How to help primary children with maths and other homework?

artichoke

HI all

Can anyone recommend to me any websites or other resources for helping / encouraging my children to do their maths and other homework.

There are lots of website out there that you subscribe to and they claim to make maths fun and interesting. Has anyone used them? are they worth the money?

I have 2 children in the same class - so i don't mind paying a small subscription if it is something that really will help them.....

has anyone any recommendations?

We have been using BBC bitsize last year but am looking for other sites to interest them this year.

thanks

art

pinkshoes

Could you not sit and help them and make it fun?

victory

http://themathsfactor.com/ carol vorderman site?

artichoke

yes, i do sit and help them - but i have one child who get it straight away and one who finds maths really difficult so i need to do one to one with them.

Last year i did one to one with DD whilst DS did 15 mins on eg BBC bitesize, and then swapped over so they both get to do some exercises online and some one to one with me.

If i try and work with them together all the time the one who is strugglng gets put off as her brother gets the answer in seconds whilst she has not finished reading the question...

I am just writing up a homework schedule for them as to what subjects we will do on different nights but if i have some websites to use as well it breaks up the types of things we do around the table.

I am not using website to substitute for individual attention from parents but having 2 kids it is hard to separate them out and work alone with each.

art

chelldavies

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/ and Mathletics.co.uk

worriedmum46

Woodlands is good for all subjects - mine loved it. They also loved topmarks.co.uk which is topic based maths and bond papers site I think bond.co.uk which is geared to 11+ exams but has papers for all ages - its more of a doing site rather then a helping you out site but the papers are clear and mine enjoyed them!!

Tea_Pea_Dee

artichoke wrote: »

Can anyone recommend to me any websites or other resources for helping / encouraging my children to do their maths and other homework.

Hi artichoke

I don't know whether your children are KS1 or KS2, but either way, as a means of encouragement a sticker chart is often a great motivator. You said you were writing up a homework schedule, so incorporating a sticker chart within that would be quite nice, awarding them a sticker for completing tasks, or completing tasks well, is a nice encouragement for working at home, and they can see if they are improving too (if you use different colour stickers for example).

As for resources, on youtube.com there is a user called "yourteachermathhelp" which may not be so good for the children themselves - though it is explained very clearly and bit by bit - but could perhaps refresh your own skills if you were struggling to explain something to them?

You said you have already used bitesize, which is great, however there is another website http://www.educationcity.com/ which is really helpful with lots of fun games and is suitable for the range of primary school ages and covers the curriculum pretty well. It was used in the school I worked at in last academic year, there is a subscription fee, but if you buy it before the end of September, I think it is about £25 for the entire year?

Obviously, you can also make your own activities quite cheaply. I have found that something that always goes down quite well is Maths Bingo. If you get them to make up their own bingo cards each time, or even buy some from a cheap shop (e.g. 99p store or something) you can make it into a game. You can call out maths questions (perhaps have a look at what they're studying at school that week, this is a pretty adaptable game), for instance, "8 x 6" so they circle 48 on their card - if it is there - etc. until they get bingo. Seeing as you have two children, it can make it into a game, and friendly competition is always good motivation I find!

Good luck!

xxx

thegirlintheattic

As a teacher I would recommend just sticking to what they are given at school in the main. You could find ways to incorporate that at home- for example if they have been doing conversions (cm to m, g to kg etc.) you could do some 'practical' activity at home like cooking to reinforce the message. In the same way you could ask the class teacher what the focus is that half-term, many teachers will then suggest things you can practice at home.

The problem with having a set schedule with websites and the like, is you can confuse what is being taught at school and make home seem too much like school.

If you still want a website - Maths Whizz is highly recommended.

artichoke

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

As a teacher I would recommend just sticking to what they are given at school in the main. You could find ways to incorporate that at home- for example if they have been doing conversions (cm to m, g to kg etc.) you could do some 'practical' activity at home like cooking to reinforce the message. In the same way you could ask the class teacher what the focus is that half-term, many teachers will then suggest things you can practice at home.

The problem with having a set schedule with websites and the like, is you can confuse what is being taught at school and make home seem too much like school.

If you still want a website - Maths Whizz is highly recommended.

hi

yes, i do understand about not doing extra work / getting ahead and thereby confusing what is going on at school...

BUT dd is getting very behind at school - she does not understand the basics and stuggles with subtraction / multiplication etc....

having looked at the

http://themathsfactor.com/

i can see that it is a structured programme where dd could start at the beginning - i have just got her to do a few sample lessons and the revision checker - and she struggled with adding together 9 + 7 She is nearly 8 years old:o

so i am thinking a package like this where she could work through from the beginning would help her catch up.

DS who is only 6 - is keeping up at school and so i feel i can just give him exercises sticking to what they are doing at school.... and i can probably find those from some of the online resources....

but having looked in more detail i do think a package might help DD....

although i am not sure how i can motivate her to do it as she is just not interested.... she tried adding 9+7 wrote out a number line on a piece of paper wrote the answer 15.... and and then when the next question asked her 14- 8 = ? she clicked skip and said

"this is boring" and walked off....

:eek:

art

thegirlintheattic

artichoke wrote: »

hi

yes, i do understand about not doing extra work / getting ahead and thereby confusing what is going on at school...

BUT dd is getting very behind at school - she does not understand the basics and stuggles with subtraction / multiplication etc....

having looked at the

http://themathsfactor.com/

i can see that it is a structured programme where dd could start at the beginning - i have just got her to do a few sample lessons and the revision checker - and she struggled with adding together 9 + 7 She is nearly 8 years old:o

so i am thinking a package like this where she could work through from the beginning would help her catch up.

DS who is only 6 - is keeping up at school and so i feel i can just give him exercises sticking to what they are doing at school.... and i can probably find those from some of the online resources....

but having looked in more detail i do think a package might help DD....

although i am not sure how i can motivate her to do it as she is just not interested.... she tried adding 9+7 wrote out a number line on a piece of paper wrote the answer 15.... and and then when the next question asked her 14- 8 = ? she clicked skip and said

"this is boring" and walked off....

:eek:

art

I didn't realise your DD was behind. That's a different matter. Have you spoken to the school about some extra help as well? What are they doing in class to help support her?

I would be worth trying to work out if her poor maths is purely to do with a lack of interest and motivation or is there an underlying problem that has turned her off maths? Is the issue only in maths or with all subjects?

For motivation, as Tee Dee Pea said stickers are always useful. Works on my Year 9s! I tend to give them for good effort then they build up to a prize at the end of the term. Something like that might help, x number of stickers by X-mas equals a day out somewhere. You might want to start with smaller intervals first, say x number in a week, and slowly extend it if your DD has problems sustaining interest.

shirlgirl2004

I agree Maths Whizz is great. It isn't cheap but the results for my daughter has been fantsatic. 5 months ago her maths was average now it is 18 months ahead. There has been no school input as she is home taught. There have been areas she struggles with but it teaches the theory until they get it. You would have to pay for each child though as the work is tailored to each child. You can do a trial but it is very short and they have to do an assesment first which can be about 30 minutes.