Helping your child meet their maths target

Lots of games and activities to choose from!

Target focus:

Recall of (remembering)addition and subtraction

factsPlease ask your child’s teacher if

you don’t know their target

A booklet for parents/carersSwaffield PRIMARY SCHOOL

This term your child is working towards memorising their number facts to 5, 10 or 20. These are all ways of making a number (using addition and subtraction). The aim is for your child to be able to know these facts instantly!

Key vocabulary pair, altogether, make, add, sum, total, take away, minus, less than, subtract, fewer than, how much more is…than…?, difference between

Helpful hints for parents Use objects (money, toys, pasta, sweets, pegs) to practise the number facts in a practical way. Look at the patterns with both objects and numbers e.g. as one number increases (gets bigger) the other one decreases (gets smaller). Practise with the numbers in order and chosen randomly - remember the aim is for the child to be able to respond immediately.

Call out! Play number ping pong. Start by saying 'ping', child replies with 'pong’. Repeat and then convert to numbers i.e. say '2' and they reply '8' (number bonds to 10). Immediately follow with ‘8’ and they respond with ‘2’. This reinforces that addition can be done in any order.

Make it fun!Make it real!There are 5 ladybirds on the

leaf. Two fly away, how many are left?

3 ladybirds! How do you know? Well, 2 add 3 make 5.

I have 7p in my purse. How much more do I need to make 10p?

3p! Why? Because 3p and 7p totals 10p

Playing cardsTake out the picture cards from the deck of cards. Include the jokers as 'zero'.1) Play snap by matching the number bonds. 2) Play the 'memory game' to find matching number bonds.

Dominoes:Connect two dominoes to make the bond.

What's hidden?There are 5 beans on this plate, I hide some under a beaker - how many have I hidden?

Helpful hints for parents

•Children are taught to understand addition as combining sets and counting on.•Encourage children to talk about their calculation strategies. Ask questions such as:  ‘How did you work that out?’ ‘Can you think of any other ways?’ ‘How do you know that?’ ‘What if you started with…….?’ How many more to make?

Most of these games can be adapted to the target your child is working towards.

Make a number track

Each player chooses five numbers relating to their target. For example, if your child is working towards ways of making 10, they might write 2,3,5,7, 8. Ask questions like 8 + ? = 10. If they have it the child crosses off 2. First player to cross out all numbers is the winner.

5 green speckled frogs, 10 in a bed etc.

 Give your child a target number or answer (e.g. 8) Ask them to write as many addition pairs as they can find to make that number. Children enjoy finding patterns in the answer to this. Encourage them to jot their investigations on paper. For some children the patterns are much clearer when they see them written down. You could ask them for subtraction pairs that make the target number or addition and subtraction pairs. (e.g. 8+0, 7+1, 6+2, 5+3, 9-1, 10-2).

Helpful hints for parents

The ‘if I know___, what else do I know’, rule is really important for children to learn as it will be with them forever more and will support calculation skills as they progress through school and work with larger numbers. If I know 8+2 = 10, I also know 2+8=10, 10-2 = 8, 10 – 8=2 .

Dominoes•Put some dominoes face down and shuffle them.•Each choose a domino.•Find the total of the two numbers on your domino or call out the correct total first.•Whoever has the biggest answer keeps the two dominoes.•The winner is the person with the most dominoes when they have all been used.

Now try subtracting the smallest number from the biggest number (smallest answer wins!). Or connect two dominoes to make a target number.

Bean raceYou need two dice and a pile of dried beans.•Take turns to roll the two dice. •Add the two numbers and call out the answer.•If you are right, you win a bean.•The first to get 10 beans wins.•Now try finding the difference between the two numbers.  

Card gameUse a pack of playing

cards without the picture cards Turn over two cards and ask your child to add the numbers or find the difference. If they answer correctly, they keep the cards. How many cards can they collect in two minutes?

Make 20 (like Take off 10)For this game you need to write out numbers 0 to 20 on a piece of paper. Make them big enough to put counters or coins on.•Take turns. Roll a dice. Put a coin on the number that goes with the dice number to make 20, e.g. throw a ‘4’ and put a coin on 16. •If someone else's counter is there already, replace it with yours! •The first person to have counters on 6 different numbers wins. •Now roll two dice, add the numbers together and look for a number to make 20. The first with coins on 10 different numbers wins.

Pasta take away•Count out a pile of pasta pieces of 5, 10 or 20 (depending on your child’s target).•Throw a dice. How many pieces of pasta will be left if we subtract the number?•Take them away and check.•Repeat.Make it competitive by having 5 piles of pasta. Repeat five times and whoever has the most/least pasta left in the original piles is the winner!

Helpful hints for parents - Mathematical vocabulary to use

Words linked to + add, addition, and, count on, plus, sum, more, altogether, total, increase

Words linked to – take away, subtract, subtraction, minus, less, decrease, difference between

Words linked to = equals, makes, same as

FINGERS Two people put their hands in their lap in fist shapes. Both count to 3 before holding up any number of fingers on one or two hands (depending on target). Add the two numbers. The first person to find the total correctly gets a letter of the word FINGERS. The first person to spell the whole word FINGERS wins the game.

How much?Once a week, tip out the small change from a purse/piggybank. Count it up with your child. Which coins make 5p in total? 10p? 20p? Ask questions – I spend 17p of my 20p, how much do l have left?

Out and about

Choose a two-digit (or 2 digits from a 3-digit) car registration number, e.g. 645. Add two of the digits or find the difference, e.g. 6+4, 6-4). Work it out in your head. Say the answer. If you are right, score a point. The first to get 10 points wins.

I have seen 6 red cars, how many more do I need to see to make 10? As you are walking to and from school – first to call out 2 digits on a number plate or house number that make a target number 5,10 etc. Add the digits of a house number together.

In the supermarket – I have 3 oranges and I need 10, how many more do I need? I am in aisle 6 and I need to get to aisle 10, how many more aisles do I need to walk?

Visit the school website for:

•A list of useful websites to help your child meet this term’s targets.

•Parent leaflets on helping your child with counting, times tables and time.

•Maths resources, including hundred square, multiplication grid and 9 sided dice template.

•Links to other websites and resources to help you and your child with maths, including the BBC article ‘Why parents can’t do maths today!’

www.swaffield.wandsworth.sch.ukThen go to the curriculum pages - maths

We would appreciate any comments about this booklet. What have you and your child found

helpful? What else would you have liked included?

Please email your comments to swaffield@swaffield.wandsworth.sch.uk