Q is for quick wins

Quick wins is not something people regularly associate with Maths, things are learnt over time with repetition at regular intervals. At different stages of learning however there are quick wins we can achieve.

Early Primary

Learning your times tables at primary school is unfortunately a necessary evil to help children with future maths. Learning them takes time however at a recent Dyscalculia conference I had the pleasure of watching a talk by the Dyscalculia Network who went through how they help students with difficulties in maths learn their times tables or “groupings”. They focus on 4 key times tables, 1, 2, 5 and 10. Making sure these are solid before attempting to look at others. If a child knows these key times tables and is taught how to count on they can work out other times tables more quickly.

For example, if we were to consider 7 x 6, rather than encouraging a child to count on from 7 x 1 adding on 7 each time. We ge them to think about what is 1 x 7, 2 x 7, 5 x 7, and 10 x 7, leaving spaces in-between for the other numbers. The child then identifies that 7 x 6 is 1 along from 7 x 5 and so only needs to add on one lot of 7. The understanding of multiplication is much greater than learning your times tables from a Taylor Swift song,.something I saw on the BBC recently.

Year 6 SATs

Unfortunately there are few quick wins when it comes to taking exams. However something that can be achieved early on is helping your child prepare for them. A revision quick win is about getting it started early on and doing small chunks over a long period of time rather than large chunks over a short amount of time. Getting revision right is key to success in the future.

20 minutes at a time is very effective, anything more than 30 mins and you struggle to concentrate. This is why teachers often split learning up in different chunks. After 20 minutes it is important to have a rest for 10 to 20 minutes, ideally away from screens etc. Then start again, this will give your child’s brain a small reset and allow them to take in more information.

Starting Secondary School

Secondary school is a big change from a small primary where everyone knows everyone. On a non maths note it is important to help your child be ready for the next day. There is so much going on the last thing your child needs is to be forgetting equipment and books. Help your child to become more independent with this by initially supporting them with packing their bag and gradually giving them more responsibility. At a friend’s, whose daughter is in Year 7, house recently I saw a mini whiteboard with a checklist on it. The checklist just went through all the things she may need for the next day. They go through it every night with the emphasis on the child being the one preparing it not the parents. Too often I hear “Ah my mum didn’t pack my PE kit”, often from a year 10 who should definitely be doing it themselves.

Homework

Schools tend to be very regular with their homework. In Maths we use an online platform (most schools now do). Get your child in to the habit of doing homework early. The earlier they start the earlier they’re done. This quick win although hard to achieve with a teenager is one which foster diligence, hard work and also allows your child to get help if they’re stuck.

GCSE quick wins

Similar to SATs there are few quick wins when it comes to exams. As I mentioned above the earlier your child starts revision the happier they’ll inevitably be come results day.

In terms of quick wins for the maths exams, targeting your revision is helpful, there are a wealth of resources online to help direct your child’s time. For example this year there is 2 weeks between P1 (Non calculator paper) and P2 (calculator). As a teacher I advise my students to focus on non calculator skills, things like Histograms, exact trig values and not for example the Sine and Cosine rule which generally needs a calculator. 1st Class Maths creates a practice paper which features high frequency topics for the non calculator paper. It is not a predicted paper so do not expect the exact questions to be on it but it helps you target your child’s revision. They then also produce the same for Paper 2 and 3 with a narrower and narrower scope as topics have already come up.