Many children develop their understanding of basic addition and subtraction at home, and this can be before they start school. That is why it is beneficial for parents to provide informal activities at home, so their children will have a head start when they start learning maths in school.

However, early maths does not mean giving your children the calculator during their playtime. Instead, we can help them develop their understanding of addition and subtraction through simple interactions. For example, we can inject maths through our stories or daily routines like counting steps as they go up and down the stairs.

Other things we can help our children with will include the following:

• Understanding shape, size, and patterns
• Proficiency in counting numbers verbally
• Identifying less or more of a quantity
• Understanding and recognising numerals
• Matching sets or one-to-one correspondence

What are the key maths skills for school?
We need to understand that advanced mathematical skills are based on early maths concepts and methods. So, we need to build a strong foundation for these skills by introducing ideas that include the following:

• Number sense - this is the ability to count forward and backward and to see the relationships between numbers.
• Representation – representing mathematical ideas through words, symbols, pictures, and objects. For example, a child laid out his or her plastic picnic toys, which includes four plastic cubs and four plates which is based on the number of family members.
• Problem-solving – This is an essential skill because kids need to think through a problem and to recognise more than one path to answer. This means using logical thinking skills to find an answer.
• Measurement – technically, this is the ability to find an object's exact height, length, and weight using measuring units like pounds, inches, and feet. Measurement of time will also fall under this category.

Fun activities to develop your kids' maths skills
Here are additional activities to help your kids develop their math skills

• Let them help you with baking and cooking

A good way to develop your child's mathematics skills is to encourage them to help you when baking or cooking. Let them read the instructions on the recipe book as well as do the measuring and weighing of ingredients. This will let them become more familiar with fractions, temperatures, quantities, and cooking units. This could be a fun at home activity during the pandemic related lockdowns.

• Get them involved in budgeting and food shopping

Budgeting and food shopping are ordinary activities, but they can be fun practice for maths. So, encourage your children to compare brands and prices, budget, and find the best deals. This will help them understand numbers, prices, and how to value money.

• Encourage them to do some maths every day

Even for ten to fifteen minutes a day, you should let your children do a little bit of maths like problem-solving or doing simple arithmetic. These short but focused activities will get your child thinking and use their mathematics knowledge.

A growing number of families today are seeking the help of maths tutors to develop their children’s mathematical skills and study habits. In fact, getting a tutor will provide several advantages for both you and your child.

Here are some of the reasons why maths tuition is good for kids.

Maths tutors are more qualified than parents
Let’s accept the fact that many tutors are experienced teachers, and they are qualified to teach the Victorian national curriculum. While it is great sometimes to show your child your own way of solving a maths problem, you may not be using the method and language your child understands. So, you may confuse them even further.

A qualified tutor will understand the current curriculum, and they are trained to adapt their teaching style based on the learning needs and preferences of their students.

Personal attention will give your child an advantage
A one-on-one tuition is beneficial for your child, especially when it comes to maths. In fact, when your child receives personal attention, they will progress more quickly, and they will be taught in the learning style that best suits them. This is particularly important during the Covid-19 lockdowns as students are struggling with online learning during the pandemic. 

Also, their concerns and questions can be addressed more quickly, and there is no pressure felt from peers and classmates. Maths tutoring will also let your child learn the concepts and skills at their own pace. This will let them understand the concepts more clearly, and that will build their confidence in solving difficult maths problems.

Stress-free learning
If your child struggles with maths, they are likely to hide it because they are worried about what their friends will say. In fact, it will be stressful for them to be in a classroom environment. Also, they may be reluctant to ask questions even if they don’t understand those concepts or stop trying to avoid failure.
Maths tutoring offers a more relaxed learning opportunity and each session is commonly done in the comfort of your own home. This will greatly reduce stress and encourage your child to try new things and to ask questions more often, so they will absorb more of the information given to them by their tutor.

Regular feedback
As parents, we want to be regularly updated with our child’s progress, but getting the feedback we need from their school teachers is tricky. However, maths tutor can provide immediate feedback about our child’s current level and how we can help the tutor reinforce those maths concepts by supplementing the learning needs of our children at home.

Overall, parents hire math tutors so they can help their children develop their confidence and understanding of complex maths concepts because this will help them achieve better results at school.

The current pandemic that we are experiencing has impacted schools, school their staff and families with school age children, requiring parents to be more involved in their children's education. Tutors are also beginning to play a larger part, and many families have found themselves searching for a reliable Maths tutor in Melbourne. The National Council of Mathematics Supervisors believes that it is essential to change the way mathematics is taught in schools. Maths instructions should be more consistent, so teachers and tutors must plan what math classes should be like during these times.

Educators must also recognise the emotional, social, and academic differences of students because these factors will have a great impact on their learning. While the future is still uncertain, educators must now take action and determine what needs more attention. They must focus on flexibility so students can learn maths at varying speeds and levels.

Why is planning key?
Educators must focus on three critical areas, namely, advocacy, structural considerations, and teaching practices. These factors should be in the conversation of district leaders and schools. They must know what supports are needed and what is lacking in their area moving forward.

The critical areas in a mathematics program

• Structural considerations

These factors will include strategies for students, especially after a quarantine period. Teachers must know what support these students need and think out interventions. They could even rework school schedules so students will focus more on their maths subjects.

Schools should also require teachers to work together to determine the most appropriate priorities before teaching maths in the new school year.

• Teaching practices

Educators must use new and improved strategies that focus on formative assessment to gauge and know how well the students are learning maths. It is also essential to adjust if necessary, so being flexible is critical. This means that teachers must know their students' current learning pace and help them improve their learning methods.

For this to be successful, teachers and tutors must ask questions and analyse the activities and assignments of their students.

• Setting maths goals that focus on learning

Implement various tasks that promote problem solving and reason. When you are teaching maths online, always facilitate a meaningful problem-solving class. Teachers should also ask questions with a purpose.

Advocacy
The purpose of advocacy is to make the student realise that maths is everywhere, from gadgets to finance and politics. Therefore, educators should not limit mathematical reasoning to the classroom.
Overall, students should be given the same learning opportunities, so families and the community need to get involved. We still do not know the final outcome of this pandemic and how long it will last, but one thing is certain – we are already in the new normal.

As a maths teacher, you may remember the stress of being responsible for your students’ future, especially when they reach high school. In fact, there are various areas in which students need to demonstrate competency at the required level. Not to mention that stakes are much higher when you are teaching VCE.

That is why it is essential to effectively teach Algebra to your students to successfully pass this subject and be prepared to tackle higher mathematics. Here are some tips to help you if you are a teacher or a maths tutor.

• Classroom management matters

As their maths teacher, you will need to be clear on what mindset and behaviour you are expecting from your students This means spending at least two days negotiating and clarifying classroom expectations. Every routine and procedure should be straightforward, so each student should act according to the guidelines.

Prioritising relationships is foundational since this will motivate your students to act within the boundaries set in the classroom.

• Explain the why before teaching the how

This method is beneficial for all types of teaching, but it is also effective when teaching algebra. For example: before teaching your students to solve equations, you should start by giving them a simple problem – A + B = 5.

You would follow up by asking, “What is the value of A and B?” The students will most likely give you a combination of number like 3 and 2, 4 and 1, or 5 and 0 since this will make the equation true. You will then ask a follow-up question – A – B = 3. Now, your students will see that B=1 and A=4 will satisfy both equations. Providing them with these simple problems will help them see the “why” behind some concepts in algebra.

• Get Familiar with your calculator

Calculators are essential tools that are commonly underutilised in algebra. Several calculators can help students with various algebra activities and lessons. One good example is the TI-Nspire from Texas Instruments, which support some specific lessons in Algebra.

There are also various YouTube videos that can help you and your students learn the features and capabilities of a calculator. You just need to type the name of the calculator and the skill you want to learn.

You can also search the web, especially Google and create a chat with all the calculator basics you need. It is possible to upload all your references inside a Google classroom account. You can create a living document that your students can access, and they can even add their references too.

Overall, these are just simple steps you can implement in your classroom or one-on-one tuition if you are a tutor. 

Click here to find out about the best time to find a tutor.