What sorts of things can a parent teach a student at home?

The knowledge required in the intermediate and secondary school years starts to become more advanced and in-depth.  However if you have worked closely with your kids up until this point, you may be surprised to find that you have little difficulty picking it up.    With a bit of luck your old high school maths will come flooding back!  For Years 7 & 8 return to the Numeracy page and follow the links for these Year levels.

By secondary school your child will more than likely have a textbook that you can use as a guide and will hopefully be being set regular homework by their teacher.    Students who are doing well with their Maths will often be becoming increasingly independent with their homework.  You can help a lot simply by checking what their homework is, providing encouragement (or bribery!)  and making sure they have a good working environment.  Many secondary teachers also now post homework online so that you can keep tabs of it.  Students who struggle with Maths will often benefit from going back over many of Year 7 & 8 skills to make sure they have a solid foundation.  If your son or daughter is struggling with a particular topic or needs some extra practice there is a fantastic Australian website with video tutorials and worksheets at www.mathsonline.com.au.  The great thing is that the Australian and New Zealand curriculums are very similar so most topics can be found - the only thing to watch is that their Year 8 is equivalent to our Year 9 and so on with their Year 12 matching our Year 13.  This is because students start school a year later in Australia.

You can also search for teaching resources here at the Ministry of Education's NZ Maths website (www.nzmaths.co.nz).  These resources are intended for teachers but there are also websites that your child can work on themselves.  If you are happy to pay - there is a very good site called www.mathletics.co.nz that has excellent curriculum coverage and learning activities for around $100 a year.  The equivalent Australian website is www.mathletics.com.au

With senior students who are struggling often a tutor is a good option.    It can be very difficult finding a Maths teacher to do this as they are in short supply, however there is the option of asking for help from an older student or from a student who is very strong in the subject.  In New Zealand some iwi offer grants to cover the cost of a term's tuition each year.