With my background as a primary school teacher and as someone who always had to work at Maths as a child, I am hyper sensitive to how not understanding Maths can quickly impact how a child’s self-esteem. Therefore I have always been a bit of a stickler for making sure that teachers explain Maths with clarity and kindness and create a learning environment where everyone feels as if they “get it”!
It was lovely to watch Focus on Maths this week with Lara, because she has such a calm and logical way of explaining Maths, and she makes things visual and easy to understand!
Focus on Maths currently runs 3 times a week (all on a Tuesday due to Lara’s other commitments. If you aren’t able to attend the live session, I would say that it is still worth signing up. I watched the recording and to be honest it felt like it was a live session, other than when I paused it to get a cup of tea! It covers the Key Stage 3 Maths curriculum, so is the perfect progression from our Maths – Stress = Happy class for Key Stage 2 and will cover everything you need to know before you progress to the GCSE Maths classes.
This week’s lessons was about everyone’s favourite – FRACTIONS!
I was curious as to how Lara would manage to keep everyone with her, because fractions is definitely a topic that children (and adults!) panic about. What she did was start off really simply with a really simple visual demonstration on her interactive presentation. Making sure that everyone was understanding right from the beginning, and then progressing slowly the children covered several key areas of fractions without it feeling like the work was hard. They started with recognising fractions of a shape and progressed through word problems to solve fractions out of a group of people (i.e. how many of these people are wearing hats) to equivalent fractions and how to use multiplication and division to work out equivalent fractions.
Most of the student input was through chat, which I know is a preference for a lot of our teenage students, but everyone had time to think, work it out and then give their answers.
I really liked the calm atmosphere and Lara’s way of reassuring the students that it is okay to make a mistake and it is important to have a go!
If you are looking for a really positive and non-stressful Maths class that will get you ready for GCSE Maths classes then why not give it a try. I am sure Lara and the other students will make you feel welcome! If you want more information, you can find out more here:
Focus on Maths (KS3) | Learn Laugh Play
Suggested extra learning
All our lessons include any relevant worksheets as part of the weekly lesson but you may also want to consider these optional extra learning resources for this class. You do not need them to join the class though.
This is not a Maths book: A Smart Art Activity Book: Weltman, Anna (Paid Link)
What’s the point of Maths? By DK (Paid Link)
Calculator – any calculator can be used for this course, if it is necessary to purchase one then the CASIO fx-83GT CW (Paid Link)
Please note, the Casio fx-83gt CW is a recent upgraded version to the Casio fx-83GT X, so if you have this calculator already it will still be suitable for the course.
Last Word from Lara
I had a chat with Lara after watching the lesson as I wanted to find out what she loves about this class. This is what she said. If you attend Focus on Maths with Lara or your child does, please comment below to share what you love about this class!
“Focus on Maths learners are currently exploring fractions and we will soon be learning ‘what fast-food and fractions have in common?’! Plenty of topics are covered during the year to consolidate prior knowledge, develop more challenge and boost confidence in preparation for the GCSE course. Please do check out the topic list on the website and I look forward to welcoming you to the group.“
Lara
