Mathematics - Years 1 & 2
What sorts of things can a parent teach their child at home?
There are three parts to Maths : Number & Algebra; Measurement & Geometry; and Statistics. I spend most time with my kids on ‘Number’ as a good grounding in this helps all areas. Number is also easy to quiz and teach in short bursts at home with minimal preparation time.
Number & Algebra
Practice counting to 100, forwards and backwards
Try naming the number before and the number after a number between 0 – 100 – e.g tell me what number comes after 63 , tell me what number comes before 40.
Learn doubles for numbers up to ten – e.g knowing that double 2 is 4 and double 3 is 6.
Learn that when you add numbers you can swap them around and get the same answer, e.g 2 + 3 = 5 and so does 3 + 2.
Learn pairs of numbers that add up to 5: e.g 3 + 2 and 4 + 1
Learn pairs of numbers that add up to 10: e.g 9 + 1 and 6 + 4
Learn how to make the ‘teen’ numbers: e.g 10 + 7 = 17 and 10 + 3 = 13
Use a mix of pictures and maths symbols to show an equation – e.g a drawing of 3 eggs + a drawing of 2 eggs = a drawing of 3 eggs. Start building familiarity with the plus, minus, times and fraction symbols.
Recognise a pattern and carry it on, e.g 2, 4, 6, ....what comes next and why?
Geometry and Measurement
Sorting out objects by shape, colour, temperature, texture etc – get an old bag of buttons and try out different ways of grouping them.
Following and giving instructions for movement that involve distances, directions and half or quarter turns – eg, face the library, take fourteen steps forward then do a half turn to the right. You can always make this into a fun game with a blindfold – heck you could even trick them into heading to bed!
Describe position relative to a person or object using terms like: next to, behind, in front of, between, to the left. Sketch simple maps.
Reflecting and turning shapes (rotation by half and quarter turns), repeating the same shape across a border (translation) – many girls love doing fancy borders on their pages so this can be a handy starting point for getting them thinking about shapes.
Statistics
Making sense of simple data – eg bar graphs, pictographs.
Possible outcomes – eg, heads and tails – toss a coin for who is doing the dishes and let your kids think about the odds.
