Resources of the Week: Maths & English Basics

Every school teaches slightly differently to one another.

At home, we want to be able to reinforce what our children are learning at school but it’s not always easy to do. I want my children to be independent learners and take ownership of their learning.

At my children’s school, they teach in small chucks. For example, they may spend one week looking at place value in their maths lessons and quickly move on to measures and time the following week.

The reason for this is because they have realised that children are more likely to remember what they learn if they learn them in little chunks and then revisit the topic again at a later date.

So they will more than likely do a topic several times a year, increasing their chances of retention. I like to do the same at home.

As parents, it’s not always possible to sit with our children and work with them when they are doing some extra study at home; in fact, it’s not always the best idea either.

I love it that I am able to prepare dinner while my children work independently on some maths or English. Occasionally, they will call out for some help but most of the time they just get on with it.

The Maths Basics and English Basics series are ideal for helping our children become independent learners. Each page is broken up into units and each book is divided into 30 units.

I recently gave my daughter the Maths Basics book because it supports the maths they do at school. It’s also wonderfully written.

Most of the units are designed using the same easy-to-follow key features. In some cases these features are combined into one activity, offering further practice where appropriate.

These features include:

The target learning objective – so they know exactly what they will be working on.

Look and Learn – introduces and explains the target objective, an example is provided to explain the objective. This really gives confidence as it provides a reference point for the child.

Practise section – Provides straightforward practise activities based on the target objective. Here’s where they show that they understand the objective and are able to do the activities.

Challenge – Provides activities to extend and challenge. This pushes the child a little further and will allow you to see if your child needs more practise in that area or if they are ready to move on.

These books are packed full of wonderful, bright illustrations that motivate your child to keep going

Both Maths Basics and English Basics enable you to help your child practise many important basic skills covered in the National Numeracy Strategy and National Curriculum.

Please bear in mind that it’s best not to overload our children with too much information but a few minutes a day of some extra study can do them wonders. It is recommended that your child works systematically through the book, although, my daughter has jumped to other topics if it is something she is doing at school – and that still works.

This series of books is easy to work through and your child will be able to do so independently. Remember to offer plenty of encouragement and support, and if you get stuck – the answers are at the back of the book!

The series is available for both Key Stage 1 and 2 and it offers ideal preparation and practise for your child’s development throughout these stages.

My daughter loves her books and she can’t wait to show me what she is able to do. The format of the books have really helped her to understand areas of maths and English in a fun and easy way!

Why not take a look and give them a go!