How to help your child succeed in maths
Rishi Sunak recently announced several measures to improve maths education in England. Under his new Maths to 18 plan, maths education will be compulsory for all students until 18.
Currently, students are only required to study maths until age 16 (longer if they fail their GCSEs).
While the plan will not be implemented until the end of the current parliament (2025), it promises to:
1. Invest in teacher training and development to ensure that all maths teachers are equipped to deliver high-quality lessons.
2. Expand the Maths Hubs program, which provides support and training to maths teachers nationwide.
3. Introduce a new advisory group to advise the government on how to implement the "Maths to 18" Plan and other reforms.
Sunak wants to make England a "world leader in maths education" and believes maths is "essential for success in the jobs of the future." He has also said he wants to "change the culture around maths" in England and "get rid of the anti-maths mindset."
With a newer emphasis on maths possibly on the horizon, we look at how to help your child succeed in maths.
Discuss their maths mindset.
Studies show it's common to hear from kids that "Maths is too hard" or "I don't have a maths head". This is because maths has a reputation in the UK for being a challenging subject, with students believing they are either good or bad at it.
Sir Martin Taylor, chair of the Royal Society's advisory committee on mathematics education, says that "40 per cent of students doing maths typically feel like they lack confidence in maths at some point, 20 per cent feel they are anxious about maths most of the time, and then there's 10 per cent that just hate mathematics".
If your child has a negative maths mindset as per the above or feels they lack confidence in the subject, you need to start by helping them to identify their negative thoughts and beliefs around their abilities and the subject.
Has someone told them they are 'bad at maths? Are they associating finding maths hard with their abilities? Do they believe a person is either good or bad at maths?
Once you know their negative thoughts, you can start talking to them about changing this by focusing on their progress rather than having them focus on whether they are good or bad at maths.
Set new goals with them that are challenging but achievable so they can build on their successes, such as mastering the basics, developing their problem-solving skills and learning to identify and analyse problems.
Link maths to the real world
With primary-aged children, some find it hard to see how maths lessons relate to everyday life.
For this reason, it helps to show them that maths is ever present in our daily lives, such as when it comes to cooking, shopping for groceries and even managing money. Widen this out to show how maths calculates speed and distance when driving or how it plays a part in building roads, bridges and even computer games.
Linking maths in this way allows younger students to see the relevance of maths to their daily lives and enables them to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. For example, when students see how maths is used to solve real-world problems, they can better understand its need and be more motivated to work on their understanding.
Encourage them to see that with maths, practice makes perfect.
Another way to help children succeed in maths is to get them to practice maths repeatedly. Like any other skill, the more they practice maths, the better they will become at it.
This is because maths is a cumulative subject, meaning that each new concept your child learns builds on previously known ideas. If they do not have a solid understanding of the basics, then it becomes more and more challenging to understand the more advanced concepts.
Second, maths is a problem-solving subject. To solve maths problems, students must think critically and apply the concepts they have learned. The more practice they have in solving problems, the better they will become at it.
Finally, the more your child practices maths, the more successful they will be at solving maths problems, and the more confident and better prepared they will be for tests and exams.
Provide maths resources
To help your child succeed, it's also essential to give them resources to help them achieve their goals. This may include providing them with extra help during class, tutoring, or online resources.
Maths resources for all levels are available at BBC Bitesize, ranging from early years maths to GCSEs. On YouTube, try the Khan Academy, Eddie Woo and BlackPenRedPen.
Finding a tutor can also be valuable if your child is struggling or wants to improve their maths skills. Our latest research shows that Maths dominates all areas of tutoring, from primary level to A-levels, indicating how many people seek tuition to help with exam support and confidence and with specific maths topics, such as algebra, geometry, calculus, and the 11+.
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