News: A new vision for schools

special needs help

Ever wonder if the school your children go to gets as much financial and help as it should? A very influential group who call themselves The New Vision Group have suggested that extra funding should go to schools that make a big effort to support those pupils who find themselves falling behind at the age of 11. Financial incentives would be given to schools that are “inclusive”, schools which show good progress with vulnerable and special needs children. Continue reading “News: A new vision for schools”

Maths worksheets: Subtract from teens. Y3

Maths worksheets: Y3 Subtract from teens

CountingBy year 3 children are expected to have progressed to working with numbers in the teens and be able to answer by working out in their heads a single digit from a teen. Very often subtraction can be done by adding on from the smaller number to the larger number and this is the case with a question such as 14 – 8. Continue reading “Maths worksheets: Subtract from teens. Y3”

Bear and Penguin’s Big Maths Adventure: software review

Bear and penguinBear & Penguin’s Big Maths Adventure

White Bear and Little Penguin lead children across the ice to tackle maths games including counting problems and simple sums. Aimed at younger children, aged 5 to 7 it concentrates on early addition and subtraction. The games are entertaining and suit the age range, with three levels for each activity. It is recommended that the games are played in order as they are progressive, although the tasks do not get too hard – sticking to addition and subtraction to 20. Lots of rewards and incentives plus a timed Super game to play when the other games have been completed.

One of a series of Bear and Penguin CDs, published by Dorling Kindersley who have a good record for producing educational software, it is typical of their software and includes the usual extras, such as a printing section where birthday cards etc can be made.

There is a good parental guide which includes some follow up worksheets.

Graphics are good and it is easy to play.

In conclusion, good all round, but it is a little limited in scope. If you are looking for a straightforward enjoyable CD where children can practice their addition and subtraction then this will do nicely. First published in 2000 I have graded it on value for money on prices available at Amazon etc under £10.00.

Interest
7 out of 10
Maths content
6 out of 10
Value for money
7 out of 10
 
 
 

Maths worksheets: Adding numbers up to ten. Y2

Maths worksheets Quick recall of addition facts up to 10

Counting Adding numbers up to ten is expected by the end of year 2. These timed exercises can be used to help build this knowledge, but it must be stressed that children need constant repetition so that the answers become internalised – in other words, they know the answer rather than having to do any kind of ‘working out’. It is better to leave timed activities until children are fairly proficient as the pressure of answering correctly can lead to mistakes and a loss of confidence.

2301-01 Adding numbers to 10 (pg 1)

2301-02 Adding numbers to 10 (pg 2)

Free Y1 maths worksheets: Counting on and back in twos.

Free Y1 Maths worksheets Counting on and back in twos

CountingNumber lines are great! Once children have become used to counting up and down in single digits and can count up to 10 and back to zero confidently, they can be encouraged to count in steps of two (2, 4, 6, 8, 10). Don’t try this until they are really secure with counting in ones and only go up to 10 to begin with. Continue reading “Free Y1 maths worksheets: Counting on and back in twos.”

Maths worksheets: Classify shapes. Y6

circle, semi-circle, triangle, equilateral triangle, isosceles triangle, scalene triangle, quadrilateral, rectangle, oblong, square, parallelogram, rhombus, kite, trapezium, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, polygon, cube, cuboid, pyramid, sphere, hemisphere, cylinder, cone, prism, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron, polyhedron.

shape1Plenty of shape names to learn. By year 6 children should be able to use, read and write the following words:

pattern, shape, two-dimensional, three-dimensional, line, side, edge, face, surface, base, point, angle, vertex, vertices, centre, (or center in the US) radius, diameter, net, curved, regular, irregular, concave, convex, circular, triangular, hexagonal, cylindrical, square-based, right-angled, congruent, concentric, tangram, circumference, arc. Continue reading “Maths worksheets: Classify shapes. Y6”

What is expected of children? Part 1: the 7 strands of maths

calculating, shape, measures, data handling, knowing, using and applying mathematics

For parents it is often very difficult to know what is expected of their children at school. Over the next few weeks I will try to provide a guide for parents, starting today with how primary school maths has been broken down into ‘strands’. Continue reading “What is expected of children? Part 1: the 7 strands of maths”

News: No evidence for more male teachers

boys are still performing well at maths!

As a result of poor achievement by many boys in school there have been quite justified calls for more male teachers in Primary Schools. But a report just out from the Department for Children, Schools and Families says there is little evidence to support a campaign to get more men into the classroom. Continue reading “News: No evidence for more male teachers”

Maths worksheets: Classify shapes. Y5

congruent shapes, scalene triangles

shape1Congruent is a word to conjure with! In fact it has a very simple meaning. If two shapes are congruent then they are identical in every way, including size. Simple eh! Unfortunately people who design maths tests papers make this as difficult as possible as children are expected to be able to spot congruent shapes even when one of a pair has been turned. By far the easiest way to spot two congruent shapes is to cut one out, or trace it and see if it fits exactly over the other – if it does it is congruent. Continue reading “Maths worksheets: Classify shapes. Y5”

What is expected of children? Part 3: Year 1

What is expected of children during their primary school years in England year 1

What is expected of children during their primary school years in England?

Year 1 ( aged 5/6)

To be able to successfully help your child with maths at home it is important to have a good idea of what is expected in school. Remember, we divided all the maths content into 7 strands. Let’s take each of the strands in turn to see what the Primary Framework for Mathematics suggests for children aged between 5 and 6 years old. Continue reading “What is expected of children? Part 3: Year 1”