Getting started is simple. Here are 10 steps to follow.
1. Download and print out the Mathical Creatures worksheets.
2. Schedule a time to do the worksheet, preferably the same time each week. It can be as little as 10 minutes of practice.
The key in to get your child practicing maths regularly. And your child can’t say 10 tiny teeny minutes to tackle I-can’t-do-maths mindset is too long.
3. If you’ve bought a pack of worksheets, choose which worksheet to work on with your child.
4. Make sure the workspace is somewhere you won’t be disturbed by anyone or anything. Keep devices away or put on silent mode.
5. If your child struggles with reading, take turns to read out each sentence. It’s an opportunity to practice reading and build comprehension.
6. Encourage your child to draw or write out their workings.
The focus is not on the right answer; it’s more on the strategies they use and reasoning that demonstrate an understanding of the key idea.
7. If your child find a question challenging, you might ask: ‘What’s the question asking you?’ and then, ‘How do you think you could go about working this out?’ or ‘If that didn’t work, what else could you try?’’
Don’t just jump in and tell the answer or how to do it exactly.
Adopt a growth-mindset thinking and remind your child that by tackling a challenging question:
‘You’re stretching your mind. Just like lifting a heavy weight, with practice you’ll be able to lift heavier weights. So with practice, you’ll be able to work out challenging questions with more ease.’
8. Ask your child to mark their work using the Answer sheet. Remind your child, there’s more than one way to get to an answer.
9. If your child gets a wrong answer, use the Mark Your Work & Learn flow chart to figure out why.
10. Capture ‘Learning Opportunity’ in the Learning Log. This will reveal any weak areas or maths strand they haven’t learnt in school yet.
If they have covered the maths topic in class and your child doesn’t understand it yet, help them figure out the best method or strategy to use that makes sense to them.
If a wrong answer is due to a simple mistake or error in calculation, you might ask: ‘What mistakes did you make that taught you something today?’ or ‘What might you do differently next time?’
