Mathematics for Parents
"It wasn’t taught like that in my day!”
When I reflect on my Primary Maths lessons (too many years ago now) I don’t
ever recall being taught to use a number line or if I knew how to partition
a number. Maths was often a complicated and at times alien subject.
Thankfully this is no longer the case for myself or for the children at
Bangkok Patana!
Parents of Year 2 and Year 3 children were shown how Maths is
taught in Year 3. The importance of progression and the need for
children to be empowered with numerous strategies was emphasised. They
were shown how to use a number line to solve multiplication calculations and
how division is simply repeated subtraction! The progression from a
horizontal number line to a more “traditional” vertical layout involving
partitioning was demonstrated. Finally the understanding that
multiplication and division are the inverse to each other, “Know this and
you know that!”
Parents were then invited back to Year 3 classrooms to see strategies being applied in
lessons. The children became the teachers as they talked their parents
through the mental processes, showed their informal jottings and revelled
with glee when their parents replied “I didn’t know how to do that!”
Sometimes it’s ok for our children to know more than us, after all, they are
the ones attending school.
I would like to thank all those parents who attended the workshop,
you were a great audience and even better students. A final thank you
to the Year 3 team and to the children.
Andy Parkin
Head of Curriculum Year 3
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