Year 1 maths is all about practice, practice, practice so that by the end of the year, your child is confident and fluent when doing mental maths. Of course, the more practice you do at home, the more confident and fluent your child will be.
So how can you help? It’s not all about maths workbooks from WH Smith!
Here are my top 5 tips:
Tip 1: Play games – board games like snakes and ladders, ludo and bingo will help your child to count forwards and backwards and recognise numbers to 100. Age-appropriate online maths games are great for reinforcement and practice too.
Tip 2: Provide hands-on experiences – Cook together and show your child how to measure things accurately as well as make good estimates. Give her/him small amounts of pocket money to spend so she/he can start to understand the value of coins and the concept of change.
Tip 3: Practise instant recall– Practise remembering by heart, pairs of numbers that add up to 20 (e.g. 10 + 10, 11 + 9) and related subtraction facts (20 – 10, 20 – 9 ). Do it when you’re in the car or walking to school. Make it fun!
Tip 4: Talk, talk, talk!–Talk about numbers and shapes whenever you see them. Have a ‘shape or number of the week’ and see how often your child can spot it in their environment.
Tip 5: Relate maths to real life – Talk about how you use maths to solve problems in real life situations e.g. to measure for new carpet, to add up items on a bill. Always be positive about your mathematical abilities as you’re a role model for your child.
Want to know more about what teachers expect from your child in year 1 maths? Click here
Stay ahead and keep informed about what your child will be learning in maths this year with our FREE Year 1 maths one-pager. Stick it on the fridge or the wall! To get it, click here.
Would you like to know more about the methods teachers use to teach maths in year 1 so you don’t confuse your child?
Our Year 1 Maths workbook is coming soon!