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Hi Anthony,
Yes, Charlie is up and running with Maths POWER. We started him on the Year 5 syllabus even though he is in year 6……….. One of the key improvements has been his confidence and self belief that he can do maths. For example, he now spends only 20 to 30 mins doing his maths homework from school rather than a lot longer. He seems to be more prepared to focus and get his maths homework done because he knows he can do it, rather than having an attitude that it is difficult and will take him forever.
The school is also working with us and he is attending a maths club once a week at school with a small group – this was mainly to revise his understanding of fractions. However the teacher has found after a few sessions that his knowledge was good enough to move him on to another topic. The school is also sending home all copies of tests that he does. He has completed two diagnostic reviews so far in which he scored 93% in both. This combined with getting 90% + in his Maths POWER worksheets help to set a new standard for him such that he no longer expects to get 50% +. Apparently when he first scored 93% he questioned the teacher as to whether she was sure it was his result!
There was an interesting article in the Saturday Age on 10th May about a teacher who is having considerable success in both literacy and numeracy using the ‘explicit’ teaching method rather than the modern self guided learning method. I think Charlie both enjoys and benefits from the explicit instruction method which I think is why he enjoys the Maths POWER lessons. He feels like he is actually being taught the concepts.
The link to this article is:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/05/09/1210131265814.html
We are both looking forward to moving on to the Year 6 syllabus and being more in line with where he should be at. I am hopeful that by the end of the year he will have a really solid foundation in maths and strong confidence that will enable him to continue to move forward in Year 7.
Regards,
Carolyn Todhunter
South Melbourne. VIC.
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