One of the most valuable things you can do with your child is talk to them about mathematics. But if you think about it, you are probably already doing a lot of mathematics at home without realizing it. If you involve your child, you will help them learn. Remember, though, that maths at home is meant to be fun! You should enjoy it – and so should your child.

With young children you can help by doing some maths for a few minutes every day:

1. Sing number rhymes and songs such as:
• ‘One, two, buckle my shoe’
• ‘One two three four five, once I caught a fish alive’
• ‘Ten green bottles’
• ‘There were ten in the bed’

Ask the teachers for the words to these songs and more.

2. Talk about:

• how many knives and forks you will need to set the table
• how many people are in the queue at the supermarket check-out
• which glass will hold the most orange  juice

3. Play games like ‘Snakes and Ladders’ that involve turns and using a dice and counters to move around a board.
4. Look for numbers in books, on posters, in comics, on buses, cars, and road signs.
5. Talk about the shapes of things.
6. Complete puzzles and jigsaws

With older children you can:

1. Talk about any maths work that they bring home from school.
2. Ask them to help you when you are doing things with money, or measuring or weighing.
3. Help them to learn their multiplication tables:

   
   

   7 year olds should have instant recall of, use and apply, the 2- and 10-times table

   8 year olds should have instant recall of, use and apply the 5-times table.

   9 year olds should have instant recall of, use and apply the 3- and 4-times tables.

   10 year olds should have instant recall of, use and apply all their tables to 10 x 10

   
   

4. Tell the time.
5. use magazines to find out when a TV programme is on and set the video recorder.
6. Weigh ingredients when you are cooking.
7. Put pattern pieces together when making clothes.
8. Measure floors for carpets, walls for wallpaper and paint.

A typical daily maths lesson

The daily maths lesson lasts between 45 and 60 minutes depending on the age of the children in the class. There is a great emphasis on children talking about mathematics and on using correct mathematical vocabulary. It is usually divided into three maim parts:

1. Oral and mental warm-up

All the children will be taught together for about 10 minutes. They will keep their maths skills sharp by:

• counting (in 1s, 2s, 10s, backwards and forwards, and so on)
• recalling addition and subtraction number facts (and for older children, multiplication tables)

2. Main teaching activity

After the starter comes the main teaching activity. This lasts for about 30 to 40 minutes. In this part of the lesson :

• the teacher might introduce a new topic to the whole class – this might take up most of the 30 to 40 minutes
• the class might practice previous work or try their skills on harder problems
• the children might work for short periods in groups, in pairs or on their own

3. Final Plenary

The lesson ends with a plenary. This means that for about 10 minutes the teacher finds out what the children learned and reminds them about what to remember. The teacher may set some maths homework.