Mathematics

Learning fun 

While the last 12 months has provided some challenges, it has been wonderful to see students (and families) immerse themselves in authentic, real-life Maths! When we think of Maths today, critical thinking, problem-solving, reasoning and understanding are essential mathematical skills. 

Talking about Maths

Remember over the holiday period to continue to talk about mathematics. Regardless of your child's age, regularly talking and engaging in conversation about mathematics can help build an authentic mathematical understanding. Some ways to help keep the talk engaging and focused: 

• Revoice - Repeat what you heard your child say then ask for clarification (e.g. So you are saying that the train to the city departs in 12 minutes?)
• Repeat/restate - Ask your child to restate your reasoning (e.g. Can you repeat what I said in your own way/words?)
• Reasoning - Ask your child to apply their own reasoning to someone else's ideas (e.g. do you agree or disagree with Jill's thinking?)
• Adding on - Prompt your child to add on or engage further (e.g. What more could we add?) 
• Think Time - Remember to provide opportunities for your child to think. Wait a few seconds (even up to 20 seconds!) to give your child the opportunity to gather and contribute their thoughts. You may be surprised by how hard it is to stay silent in that time! 

Daily Maths opportunities

Over the holidays, involve your child in everyday mathematics. Involve your child in using numbers to solve problems and using these to make everyday decisions. 

• Do we have enough plates and utensils for all the guests coming to Christmas?
• We are doubling this Christmas pudding recipe. How much of all the ingredients will we need?
• The store is selling your favourite game at the Boxing Day sales for 20% off. It's normal price is $27. How much will it cost? 
• Engage in cooking - measuring, weighing, ordering, estimating, adding and multiplying! 
• Restaurants and shopping involves money, number identification, estimating, adding, subtracting and division. 
• Board game - focuses on one-to-one correspondence, problem-solving and trialling strategies.
• Gardening involves measuring, counting, area, and division
• Travelling - can relate to time tables, time, money, budgets, and estimation.

Growth Mindset Approach

A Growth Mindset approach is the belief that intelligence can be learned and that your brain grows from effort, experience and persistence. The opposite, a fixed mindset, is the belief that you are either smart or you are not. 

These holidays, focus on praising your child's efforts and their ability to persevere with challenges. When a person has a growth mindset approach, they accept challenges, see effort as worthwhile and are open to learning from mistakes. 

Sometimes the simple act of adding 'Yet' to the end of a statement can change our thinking and approach e.g. instead of 'I do not know my 6 times tables,' consider 'I do not know my 6 times tables YET.' 

One terrific way that you can support your child's growth mindset approach is modelling this yourself as you share parts of your day! (What did you learn today? What did you try hard at? What mistake did you make that taught you something? How did you persist when faced with a challenge?)