Maths Workshop for Parents

The question that some parents dread… Can you help me with my homework?

Aims of the workshop: Understanding how maths is taught at Highfields; Making maths interactive – Whiteboards, Interactive games, times tables CDs; Ways in which you can help your child with their day to day maths; Practical opportunities for hands-on maths at home.

4.74cm 3.2cm x Find x. Here it is! Mental Warm Up 1

Place Value What do we mean when we talk about Place Value..? Simply – recognising that the value of a digit is determined by its place in a number. TH H T U. Tenths Hundredths

Zero…to hero! If the answer is 1002, what was the question? Q: Write the number one hundred and two in digits...

Children need to understand that in 102, there is one lot of one hundred, zero lots of ten and two units. Zero ‘holds’ the place of the tens.

Common mistakes… Writing ‘one hundred and thirty six’ as Thinking that 6,000 is one more than Thinking that must be larger than 3.35 because it has more digits in it. Thinking that 0.75 is smaller than because 75 is smaller than 203.

Partitioning What does the word mean..? Breaking a number up according to its place value (typically to make addition and multiplication easier) So 52 x 3 becomes and …

Mental Warm Up 2 Q. I have 28 apples in one hand and 57 apples in the other. What have I got..? A. Big hands!

Grid Multiplication 36X5 =

Grid Multiplication 23X45 =

Lattice Multiplication 23X47 =

Mental Warm Up 3 Q. One of these numbers below is a multiple of 5. Put a ring around it

Times tables Finally! Some old fashioned Maths teaching! Nothing has changed... Children need to learn their times tables. Without their times tables they may know the method for multiplication, but still arrive at a wrong answer. Rote learning

Everyday ways to improve your child’s (and your!) maths A prominent clock in the kitchen – ideally analogue and digital. Display a traditional calendar. Board games that involve dice and spinners – helps not only with counting but with the concepts of chance. Traditional playing cards – simple games such as snap are a natural way of learning about sorting and chance. Dominoes – to help with number combinations. A calculator. Measuring jugs with scales / kitchen scales. Dried pasta…or Smarties! – useful for counting large collections to investigate remainders etc. Tape measure and ruler – involve your child in ‘real life’ situations. An indoor / outdoor thermometer.

Useful Websites junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/ junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/

Practical session ICT suite – Harriet – MyMaths Miss Lee – number lines and multiplication Mrs Knight – making counting beads making counting beads Mrs Hughes – using 100 squares and 100 lines Mr Dyson – place value games