1. 39The Moreton Hall Directory
Here are my top 5 tips...
1 Make it fun
You may not have enjoyed learning maths yourself at school but times and methods have changed. We work hard to
make maths fun for your child at school and you can make it fun at home too. Use things like games, puzzles and
cooking, to bring the use, and familiarity of numbers to life.
Several games, such as monopoly, involve handling and counting money. Cooking will involve a huge amount of maths
- measuring out quantities and perhaps halving or doubling up quantities. Many puzzles will involve logical problem
solving skills.
2 Don’t Panic
Even if you think (wrongly) that you are ‘really bad at maths’ try not to show it. Keep calm and encourage your child
to talk through any problems they are trying to solve; treat it like a puzzle waiting to be solved not something to be
frightened of. It really doesn’t matter if you explain a different method to your
child – there is always more than one way to solve any problem and it will help to
build up their mathematical resilience.
3 Make it relevant
It’s important to bring maths out of the classroom and show your child how we
use maths skills in our everyday lives at home – for instance comparing best
deals and discounts, sports results, planning a journey, planning a party or even
wrapping parcels!
Maths is an essential part of our lives today.
4 Practice makes perfect
It’s important to encourage your child to practice their mathematical skills in a
way that increases both confidence and understanding. There are many good
published and free resources available. However practice should also be fun and
I would encourage you not to rely totally on the published workbooks. Websites
such as www.mangahigh.com - a free games-based maths teaching resource - are
invaluable in encouraging reluctant mathematicians to have a go and to put in the
practice time.
5 Don’t give up
I find it so sad when students revert to ‘Don’t get it’ as an excuse to give up on a
problem; they appear too scared to have a go in case they make a mistake. The
whole point of school is that you are allowed to make mistakes and to learn from
them.
Making mistakes is a very important part of learning maths and it is so important
to encourage your child to have a go. If they make a mistake use it as an
opportunity to learn, ask them to show how they got that answer and very often
by revisiting the solution they can correct their own mistakes and deepen their
own understanding and resilience.
A final reflection:
It is a fact that students are required to have certain mathematical skills and
these are important. However they are only the tools to enable the success to
follow. Your child will have to be able to apply these skills when problem solving;
they will have to learn to become independent problem solvers with mathematical
resilience.
3 Make it relevant
It’s important to bring maths out of the classroom and show your
child how we use maths skills in our everyday lives at home – for
instance comparing best deals and discounts, sports results, plan-
ning a journey, planning a party or even wrapping parcels!
Maths is an essential part of our lives today.
4 Practice makes perfect
It’s important to encourage your child to practice their mathematical
skills in a way that increases both confidence and understanding.
There are many good published and free resources available. How-
ever practice should also be fun and I would encourage you not to
rely totally on the published workbooks. Websites such as
www.mangahigh.com – A free games-based maths teaching re-
source are invaluable in encouraging reluctant mathematicians to
have a go and to put in the practice time.
5 Don’t give up
I find it so sad when students revert to ‘Don’t get it’ as an excuse to
give up on a problem; they appear too scared to have a go in case
they make a mistake. The whole point of school is that you are al-
lowed to make mistakes and to learn from them.
Making mistakes is a very important part of learning maths and it is
so important to encourage your child to have a go. If they make a
mistake use it as an opportunity to learn, ask them to show how they
got that answer and very often by revisiting the solution they can
correct their own mistakes and deepen their own understanding and
resilience.
A final reflection: It is a fact that students are required to have certain
mathematical skills and these are important. However they are only
the tools to enable the success to follow. Your child will have to be
able to apply these skills when problem solving; they will have to
learn to become independent problem solvers with mathematical
resilience.
Practise lots, be confident and have fun.
Claire Meadows-Smith Head of Maths, St Albans RC High School
Ipswich and Founder of The Community Maths School
Parents often ask me how they can best help their child with maths. My answer is invariably the
same, simply “help build their Mathematical confidence”. Here are my top 5 tips to help build the con-
fidence of your child with maths.
1 Make it fun
You may not have enjoyed learning maths yourself at school but times and methods have changed.
We work hard to make maths fun for your child at school and you can make it fun at home too. Use
things like games, puzzles and cooking, to bring the use, and familiarity of numbers to life.
Several games, such as monopoly, involve handling and counting money. Cooking will involve a huge
amount of maths - measuring out quantities and perhaps halving or doubling up quantities. Many
puzzles will involve logical problem solving skills.
2 Don’t Panic
Even if you think (wrongly) that you are ‘really bad at maths’ try not to show it. Keep calm and encour-
age your child to talk through any problems they are trying to solve; treat it like a puzzle waiting to be
solved not something to be frightened of. It really doesn’t matter if you explain a different method to
your child – there is always more than one way to solve any problem and it will help to build up their
mathematical resilience.
Parenting by numbers - 5 Top Tips to Help Your Child with Maths
The Community
Maths School
BURY ST EDMUNDS
www.communitymathsschool.co.uk
Claire Meadows-Smith
07747 037 441
High Quality maths tuition at KS3,
KS4 and A Level at affordable prices
Frightened of Maths?
confidence boosting & enjoyable
sessions in small groups
BOOST YOURBOOST YOURBOOST YOUR
CONFIDENCECONFIDENCECONFIDENCE
6 sessions courses
up to GCSE level £90 and
A level £20 per session
weekly term-time classes
for best long-term results
home & lifestyle
Parentsoftenaskmehowtheycanbesthelptheirchildwithmaths.Myanswerisinvariablythesame,
simply“helpbuildtheirMathematicalconfidence”.
Parenting by numbers -
5 Top Tips to Help Your Child with Maths
Claire Meadows-Smith
Head of Maths, St Albans RC High School, Ipswich
and Founder of The Community Maths School
Practise lots, be confident and have fun.