Maths for Children

[BoyBlue_1985]

If you can afford some private tuition then this lot http://www.kumon.co.uk/ have a good reputation.

With times tables though it's really just about repetition. That's the way I learned them and no doubt a few others of a certain age on here. I know 7x9 is 63 and 9x12 is 108 without thinking. I don't need to know why; I just need to know it is.

Yet when my daughter (who has an A in A-Level Maths) did her times tables, they were taught to memorise the result only. So for the 2 times table it was 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. So if she needed to work out 2x6 she had to count 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. and that was at a very good primary school. To me that's completely stupid.

Learning things parrot-fashion may be completely at odds with modern learning methods, where it's seemingly more important for kids to "express" themselves than actually learn facts, but it certainly works for times tables.

Modern teaching relies on you very much knowing how you come to the answer. In a maths exam an answer can be 1 point of the available 3 for the question, you have to show and explain how you came to that answer

 

[LittleStan]

If you can afford some private tuition then this lot http://www.kumon.co.uk/ have a good reputation.

With times tables though it's really just about repetition. That's the way I learned them and no doubt a few others of a certain age on here. I know 7x9 is 63 and 9x12 is 108 without thinking. I don't need to know why; I just need to know it is.

Yet when my daughter (who has an A in A-Level Maths) did her times tables, they were taught to memorise the result only. So for the 2 times table it was 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. So if she needed to work out 2x6 she had to count 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. and that was at a very good primary school. To me that's completely stupid.

Learning things parrot-fashion may be completely at odds with modern learning methods, where it's seemingly more important for kids to "express" themselves than actually learn facts, but it certainly works for times tables.

Modern teaching relies on you very much knowing how you come to the answer. In a maths exam an answer can be 1 point of the available 3 for the question, you have to show and explain how you came to that answer

I have only just read PB's response but repetition does not suit a lot of children. It did not suit me and I struggled for years until a teacher told me the logic behind multiplication and division.

still to this day I do multiplication and division in my head because I find it easier than writing them down and this is all because I was taught one lunch time that multiplication is adding the same number together X number of times and division was subtracting the same number X number of times.

Kids are taught numeracy rather than times tables and I am sure it helps them learn the basics better.

 

[spanish blue]

Try the khan academy website. There is alot of advanced stuff, but there is basic maths too. It is videos and a teacher explaining how to do each stage have a look and see. Also remember girls are likely to be better readers and boys better at maths when they are young.