries etc

6201-03 Rounding to the nearest million (pg 1)

6201-04 Rounding to the nearest million (pg 2)

Maths worksheets: Partition numbers and place value. Y5

Maths worksheets: Partition numbers and place value Y5

countingBy year 5 children are expected to be able to read and write some seriously large numbers. A really good understanding of place value is needed to read large numbers successfully. The key to looking at a number and working out how to say it lies in separating the number up into a series of hundreds, tens and units.

Let’s look at 123 456 789 Continue reading “Maths worksheets: Partition numbers and place value. Y5”

News: Children should start school later.

The Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) have called for children to start school at the age of 6 or 7 rather than 4, which is the current situation. They argue that school deprives them of free, indirected play, which leaves them at a disadvantage when faced with the difficulties of the real world. Continue reading “News: Children should start school later.”

Maths worksheets: Partition into ThHTU. Y4

Maths worksheets: Partition into ThHTU Y4

countingA good understanding of place value is crucial for successful mental arithmetic and progress with written methods of the four rules. The value of a digit depends on its place in the number. For example: the 2 in 1 234 is worth 200 whilst the 2 in 4 321 is worth only 20. Our whole number system is based around this idea but don’t be surprised if your children find it difficult – many do! It seems quite an old fashioned idea to place the letters HTU to stand for hundreds, tens and units, above a number or sum, but it does help with this understanding and in reading numbers out loud. Continue reading “Maths worksheets: Partition into ThHTU. Y4”

News: From Years to Y.

News: From Years to Stages

I have had a number of emails concerning the listings of the site in Years. Many parents are very aware that their children are a little behind with their maths compared to their age group, but are very reluctant to do work considered suitable for younger children. Because of this and because the year groups only really apply to English schools I revised the titles of categories and worksheets to Stages rather than Years. This  seemed to be not very popular so I have reverted back to just showing Y on titles etc. Y1 is for 5/6 years old, Y2 is for 6/7 years old, Y3 is for 7/8 years old, Y4is for 8/9 years old, Y5 is for 9/10 years old and Y6 is for 10/11 years old. The worksheets are challenging and a good many children will not be able to cope with the suggested level. It is highly recommended to always start from something that your child has success with, even if it means moving down two or three years.

Mathszone: web review

Mathszone web reviewMathszone.

A commendable idea: to collect a variety of free games and activities from different sites which can be used for teaching maths in school or at home. Organised into 9 categories:
Use and apply maths
Count and understand
Number facts, add and subtract
Number facts, multiply and divide
Calculating, add and subtract
Calculating, multiply and divide
Shape
Measuring
Handling data. Continue reading “Mathszone: web review”

Maths worksheets: Grouping and counting. Y3

countingOne more maths worksheet with sets of objects to help with counting larger numbers. It is always a good idea to ask for an estimate of the whole amount before starting. Young children only have a limited concept of larger numbers – it can be 1, 2, 3, 4, lots! Grouping into fives or tens helps – but only when children have learned to count up in fives or tens. I would still recommend plenty of practical practice – eg putting a pack of cards into piles of 5 or ten.
The second page is a set of number lines to complete, filling in the spaces. Some of these are tricky because they cross the hundreds boundary eg counting on 6 from 97. Make sure your child is confident with counting below 100 before attempting this. Of course it is relatively easy for you to create a number line to put numbers on and to practice counting up and down, and don’t forget snakes and ladders and other dice games which involve counting.

It is always a good idea to listen carefully to your children when they count up to 100 and beyond. Often they will miss whole sets of tens out to begin with. Remember those games of chase you used to play when you had to count to 100 first – now you know why some of your friends managed it so quickly!!

3201-03 Group into fives or tens

3201-04 Count in the hundreds in steps of 1 (pg 1)