Maths Crisis

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Turtlegirl
Posts: 521
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:54 pm

Maths Crisis

Post by Turtlegirl »

We've just had results of a mock exam, and whilst my Year 5 boy did pretty well in the comprehension and other English sections, his maths was so poor it pulled him right out of the comfortable zone of results. I've been doing some Bond 10-11+ 10 minute tests with him and he regularly makes random errors and just seems not to think! School have him pegged at 4C which seems about right but he's been there since September and just seems stuck.

Has anyone got tips for rapid maths improvement? I'm going to put him on some intensive stuff over the holidays - Schofield & Sims Mental arithmetic and So You Want to Learn Maths. Anyone else seen fast leaps in this? He's taking the Walsall exam in July which seems ridiculously soon.
sbarnes
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:30 pm

Re: Maths Crisis

Post by sbarnes »

how is your child doing on the normal Bond Maths book i.e. the non 10 minute ones? I used those with my child till 3 months before the exam. I only used the 10min ones for short sharp focus, nothing else. Do you tutor your son yourself? Have you an idea as to which areas are your childs weakness? for instance percentage or fractions etc..I also used Youtube to find the best resource and then rolled out. There is also a blue coloured junior maths book I used; it came with an answer book too. I'll try and remember the name
sbarnes
Posts: 583
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:30 pm

Re: Maths Crisis

Post by sbarnes »

Thats right, it was Junior Maths by David Hillard; £15 from WH smiths; worked through each chapter systematically at home. This reinforced school teaching. I have given mine to later year families, its on its 3rd year after leaving us
Turtlegirl
Posts: 521
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:54 pm

Re: Maths Crisis

Post by Turtlegirl »

Thanks sbarnes. I'll hunt out my bigger Bond books for him. We had a session with a S&S this morning which highlighted a few things.

He is in group tuition but I think he might benefit from a little 121. I am going to bust a gut over the Easter hols with him to augment what he's had in school. He has a few blind spots and lacks some mathematical language I think. He didn't realise that 'approximate' meant 'round up' for instance. I just hope we can make the progress he needs.
JaneEyre
Posts: 4843
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 1:04 pm

Re: Maths Crisis

Post by JaneEyre »

Hi Turtlegirl, :D

Please, do not feel disheartened! Don’t look at the glass half empty, look at it the half full! And keep telling your DS he can make it if he puts his heart and soul into it! Self confidence is so important for these 11+ exams!

You still have three months ahead for proper practise and maths is easier to work at than English in term of quick improvement (I mean, to improve the vocab of a child, it takes years of reading and months at working on vocab). So your DS can make it, God willing!

A sbarnes suggested, try to find your DS’ areas of weakness and work on these during the holidays (in my opinion, without maybe doing too many tests each day, just one or two as the important at the moment is to do some remediation in his weak areas). And then, when your DS will be back at school, give maths priority in your everyday work, insisting more on the tests as the remediation should have been done by then. And don’t lose heart; we need sometimes to repeat some lessons times and times again till the penny drops! :roll:
Do not forget regular work on the time tables (for examples one test per day with all the tables mixed up, starting from today if you have not yet established such a habit); may be his mistakes are also due to some silly calculation mistakes?

I am sure that we regular practise, your DS’ brain will be ‘processing’ information and calculations quickly.
Good luck!
Turtlegirl
Posts: 521
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:54 pm

Re: Maths Crisis

Post by Turtlegirl »

Thank you JaneEyre. You are always so encouraging! I am feeling a little less despondent today and we have had a good go at the maths. I've not spotted any particular areas yet. He seems to take stabs in the dark on some questions but not on others. His times tables are pretty secure but he has occasional wobbles. I think a lot of it is to do with confidence for him, as well as learning to slow down and apply what he knows. He's a lot better at answering the questions when I put it to him, but struggles to think things by himself.

Although he was low in the mock, it wasn't by an enormous amount, so I am a little hopeful that with a big push we can make a difference.
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