Aussie parents of ‘tweens’: how you can help them with their maths schooling
So, your child is about to start upper primary school, and you want to give them the best chance to tackle mathematics?
I’m based in NSW, Australia, so this information, and the links I’ve provided, are relevant to this state.
First step: the education department
The NSW Department of Education gives you an outline of all the subjects your child will learn; here is the link to the parental guide to the NSW primary syllabuses:
https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/parents/parent-guide
And this is the page specifically for the primary curriculum:
https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/parents/parent-guide/primary-school-k-6[RB1]
Their official page tells you what your child should/will learn each year in maths. This is excellent reading to understand what the department wants your child to cover in that subject:
There’s also a great ‘Everyday Maths Hub’ website the department has set up to prompt mathematical conversations within families:
https://education.nsw.gov.au/parents-and-carers/learning/maths/the-everyday-maths-hub
Try this link if you’re after some insights on teaching strategies for statistics within a primary school context. It’s more from a teacher’s point of view, but still good to know.
As mentioned, the last link was more from a teacher’s perspective, but this is more relevant to parents. I can recommend the site, Raising Children, to guide you on key points about learning maths from year 5 onwards.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/school-learning/learning-ideas/maths-at-school
Pivot off your child’s interests
A big help to your child’s schooling would be to identify and appreciate what they love doing — say it’s reading — and build on that for their fledgling numeracy skills.
A simple approach might be to say, OK, I see you’re starting a new book today. So, how many pages are in it, and how long do you think you’ll take to read it if you do it in one go? What about if you spread out your reading over a few days? Let’s work those figures out. When will you be halfway through the book? If we do a lot of activities and have family/friends visiting, how does that affect your chances of achieving that?
So, that’s a mathematical conversation you can easily have with your child.
Foreground mathematical concepts
Try to bring into everyday chat more mathematical concepts in a bigger way. Conceptual understanding will help them make connections to their ‘real world’, apply their learning, and make that knowledge ‘stick’.
And this US site explains probability in simple language to parents:
https://www.theschoolrun.com/what-are-probability-chance-likelihood
As well, there’s this university site that helpfully explains probability using activities for students. https://taxandbusinessonline.villanova.edu/probability-statistics-and-data-analysis-activities-for-students/
Nix the mathematical tricks
This is a really nifty FREE book, you can download to ‘nix the tricks’ and focus on helping your daughter build mathematical understanding.
Speaking of tricks, this is one, but it’s not a bad one. For example, if your child has trouble with learning their timetables. If you can inspire them by this exciting way of multiple two-digit figures together, it might just prompt them to understand them.
It’s Japanese visual multiplication — or using lines. Very clever!
Here’s a video with an Aussie voice to make it a bit easier to absorb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AJvshZmYPs
Bring on the tech
A handy app to have on your phone is called PhotoMath. You can take a pic of a maths problem, whether it’s on the screen, handwritten, or in a textbook, and chances are PhotoMath will calculate the answer. But more importantly, it sets out the process on how to solve it, then labels it, so your child is developing an understanding of the mathematical language involved.
Here’s a very popular US site that I subscribe to:
It’s for teachers, but has some great videos of kids talking about maths. Dr Jo Boaler is the key person behind this site, and please watch any of her TEDx talks as they’re fascinating.
One possibility is to get your child a tutor to fill the gaps in their mathematical understanding. This could be an excellent move, in my opinion. That’s because not only will it fill the gaps, but it will boost your child’s confidence in maths too. There are some options:
I recommend MathSpace. I’ve used it myself as a teacher and to revise my mathematical understanding, plus I’ve interviewed the CEO for a story I’ve written for a teaching publication. It’s beneficial. You can set up an account for your child to have a digital tutor, as there’s also a parent portal.
https://mathspace.co/au/parents.
Disclaimer: I haven’t used it myself as a parent, so I’m not clear if your school needs to subscribe to MathSpace for parents to access.
The beauty of MathSpace is that it’s not all about kiddy designs and colour and congratulatory noises, but it helps kids understand the maths they’re doing. If they’re having trouble working through an algorithm, for instance, it will give them hints, clues, then reveal a line, then nudge the child along. Much like a teacher would do.
Would a tutor help?
Another option for tutoring is online or face-to-face via an agency that targets school-age children. I have worked for a couple of them, and they usually have a solid program and offer a lot of one-on-one help. They diagnose the student’s level of learning/understanding and tailor the exercises to what they need.
As your child gets into high school (in Australia, it’s about the time they turn 12), they might like to check out Eddie Woo’s WooTube — he has a very popular YouTube site of a million-plus subscribers where he explains maths. A NSW public high school teacher and a maths ambassador, he’s very likable — I’ve met him and read his books.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq0EGvLTyy-LLT1oUSO_0FQ
While we’re on the subject of YouTube, here’s a YouTube vid about the language of chance (yes, that’s probability and statistics), and it’s for Year 5 AND in an Aussie voice. Just 4 mins and 15 seconds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBR_N5o_gjs
And, you might have heard of the free Khan Academy — it’s a non-profit global organisation helping kids and adults learn — lots of courses in here for parents, learners, and teachers:
home page: https://www.khanacademy.org/
You’ll have to search in there for content. I find it can be a bit’ dry’, not as exciting as some of the other YouTube videos, but it has solid info.
So, here are my tips as an out-of-field maths teacher and also a parent. Don’t feel overwhelmed because there is a lot out there. Cherry-pick, explore, and trial what works in your family situation. Just foregrounding mathematical concepts in your conversations will help your child.
