The Education Blog

Insight News 15th May, 2020

Learning from home – Maths!

Our top tips and resources for learning Maths from home with Primary children

Have you got a budding mathematician, engineer, or architect at home?

It’s time to put our Maths hat on! Maths is a real love or loathe subject, but it’s something every child must grapple with at school! But, for the less interested, Maths doesn’t have to be scary or boring – it can actually be fun!

Everyday, there are opportunities to sneak Maths into the lives of our children, to help keep them engaged and learning in a practical way.

Here are some Maths learning activities you can do from home…

MATHS PROBLEM SCAVENGER HUNT

All children enjoy a scavenger hunt, so why not make one Maths-based?

Step 1: Give children a grid with some weights and lengths on it – the challenge is for them to find something in the house, or the garden, approximate to those set weights and heights.

Step 2: Gather up the items, and see how well they’ve done with some kitchen or bathroom scales and a tape measure!

THE YES/NO GAME

This fun game is a great way to get in practise of 2D and 3D shapes!

What you’ll need to play: small pieces of cards or paper. How to play:

Step 1: Both players put a card on their heard with an example of a Maths topic on it, e.g. shapes, numbers, 24 hour timings…

Step 2: Each player questions one another with yes or no questions to try and guess what’s on their head. For example: ‘Do I have four sides?’

Step 3: Keep going until you get the correct answer, or run out of turns!

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.

Albert Einstein

LINK TO LIFE:

Here are some tips and ideas to integrate Maths into everyday activities!

1. Talk about the shape and size of objects
Look for interesting facts, like the tallest or shortest living people, or the biggest or smallest buildings in your local area.

2. Talk about time
Let your children work out the timings of their household, such as asking them what time you need to leave the house to get to the shops for a certain time.

3. Food and cooking
There’s great scope for Maths in the kitchen! Examples of this could be measuring ingredients when working on a recipe together, setting timers, or working out how to share foods like pizza and cake equally between the family.

4. Collect information
Help your child create a tally chart; perhaps they could find out the family’s favourite animal, or fruit!