Update!

Mid-way into the new Maths for Parents course. Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 went very well. There is a real mixture of people in the group. There are those who hated maths / it was their least favourite subject, as well as those who loved maths! There are males and females, parents and a grandparent. Unsurprisingly to me, in our small group we have a mixture of those taught Equal Addition and those taught Decomposition as a written method of subtraction. Reminds me to continue to make known these two methods so parents are not taken by surprise! Even though we are so mixed, the group is really working together well - helping each other too. It is really encouraging to see people suddenly realise how they can very simply help their children with maths through every day activities, games and singing!! They have done very well too trying out different methods of calculating, and seeing how their children are being taught. Looking forward to Lesson 3 tomorrow!

My new venture!

What a fabulous summer – weather has been fantastic. Have really enjoyed going to the beach. Beginning to focus on my next exciting venture - my new Maths for Parents course which starts next Thursday 5th September. Started reading the responses from my pre-course questionnaire, and am really looking forward to meeting everyone.

Back again … and excited!!

Wow!! Amazing!! I am a grandmother again. Wonderful!! The Summer holidays really did get off to an exciting start. What with demand for my writing, consultancy work, tutoring and work with parents growing, I decided earlier in the year to focus on these and step away from classroom teaching. I could not have wanted a better send off from staff and students at St Peter’s at the end of the Summer term… Now enjoying the lovely Summer weather and looking forward to the next steps in the Autumn with the launch of very exciting things!!!!

Let’s Take Away The Confusion!

That’s the title of my latest article in Mathematics Teaching (May 2013, Issue 234), for the ATM (The Association of Teachers of Mathematics). Hoping it will be read by many! It should help parents, teachers and tutors with explaining and understanding the two main written ‘pencil and paper’ methods of subtraction. Do check it out at: http://www.atm.org.uk/journal/ Didn’t know that there are two main methods of carrying out a written subtraction? Then please do TAKE THE TEST, add your comments and see the 5-minute lesson that explains about it. Together I believe we can take away the confusion!

Much Ado About Tutors‏

Guest Blog for VOICE about tutors went live on 15 April. http://blog.voicetheunion.org.uk/?p=7171 Glad to say it has been Tweeted and Retweeted in several places. There really is Much Ado About Tutors at present as different aspects are emerging and being discussed. There really is a need to bring all the issues above board, and have some quality control in place! The recommendations from my PhD about private tutoring are still very pertinent!

What annoys me most ...!

Watching The One Show. Fiona Bruce mentioned what a torment it is helping her 10-year-old son with maths. Chatting things over with my son got me thinking about how to help parents help their children with maths, and how I need to teach teachers how to help parents do that ... I finally worked out what annoys me most! I'm glad that parents are being invited into schools to see demonstration lessons on how maths is taught. But I worry about how these lessons are presented. One Numeracy Consultant told me that she encourages teachers to focus entirely on how schools teach now and ignore all other methods. There is a problem with that, very clearly explained in Richard Skemp's wonderful The Psychology of Learning Mathematics: if you don't start where people are, you'll never get them on board! What a wasted opportunity!

I love pineapples ...!

Wow it's really amazing! Heard about how Farm Africa helped some farmers in Kenya increase their income from pineapples ... Decided to send off a mathematical activity for Farm Africa to use, if they want ... I do wish them well in all their projects! Must get on and prepare that pineapple ...