August 30, 2021
We have put together a helpful guide to help you help your children with maths.
As teachers, we often get asked the question: ‘How can I help my child improve their Maths?’ As parents, it is completely normal to want to help your child to achieve both in and out of the classroom. What is not discussed is that as parents you may not have the tools required to help your children.
Find out where they are.
The first step is to talk to your child’s teacher. They will be able to give you a breakdown of your child’s strengths and weaknesses across the subjects. There will always be areas in which they can improve and the teacher will be able to suggest areas that they can work on.
If you’re more on the analytical side, you can look at the Gov website and see the national curriculum requirements for each year group and see how your child is progressing against these benchmarks.
Ask for help
We understand that things have changed and the way teachers teach mathematical concepts has changed. There is nothing wrong with asking how Maths skills are being taught now – teachers will only be too happy to help.
Make a plan – And stick to it
Take times tables for example – if they should be able to do their 2’s, 5’s and 10’s by the end of the year, then that is where you should start. There is no point trying to run before you can walk, regardless of what the playground chatter is. Once they have mastered these then you can move on – trust us 10 minutes a day on tables over dinner will make such a difference and see you child making progress across all subjects.
Find the Maths resources
We have designed the Cubie Maths booklets to support you to support your child at home with their Maths. The booklets, over the course of the year, cover everything your child will have been taught at school and provide reinforcement of these key skills. We believe in the importance of a little and often approach to ensuring that skills are not only understood, but also stay in the memory.
Another way of supporting your child with their Maths is to incorporate it into everyday life. In each of our parents’ books we have included a list of questions you can ask your child, but in addition to this, why not practice counting objects and toys, measuring ingredients, telling the time, reading the clock, and using physical objects for addition and subtraction such as coins or counters. We will be adding many more ideas like this over the coming weeks.
There are also many resources available online.
Find the time
Find a time that works with your family’s schedule. It might be before breakfast, straight after school or just before bed. Whenever the time is, make it part of your routine. Children thrive on routine and will come to expect it – wait for the day that they tell you they can’t brush their teeth as they have not done their Cubie booklet or their times tables. Trust us, it comes much more quickly than you think.
Set rewards
Kids love rewards and making progress. Simple sticker charts work wonders for motivation, which is why we include one in every Cubie box. Put them somewhere the whole family can see the progress being made. Make them proud to tell friends and family the progress that they are making.
Stick to it
We all know what it’s like when you miss one day then another then it all goes out the window. It’s fine to miss a day. We all know that life gets in the way with a dentist appointment here or a dance class there. But missing two days in a row leads to a slippery slope of giving up. Like anything in life, consistency is the foundation of all success, particularly in education. Look at it this way: 10 minutes a day is 60 hours a year. Think how much your child could improve with this approach.
Repeat
Once your child has mastered the skill in question, move on to the next one. Do your 3’s and 4’s times tables for instance. If your child has completed everything in the school year you can expand their understanding maybe for concepts in years above or spending time looking at themes or topics from outside the curriculum. Again, in the Cubie parents’ book we provide suggestions for extending and questions to ask your child.
The Cubie Team