You don't need to be “good at maths” to help your children with their maths.

MIki and Bernadette are doing professional learning on Leading Numeracy. We are so proud of the amazing work we have been doing at Chewton in maths: making connections across different areas of maths, using rich and authentic tasks to teach our students so that they are engaged in real life learning.

Being proficient in maths makes an incredible difference to employment and health outcomes in life, even more so than literacy. Maths is all around us and as parents, we can do so much to teach our children to be numerate.

This article is By Doug Clarke

https://www.abc.net.au/education/how-to-help-your-children-with-maths/13676330

Many parents are looking for ways to help their children with their mathematics. Many parents feel their own confidence with maths and their own experiences with school maths preclude them from helping.

To those parents I'd say, firstly, you're probably more capable than you think, and secondly, if you're not, there are still many different things you can do to help. And this goes for grandparents (like me) too, who often have more time and opportunities to help.

I want to share some general principles about helping your children with mathematics and then some practical suggestions of what this might look like. My focus here is on the primary years of schooling and the years before that.

For many, helping your children with their maths homework results in tears and frustration. (And that's just the parents!) So I want to emphasise the kinds of things parents can do during everyday family activities.

How to help your children with maths

Unlike secondary school, there's not much research evidence that "traditional" homework (doing more class work, finishing work set at school) makes much difference to student achievement in primary school. However, where homework is focused on family activities, children do much better at school.

Build on success

Create the impression that learning mathematics well is desirable. Encourage effort and help your children see errors as part of the learning process.

Let them work things out

People learn, not so much by being told things, as by working things out for themselves and linking new ideas to ideas they already have. You can help by asking your children questions, letting them work out answers for themselves, and then discussing their answers and strategies with them.

Be patient

Children need time to think and time to answer. When asking your children questions or talking to them about mathematics, give them time. Be patient. Also, explain to older children that they need to give younger siblings time to answer questions, rather than always answering for them.

Talk about it

Encourage children to talk. Talking about mathematics is an effective way of learning, especially when a mathematical situation arises naturally.

Speak the language

Use mathematical words when you describe things. For example, instead of saying "the big red bucket", you might say "the 10-litre bucket". Instead of saying "the large packet of rice", you might say "the 2-kilogram packet of rice".

Don't rush

There is no hurry. Children develop their mathematics skills gradually and there is no urgency about developing any particular skill. It's necessary to work progressively on helping them to learn mathematics. Start now, but there is no need to accelerate your child's development.

Kimochis Homelinks Disappointed

This week, we learned about disappointment and the Kimochis^® kotowaza— or Japanese proverb—that accompanies this feeling: “Maybe next time.” This kotowaza helps to inspire and encourage children to “bounce back” when disappointed. Disappointment can seem unbearable for young children because they do not have the range of experiences older children have that allow them to understand that the situation may not

be so bad. However, experiencing disappointment actually teaches children to be resilient. “When children learn at an early age that they have the tools to get over a disappointing situation, they’ll be able to rely on that throughout childhood and later on as adults,” says Dr. Robert Brooks, coauthor of Raising Resilient Children. “If you help a child learn to ask for realistic support, lean on others, communicate well, and stay optimistic, you’re assisting that child to handle what life throws at him.” Your child learned to do a little snap of the fingers (or at least the motion) for a small disappointment and a big snap for a bigger disappointment. This can be paired with words such as, “Maybe next time” and “Oh, well.”

Common Language

Disappointed Snap: A tool to help children cope with disappointment; children can snap their fingers and say, “Maybe next time” to help move through disappointed feelings

Coach Managing Disappointed Feelings During Daily Activities

• Model how to snap your fingers and say, “Maybe next time” or “Oh well” as a way to help get over disappointment.

• Admire when your child experiences disappointment and does not completely fall apart. • Ask your child if he/she has any ideas about how to make big disappointed feelings a little smaller.

Family Fun: Playful Ways to Practice

• Disappointed Silly Words and Phrases. It can help to have fun and playful words to let someone know you feel disappointed. “Rats” is a good example of a word that’s used to say, “I am disappointed.” Together with your family, think of words or expressions that you will all use to express disappointment. This can become a family secret or tradition that you can laugh about together in years to come!

• Oh, Well. This is a playful game that will help your child learn to say, “Oh, well” as another tool to handle disappointment, in addition to, “Maybe next time.” Ask your child to pretend he/she gets to do something really exciting (“I am really excited because I get to …”). It can be anything imaginable, even playful things like, “I am really excited because I get to go to the moon!” Then “disappoint” your child by saying a silly reason he/she can’t do it. (“No, sorry, you can’t go the moon because we don’t have a rocket ship!”) Prompt your child to respond with a playful, “Oh, well.” He/she can add, “Maybe I can …” and think of another activity instead.

In the Grade P-1-2 class

Grade Prep-1-2 worked with Hayley from Connecting Country this week. We were super lucky to have Maya (Aunty Kath's daughter) come and teach us about local plants. Maya and Hayley showed us rock holes that were made to store water. We looked for plants all along the creek.

Some more Book Week pictures...

ADHD in girls

This week staff met with Sally to learn about ADHD in girls: what to look for and how to support students with ADHD. Do you know that people with ADHD receive up to 20 000 negative comments in their primary years of school? Often ADHD in girls is not easily recognised because the child might be less active. Sally and Renee will both lead a parent workshop in Week 5 Term 4 on ADHD and how we can support our students. Please put November 2nd in your calendar.