Maths

Fun maths at home

A lot has changed since I wrote my last piece for the newsletter.  Most of you have begun to balance the demands of distance education with work and other complexities associated with being at home all the time. 

As a mother of three primary aged children I understand the challenges of distance education and just how hard some days are for parents at home.  Good luck and please let us know if we can do more to help!

The Challenge

Over the school holidays I began to explore where maths comes up in our day to day life and how I could get my children to recognise and appreciate the maths involved in the everyday.  One activity that I found sparked good mathematical conversations was cooking. My year two child discussed the doubling of numbers and was able to weigh up to 3 digits, carefully adding one piece of cheese at a time until the scales showed 130g. My older children where able to use cooking to discuss equivalent fractions and decimals in a meaningful way. My focus was on understanding their processes and encouraging their ability to use mathematical reasoning. The correct answer was not important to me it was the mathematical conversations and a positive mind-set that allowed mathematical concepts to be explored.

If you have the time or inclination, please try cooking with your children as a way to extend their mathematical thinking.

Attached is my favourite cake recipe.

Laurent Maidment

Mathematics Leader

Lauren Maidment

Mathematics Leader/ Intervention