Parents' Guide to supporting Primary Children with Learning Mathematics at Home
The Hampshire Mathematics Team understands how challenging it can be for parents and schools during periods of blended and online learning at home or supporting pupils with homework . We have produced a guide to give parents some ideas about how they can support their children with the mathematics they are learning about with their school.
It is important that both children and parents enjoy this experience, whilst ensuring that the methods, models, and images the school are using for teaching and learning are understood and used well at home.
This document contains some guidance as to the sorts of questions parents might use when working with their children to help them think about the mathematics they are working on. For each year group in the national curriculum, an example problem shows parents how they could ask a question to engage the child and encourage them to think deeply. The examples are pitched at the sort of mathematics we would expect a child to know and understand at the end of each year, so the mathematics that schools will be asking children to think about and learn may be different. For some topics, children will be working towards the pitch in the question examples and for other topics, children may be feeling secure with these ideas and the school will be challenging them to look deeper.
Another important element of learning mathematics is knowing key number facts and using models, images, and verbal prompts to help recall of these facts. This document includes key number facts for each year group, including reception, together with some examples of the models and images that schools may be using. There is also a short glossary of some of the mathematical terms that children may need to know and understand when accessing their mathematical tasks. It is not an exhaustive list but provides a core of key words.
We hope that both schools and parents find this resource useful when supporting the children with learning mathematics at home.
