Maths help for a 6 year old

When I was a kid, we were just given a sheet with the times tables on from 1x1 to 12x12 and told to memorise them. :S
 
zooankski said:
I have just spent the last hour trying to explain the 2 x table to my daughter and it is not making much sense to her at all. Does anyone have any suggestions for good fun books i could use to help her or some where i could get work sheets we could do together?
Come to think of it-any mathematical worksheets for 6-7 year olds might be helpful.
There is plenty of rubbish i have found (mainly American) but i am specifically interested in any thing that other parents have used with success here in the uk.
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For one I wouldn't spend an hour with her doing it. That is way too long, I would try parrot form, get her to learn the first 5, then so on... Anyway, Maths and timetables especially are aload of *****! I don't know mine off the top of my head and I have a good job. LOL.
 
The free software at the following link should help.
See - http://sourceforge.net/projects/numberrace/

It was designed to assist children with Dyscalculia (essentially number dyslexia). I would suggest also that you look at the wiki page re dyscalculia as it is quite informative. Don't mean to scare you in any way at all. However, both dyslexia and dyscalculia are best picked up early and it is a possibility no matter how remote.
 
I remember as a kid, there were kids games that involved puzzles to get through certain obstacles which involved simple mathematics...

Not sure what game it was now, but you could try and find PC games for kids that makes learning maths more enjoyable.
 
when i was a kid i just learnt them by recital.

1x2 is 2, 2x2 is 4 etc, then tested myself, got tested, and kept doing that. After a while i didnt even need to think about them - i just remembered the number from the rhyme, no calc needed etc.

Boring, but effective.

11x s are easy, can do any of them! just split the number, then slot the sum of thee two in between - so 17x11 = 1----7 and drop in 1+7 = 187. 16 x s i do 8 & double it etc. just from memory tho...
 
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AHarvey said:
When I was a kid, we were just given a sheet with the times tables on from 1x1 to 12x12 and told to memorise them. :S
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I can't remember what they did at school but my parents gave me a sheet and made me learn it off by heart.
 
Personally as somebody without what I guess people would call a mathematical predisposition, Maths only makes sense to me when presented in the form of another use.

Now I'm not suggesting you teach your daughter the times tables by designing a building with her or learning binary ;) but instead of teaching her the times tables specifically, perhaps you can find a way to inadvertently teach it to her. Then, once you are confident she will understand, show it to her again, only this time she'll be very pleased she just knows it. It's a confidence booster and helps remove that mental block.

Think Mr. Miagi in The Karate Kid! (Wax on, wax off, sand the floor, paint the house etc.)

I would suggest though rather than hard labour, perhaps somehow work it into her playtime.

Maths is scary because its presented to people as "Maths", when in fact the basic ideas come almost naturally, if you can do this now you will remove that initial fear of big scary "Maths" and when she is taught at the high school level, that block I had won't be there.

Good luck :)
 
Am I the only one who came in here expecting to find someone who couldn't help with their 6 year old's homework?
 
Stovies said:
snap, my 6yr old daughter is at the same stage.

OP ask the teacher, and teach the same way, otherwise your 6yr old will get confused.
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i get called a bad parent in the xbox section because my son plays all the cod games , GTAiv , red dead redemption , borderlands etc

hes one of the besr behaved children in his class , 2 years ahead of where he should be with his reading..

yesterday lol he was playing halo and i heard him talking to one of his friends he actually said "whats wrong with this guy does he have mental health problems" i couldnt believe it i can only assume someone most likely 10 years older than my son was beeing an idiot and raging about dieing
 
arknor said:
i get called a bad parent in the xbox section because my son plays all the cod games , GTAiv , red dead redemption , borderlands etc
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And I stand by what I said, it's not acceptable for a 6 year old to be playing 18 rated games, COD at 6 years old is madness.

Try actually looking after your son instead and interacting with him instead of lobbing him infront of a computer screen. He could probably then achieve far more at his age.

Lazy parenting.
 
I can't recommend www.mathtutordvd.com highly enough. I'm working my way through the harder stuff at the minute, but the beginner stuff would be excellent for a 6yr old. His style of teaching is brilliantly clear imo.
 
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