Mathematics 

Maths during the holidays

Over the holidays we encourage all students to continue building their mental computation strategies and number skills through incidental learning. We all use mental computation strategies daily and it is important for students to build these skills through tasks that are fun and relevant to their own lives. Here are some examples of how you can include Maths into everyday conversations:

• Whilst you are away on holidays, have your children calculate the time it will take to travel from one destination to another and work out what time you will arrive.
• When cooking, have your child count out how many ingredients you will need and measure the amount of each ingredient. For older children, allow them to work out the measurements if you were to double or halve the recipe, especially if there are fractions involved.
• When shopping, have children add prices together to get the total.
• Have children count a collection of items, such as clothing in their suitcase or Easter eggs. Ask them if they can count the total in a more efficient way, such as skip counting by 2, 5 or 10.
• When driving, search for numbers on signs, buildings and houses. Ask your child what number comes before or after that number, what is 10 more or less than the number or what is double that number.
• When waiting in line, take it in turns to count, starting at a number and moving forwards or backwards. You can also practise skip counting.

There are so many opportunities to build your child’s mental computation skills and as they are the basis of most calculations, it is important that students become confident in counting in various ways. Most importantly remember that the holiday period is a time for rest after a busy first term, so any Maths that is completed over the break should be fun, engaging and part of the normal daily routine.

If you haven’t had a chance to see the fun we had on St James World Maths you can click on this link: St James World Maths Day

Happy Easter!

Jess and Bridie

Jess Conway and Bridie Slater

Mathematics Leaders