Primary Education too narrow?

For some years now schools have been pushing Numeracy and Literacy above all other subjects, especially in Year 6 when SATs are taken. Unfortunately this does not appear to have resulted in the expected improvement in these areas. Now a new study, The Cambridge Primary Review, suggests that too much emphasis on these ‘basics’ is resulting in an impoverished education for our children.

We need to get back to the fundamental question of what the purpose of primary education is and striking the right balance between basic skills of reading, writing and maths and all the other fascinating areas of learning. Continue reading “Primary Education too narrow?”

Maths worksheet: divide by 5 mentally

divide-by-5Here is a page on dividing by 5 ‘in your head’. Divide each of the numbers in the circles by 5 and place the answers in the outside hexagons.

This is a useful exercise as it helps to show the relationship between division and multiplication. If the 5 times table is known these are quite simple; if the 5 x table is not known then they are very difficult!

It relies on the knowledge that if 5 x 7 = 35 then three other facts are known:

1. 7 x 5 = 35 and

2. 35 divided by 7 = 5

3. 35 divided by 5 = 7

Divide by 5 mentally (pg 1)

Maths worksheets: adding 10 to a single digit

add10Another two pages in our series of simple addition worksheets, adding ten to a single digit. This, of course is easy if place value is understood. Another point to make is that as addition can be done in any order it is easier to think of these as adding the single digit to 10.

Adding-10-to-a-single-digit (pg 1)

Adding-10-to-a-single-digit (pg 2)

Maths worksheet: revise mental addition

5401-07Here is a maths worksheet on addition for year 5 which challenges children to use all the mental methods of addition that they have developed.

One of the key features of adding mentally is that it is usually done in a different order than when using pencil and paper methods. When adding two 3-digit numbers it is usually much easier to start with the hundreds, then add on the tens and finish with the units: the opposite of standard written addition. Also remember to look for pairs of numbers that make 10 or 100, especially when adding three numbers.

This page is not as easy as it looks!

Year 5: revise mental addition

Billy’s Beetle by Mike Inkpen


Billy’s Beetle is another of Mike  Inkpen’s great books for young children. Little Billy’s beetle escapes from its matchbox leading to a hunt to find the missing beetle. Billy seeks help from a variety of people and animals to try and find it. First of all he gets help from a girl and then a dog. The dog finds a hedgehog, spiders and worms but not his beetle. As the hunt goes on other creatures get involved, including a polar bear and an elephant. Look out for a hidden beetle on each page! Great illustrations and brilliant for reading aloud; you might find that you will have to read it time after time! It also helps with beginning to understand the language of addition and subtraction.

Maths vocabulary: year 6 fractions, decimals and percentages

vocab-y6-fractions-pngThis list contains the key vocabulary for Fractions, decimals, percentages and ratio in year 6.
Children will have come across all these words in earlier years, but by the end of year 6 (10/11 yr old) they should have a good understanding of all of them

Fraction   proper fraction     improper fraction

Numerator      denominator

Equivalent        reduced to                 cancel

Half                   quarter                       eighth

Third          sixth                ninth           twelfth

Fifth           tenth                twentieth

Hundredth             thousandth

Proportion            decimal fraction

Decimal point                decimal place

percentage            per cent           %

When spelling the word twelfth often causes problems. They are all shown in a larger font below if you want to cut them out and print them.

If you are unsure of any of the meanings try one of the free online maths dictionaries such as at
www.mathsphere.co.uk or www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
(Taken from Mathematical Vocabulary Book  DfEE)

Year 6 vocabulary: fractions, decimals and percentages

Maths worksheet: Subtracting a decimal from a whole number


subtract-a-decimal-from-a-whole-number-1Subtracting a decimal number from a whole number can be done ‘in your head’ if it only involves tenths, usually by ‘counting on’ .

A good knowledge of pairs of numbers which make 10 really helps here.

Let’s look at:

1 – 0.3

Probably the easiest way to do this is by ‘counting on’.

Step 1:  Count on from 0.3, in tenths   up to one.

(eg 0.4, 0.5, 0.6 …etc

which comes to  0.7

1 – 0.3 = 0.7

Of course, if you know that 7 + 3 makes 10, then you can transfer this knowledge ie 0.3 + 0.7 = 1
In the same way:

4 – 3.3 = 0.7

Watch out for the answer 1.7 to the above question which is incorrect and shows a lack of understanding of numbers and ‘counting on’.

Subtract a decimal from a whole number (1)

Maths worksheet: learning tables

48510-table-1Tables grids for 4x, 8x, 5x and 10x tables

On the next page is a tables grid for learning the 4x, 8x, 5x and 10x tables.
The grid is filled in by taking the numbers across the top with the numbers down the side as shown below.

x      4       8
5 20    40
6 24    48

The tables have been chosen because the 8x table is double the 4x table and the 5x table is half of the 10x table. This should lead to a quicker speed of working out even if the tables have not been learnt.

There are many different approaches to this type of problem. Some children fill in the answers in strict order, others go through and complete the ones they know off by heart, and then try to work the rest out.
It is a good idea to set a time limit to these to encourage learning them off by heart.

4x 8x 5x 10x table (pg 1)

Lots more on tables on the ‘It’s All Figured Out!’ CD from mathsphere.co.uk

Year 4 maths worksheet: 100 more than or less than

4206-06Maths worksheet from mathsblog.co.uk in association with MathSphere.co.uk

Adding or subtracting 100 from a number is usually straightforward, but can prove tricky if the number crosses the thousand mark. Normally this would be done mentally, without resorting to written methods.

For example 100 less than 3 456 is 3 356: only the hundreds digit needs to change.

More tricky is 100 less than 3095, which is 2905, involving both the hundreds digit and the thousands digit to change. Getting this type of question correct shows a good understanding of place value.

100 more than/less than (pg 1)

Metric or imperial?

sledgescIt is interesting to note that now the snow has been with us for a few days everyone is using Celsius or Centigrade to describe the temperature. ‘It’s been down to minus 7 degrees’ is typical of weather and news broadcasts. Yet in the summer ‘temperatures hit the eighties’ is also heard as we revert to Fahrenheit to describe high temperatures. Totally confusing for our young children and let’s hope we keep with the Celsius from now on, even when the weather does get warmer!

Also it would help if we described the depth of the snow in centimetres rather than inches!