Help Your Child With Numeracy Ages 7-11

113 Pages·2009·0.99 MB·English

by  Rosemary Russell

Help Your Child
with Numeracy
Ages 7–11
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Help Your Child
with Numeracy
Ages 7–11
Rosemary Russell
Continuum International Publishing Group
TheTowerBuilding,11YorkRoad,LondonSE17NX
80MaidenLane,Suite704,NewYork,NY10038
www.continuumbooks.com
©RosemaryRussell2009
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedor
transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,
includingphotocopying,recording,oranyinformationstorageor
retrievalsystem,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
RosemaryRussellhasassertedherrightundertheCopyright,Designs
andPatentsAct,1988,tobeidentifiedasAuthorofthiswork.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN:9781847064127(paperback)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
DesignedandtypesetbyKennethBurnley,Wirral,Cheshire
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby1010PrintingInternationalLtd
Contents
Introduction 1
Maths is good for you! 1
How this book will help 1
Moving on 1
The most important help – providing the right
environment 2
Everyday maths 3
Start from where they are 3
Lots of ways to learn 4
Praise and encouragement – building self-esteem 5
Great expectations – but not too great! 5
Schools 7
National Curriculum 7
Key Stages 7
Numeracy Strategy (The Primary Framework for
Mathematics) 7
Numeracy Hour 11
Typical lessons 11
SATs and assessment 12
Levels 12
Using and applying mathematics 13
Background 13
Strategies to help 13
Break down the problem into simple steps 13
One-step, two-step and multi-step problems 13
Understand what the problem is about 15
Understand what calculations are required 15
How you can help your child 16
Counting and understanding number 17
Background 17
Units, tens, hundreds and thousands: how our
number system works 18
An extract from our number system 19
Rewriting a number in smaller units 20
Starting off 20
Decimals 21
Multiplying and dividing by 10, 100, 1000* 22
Multiplying decimals by 10, 100, 1000* 23
Division by 10, 100, 1000* 24
Useful mental arithmetic skills 25
Ordering numbers and the symbols > and < 25
Counting in different steps 26
Negative numbers 26
Making connections – sequences 26
Ordering decimals 27
Fractions, decimals and percentages 28
Equivalent fractions 28
Finding a fraction of an amount* 30
Decimal fractions 30
Percentages 31
Finding a percentage of an amount* 31
Ratio and proportion 32
Estimation 34
How to make an estimate 34
Starting off 34
Rounding 35
The rule for rounding 36
Knowing and using number facts 37
Knowing number facts and doubling and halving 37
Learning tables 38
Inverse operations 38
Estimating and checking calculations 39
Using inverse operations 39
Using rounding to get an approximation 40
Calculating 41
Written methods 41
Stages in learning addition 42
Carrying 43
Extending addition skills to using decimals 44
Subtraction 46
Many methods of subtraction 46
Stages in teaching subtraction 47
Easier subtractions 47
vi
Subtraction: the two main methods 48
Subtraction by decomposition 48
Subtraction by equal addition 49
Harder subtractions using the decomposition
method of subtraction 50
How to deal with zeros when subtracting 52
Decomposition 52
Equal addition 53
Subtraction using decimals 55
Multiplication 55
Steps in mastering a written method of
multiplication 56
Vertical format 59
Division 60
Background 60
Using a number line 61
Using ‘chunking’ 62
Using a standard (traditional) form 62
Chunking for larger numbers 63
How does ‘chunking’ compare with the
traditional method? 64
Understanding shape 67
Background 67
Angles 68
Types of angles 68
Measuring angles 69
How to use a protractor 69
Calculating angles on a straight line 71
Angles in a triangle 72
Demonstration of angles in a triangle adding
up to 180° 73
Measuring 75
Background 75
How to convert between metric units 75
Metric and imperial units 76
Reading scales 77
Area and perimeter 77
What is the perimeter of a shape? 78
Compound shapes 78
vii
Understanding the difference between the area
and perimeter 79
How the concept of area is taught 80
Calculating areas of rectangles 80
Use of formulae 81
Compound areas 81
Time 82
24-hour clock and 12-hour clock 83
Lengths of journeys using 24-hour clock 84
How to help your child 86
Handling data 87
Background 87
Average 88
The range 88
Types of averages 88
The mode 88
The mean 89
Probability 90
How is probability taught in schools? 90
How to help your child 91
Glossary 92
Appendix 1 – Multiplication square 96
Appendix 2 – Useful resources 98
Appendix 3 – Metric/Imperial conversions 100
Appendix 4 – Workout answers 101
viii
Introduction
Maths is good for you!
Research has shown that:
(cid:2) Numeracy exercises are very good for the brain
(cid:2) In the long term, this helps employment prospects
(cid:2) Maths qualifications can lead to more earning power.
How this book will help
This book will explain some of the milestones children
make between the ages of 7 and 11 years old.
It is not a text book! It will:
(cid:2) Secure your own knowledge
(cid:2) Show you what schools are trying to do
(cid:2) Give you ideas of how to help
(cid:2) Provide exercises (Workouts!) to do with your child
(cid:2) Lead you to more resources.
Moving on
This book builds on Help Your Child with Numeracy Ages
3–7, and often refers back to it. Some things – especially
in this introduction – are repeated because they are true
1