Reference Documents for Parents on Primary School Numeracy
There are a great deal of mathematical concepts for our children to grasp during their years at the primary school.
It is important for parents to understand and be able to follow the primary school numeracy curriculum throughout each year of their child's education at the International School.
Following on from the recent 'Numeracy and Homework' presentation and discussion, by Numeracy Teacher Mr. Chung, at our PTA meeting we felt we would look into other ways to help our parents understand the learning journey of their children.
The following primary school numeracy documents provide some guidance to parents in the progression of methods and strategies used to support calculations.
As with all things, the teaching of mathematics has developed over time...(specifically the time since we were at school)...through research and academic study.
It is now considered to be best practice to ensure that children have a true UNDERSTANDING of what can actually be a very abstract subject.
While it is important that they learn certain number facts by heart, it is also imperative that they understand WHY. Visual strategies are hugely supportive in this.
A huge focus in Primary Mathematics teaching at the present time is the ability to perform mental calculations.
This can be done with the support of notes and 'jottings' but it is important to remember that we are trying to instill in our children a real sense of number.
This sort of awareness will make them aware of things like the right sort of answer to expect when performing abstract written calculations to sport errors as well as the reasoning behind these.
More information about primary school numeracy.