Are You Worried That Your Child Is Struggling with Maths? – How to Tell if Your Child Struggles with Maths at Primary School and What You Can Do to Help
If you’re concerned that your child is struggling with primary school maths, you’re not alone. As children progress through primary school, it gradually becomes clear which areas of the national curriculum they excel at, and which areas are more challenging. Parents can often identify if their child struggles with maths. However, the reason why is less clear. Adding to the frustration is that parents are often left powerless to help.
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Why are so many UK children struggling with maths?
A Department for Education report suggests one reason is that many under-fives are less developed in communication, language and social skills. Therefore, when these children (est. 200,000 each year) start primary school they are already disadvantaged in the basics. You might be reading this and saying to yourself, “well, isn’t it the job of the teacher to introduce the basics?” – Yes, it is.
When your child is introduced to Key Stage 1 maths their teacher will start from the beginning. Counting, simple addition and subtraction, and times tables. Therefore, why worry about pre-school maths?
Maths anxiety: A road to failure? Absolutely not!
It’s only recently understood, but maths anxiety is a real issue that children experience from as young as Reception and Year 1. Those children who lack a basic introduction to maths, such as counting and so on at pre-school level, begin primary school unaware that many of their peers are already ahead of them.
I can testify to this, I felt this myself in the 90s. I remember sitting in Reception class aged 4 or 5 and given number cards 1-20. The teacher asked us simple addition and subtraction questions. It was supposed to be fun; the task was to identify the answer on a ‘fan’ of cards attached to a ring, and to hold up the correct answer. “What’s 4+5?” Looking back, how was it that everyone knew the answer was 9 but I had no idea what I was supposed to do? As each question came and went, I was quickly aware they all knew something that I did not. Ultimately, I burst out crying in confusion and from that day on I had a complex relationship with maths and numbers. This affected my maths studies right up until my GCSEs.
So, what is maths anxiety and how does it cause kids to struggle with maths?
This is an emotional reaction often triggered by a lack of understanding which then leads to children becoming physically upset or even angry. Often accompanied by feelings of helplessness, a child will become less confident in maths. This is only made worse by poor test scores, conflicting teaching methods and pressure to perform well in the Year 6 KS2 SATs. Most damaging is the emotional block, which can affect a child’s true learning potential in maths.
It is undeniably a mental health issue which causes children to struggle with maths, even lasting into adulthood.
Is your child’s struggle with maths dyscalculia?
You may have heard of dyslexia in children. According to the British Dyslexic Association, Dyscalculia is a persistent difficulty understanding numbers, and can cause other difficulties with learning maths. Incidentally, dyscalculia can occur because of maths anxiety and visa versa.
It’s important to remember that there are many reasons a child might be struggling with maths at KS1 or KS2. Just because they’re struggling does not necessarily mean it is a medical condition. With that said, parents need to be aware of it.
What are the signs of dyscalculia? (According to the British Dyslexic Association)
- Difficulty counting backwards
- Struggle remembering basic maths concepts, even with continued practice.
- No sense of whether an answer from working out is right or nearly right.
- Slow to perform calculations.
- Forgets mathematical concepts, especially as they become more complex e.g. long division or long multiplication.
- Avoids questions which are difficult, likely to result in the wrong answer.
- When displaying methods for working out prefers to just use simple addition.
- Weak arithmetic skills.
- High levels of maths anxiety.
If your child suffers from dyscalculia will they struggle with maths?
It’s likely that if your child has dyscalculia, they will find learning KS2 maths challenging. But you should note that there may be alternative teaching methods which can help them to learn maths successfully and even enjoy it.
Around 5-7% of primary school children have dyscalculia and it seems to affect both genders equally.
What should you do if you think your child has dyscalculia?
Rest assured in 2020 there are several options available to you and your child. While no one test will be able to confirm if your child has dyscalculia, a series of diagnostic tests will confirm if this is why they are struggling with maths.
- Consider visiting your GP. This is because it is important to rule out any medical issues which might be causing disorientation with numbers.
- Talk to your child’s teacher. They will be able to identify which areas of maths your child struggles with most, and methods for trying to solve this.
- Try to understand their complete learning profile. If your child is struggling in other areas such as spelling and reading, it might be that they are also dyslexic.
- Book an appointment with a specialist. The UK Dyscalculia Information Centre will be able to provide you with further assistance and offers a free preliminary test.
Other reasons your child is struggling with maths:
You cannot rule out that your child is simply disinterested in learning maths. Perhaps they prefer the arts or logic just isn’t their thing. However, maths is a core primary school subject and as it’s compulsory it’s important to help kids discover ways to enjoy it.
It might also be that the methods their teacher uses in class for learning mathematical concepts does not resonate with your child. If that is so, how can you help?
How online maths tutors are helping kids who struggle with maths:
The benefits of online maths tuition at primary school:
As a parent you no doubt want to take meaningful action to help your child. However, be careful if you’re considering investing in practice books or using free worksheets as this is unlikely to stimulate your child’s learning.
Online tuition services such as Think Academy UK specialise in preparing primary school students in Years 1 – 6 for their SATs by introducing new ways to learn that aren’t taught in school – but still work! Moreover, rather than using one to one tuition which can be boring for kids, Think Academy UK have small group classes. Kids can learn alongside peers at their level while also receiving the undivided attention of the teacher.
What makes these classes even more engaging is that they take place in a fun and interactive virtual classroom using EdTech – opening a whole new world of learning. Ultimately, kids discover maths in a way they’ve never seen before. You can learn more about our tuition services here.
You might also like to read:
The Homework Debate 2020: Should Homework be Banned in the UK?
SATs 2021: Complete Guide on KS2 SATs and How to Prepare Your Child!
