Panicky about Maths

[Ess30]

Dd is bright & motivated (CAT = 126) . But the jump from a normal pace of maths, to the expectation that she'll be secure in KS2 syllabus by September Y6 is putting pressure on her - and the pressure in turn seems to reveal that she's insecure on some of the core concepts (i.e. fumbling dividing by 100 & stalling over times tables.)

Arghh!!

I had wanted to give her zero-work half term - but I feel like I can't take the risk that she'll stall in 'it's too hard' land - so I've gone for fighting the fear head on with a barrage of worksheets to firmly fix the basics.

Anyone else in the same place?

[yoyo123]

how about computer games?

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

bbc

mad4maths


http://www.coolmath4kids.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.arcademics.com/games/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

just a few sites with free games to speed up the basics

[Marylou]

If you thought Flappy Bird was annoying....

http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-crazy-t ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(actually I can handle the maths but keep timing out because I can't jump over the barriers... )

And this lets you pit your wits and speed against other players online:

http://primarygamesarena.com/redirect.php?id=386" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just a couple of ideas. TheMathsFactor also offers some good materials which are quite good value provided the subscription gets used.

[Yamin151]

Understand completely. One of my twins can forget what 4+4 is when the curtains come down about maths, and yet he is well ahead of average!
After much hysteria, tears, tantrums, wailing and gnashing of teeth (as much mine as his!), I have settled on working through his maths questions with a malteser after each one. I know I am instilling a habit that will last for a lifetime, but hey, who is going to mind if the boss has a pot of chocolate balls to dip into each time you make a point at a work meeting, we all need an incentive! This has worked a treat so far, keeping the hysteria at bay for long enough for him to see he knows how to do the question, with very little help.

[southbucks3]

Ditto here.

Cats also 126, scoring 55/58 in quantitative and latest Sat test in maths a 4b, but I'll sits at the kitchen table panicking if it looks wordy, panicking if it involves big numbers, and down right refusing to be timed...see post on when I tried to time him, on slow and steady thread. He needs his comfort blanket, promise of milk and biscuits, and me being 'orrible to him, because if am nice he stops completely I hate it, but it is nice to know he is not alone. Like I said to yamin the bbc radio for schools maths quiz, boosts his confidence quite a bit, so I save them for low weeks. Computer maths quizzes he just cheats and guesses at to get through them quickly.
Bless them...why is maths that scary, when they can obviously do it if need be?

[Ess30]

We have some fab maths apps - but I sometimes think that they are part of the problem: she has great maths instincts and very little formal technique. Long multiplication - for example - completely passed her by - and she has her own weird & sporadically successful way of doing it. A bit like the last poster - I'm starting to toughen up and remove the gimmicks.

She is also very panicky about being timed. We play Monty's maths times table game. I bought it 3 years ago - and she still refuses to play at anything other than 'easy level'.

[mystery]

My year 5 daughter hated being timed until recently. I bought the Peter Williams' Practise and Pass books in a range of 11 plus subjects. She is happy doing the short timed tests in these and loves filling in her time and score. We have a very simple stopwatch that she likes to use to measure her time - she says she likes to see how much time has elapsed on the stopwatch rather than looking at a real watch. I don't know why this matters to her but if it helps, it's fine by me!

Yes, I think securing the basics again and again is needed to remove the fear of timing etc. I don't find computer maths games much help as either she can do them easily and it doesn't help or she can't and won't play them. Most of all, it doesn't work for me because she can sniff a mile off that it is an "educational" game so it goes on the off list. I think she prefers to do some "proper" maths and then play an inane game of her choosing.

[yoyo123]

fair enough, it works for some and not others..you can also google worksheets

[southbucks3]

Personally I think the computer maths us great for competitive children, ds1 loves it, ds2 is cool with it. The problem with ds3 is (although in real life it is great) he does not have a competitive bone in his body, he really does not care if the score at the end is 1/10. Or 10/10. And no incentive can alter that, if I say to him, " you can have...." whatever the fave of the moment is for getting such and such a score, he just replies, "no, I won't do it then" if I say you can have "30 no ties on farm simulator ps3 game" for 30 minutes maths, he will do it, but in the normal panicky way.

He has as many good days as bad now, so we are progressing, but it is annoying fir both of us. He grabs the opportunity to do literacy instead, at any chance, and will ask for help in literacy too and is happy to do computer games and aps with that too, properly; not free rice though, and he bluffs through the synonym apps.

Lots of cuddles,(at the end) lots of tolerance, and my dh in the background to give me cuddles when I reach my limit..we will carry on, because his scores at school obviously show things are working.


.

[heartmum]

....He has as many good days as bad now, so we are progressing, but it is annoying fir both of us. He grabs the opportunity to do literacy instead, at any chance, and will ask for help in literacy too and is happy to do computer games and aps with that too, properly; not free rice though, and he bluffs through the synonym apps ... Lots of cuddles,(at the end) lots of tolerance, and my dh in the background to give me cuddles when I reach my limit..we will carry on, because his scores at school obviously show things are working. .

southbucks3, your DC sounds so much like mine ... does really well in some work and I think 'YAY' we're on the right course with maths and then the next day completely goes downhill just got DCs mid year test from school and is working at 5C+, aiming for 5B in maths at the end of Y5 DC does seem to panic when put in a test situation which doesn't help - ends up getting questions wrong that he normally knows. I do think DC puts so much pressure on himself, with both older DCs at grammar