Mathematics
Welcome Back to Term 3 Maths!
Welcome back to all of our families for another action-packed term of learning! I hope you all had a refreshing break and are ready to dive back into the wonderful world of mathematics.
First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who reached out with feedback regarding what you’d love to see in our newsletter's math section. It is fantastic to hear your thoughts, and please feel free to keep sharing your ideas with me throughout the term—your input helps us keep our home-school maths connection strong!
Based on that great feedback, we want to give you a sneak peek at what our students will be exploring over the next ten weeks. Our teachers are focused on delivering practical, engaging, and high-impact maths sessions tailored to every year level.
Here is a brief overview of the topics our students will be tackling this term (in order):
Maths Tip for Home: When your child is working on these concepts, ask them to show you how they got their answer or to teach you the game they played in class. Witnessing them explain the "why" behind their maths is a powerful way to boost their confidence and solidify their learning!
Why Not Try This Quick Game Too...Total Ten (or Twenty!)
Looking for another quick, zero-prep way to build number fluency on the commute? This is a great game for the car because it relies entirely on listening and mental strategy.
You pick a target number—let's say 10 for younger students or 20 for older ones. You start by saying a number, and your child has to figure out the "partner" number needed to hit the target.
Here is how you can easily scale it for any age group in the back seat:
For Younger Kids (Prep - Year 2): Use 10 as your target. You say, "I have 6, how many more to make 10?" They shout out, "4!" This builds those essential "friends of 10" combinations that make mental addition so much easier later on.
For Middle Thinkers (Years 3 - 4): Push the target up to 20 or 50. You say, "I have 14, how many to get to 20?" or "I have 32, how many to get to 50?" You can also flip it to subtraction: "We are at 20, I take away 7, what's left?"
For Older Students (Years 5 - 6): Use decimals or fractions to hit a target of 1 or 10. For example: "I have 0.35, how much more to make 1?" (0.65) or "I have 3 and a quarter, how much more to get to 5?" (1 and 3/4).
It takes less than two minutes, requires no devices or paper, and gets their mathematical brains beautifully warmed up before they even step foot out of the car!
We are looking forward to seeing some fantastic growth, "lightbulb" moments, and positive student outcomes across all year levels. Let's make it a great Term 3!
Warm regards,
Charlotte Spence
Classroom Teacher (Prep CS) and Mathematics Leader