From the Learning Specialists 

It's hard to believe we are already nearly half way through this term, our final term of 2021. As we ease back into a way of life that feels more normal, we  also have to readjust to a busier life than we have been used to, but it really does feel so good to be back.

Maths is such an exciting subject as it is literally part of our everyday lives and it is everywhere in the world around us. Mathematicians are always trying to find more efficient ways to solve problems, which is why we love finding as many different strategies as we can to find a solution, as it gives us a bank of tools to use.

Dr Ange Rogers, Numeracy Consultant and PhD researcher, believes that getting children curious and interested in maths starts with noticing and wondering about the world around us. She says we should encourage children to think of a problem to solve related to something you have noticed  e.g. If you are at a restaurant and there are tables with 4 chairs at each table, you might encourage your child to wonder how many chairs were there and how could we work that out?

You may not even ask your child to complete the actual calculations, just talking about what you could do helps develop strategy, reasoning and problem solving without the pressure of calculating. E.g. your child might say: "to find the number of chairs, you could multiply the number of tables by 4, because there are 4 chairs at each table' or they could say, "you could skip count in twos or fours to work it out" - all of which are great strategies to use when finding solutions to multiplication  problems.

What mathematics might your children see in these photos?