Big maths Beat that! Shocked and angry!

[dani_tinks]

30 seconds? that's insane. I'd be fuming!!

 

[Nats21]

Thats awful. What a shocking way to try and assess them. I'd imagine most would of got 0/17. Could you maybe speak to the other parents and see if you can all arrange a meeting with the teacher? I'd imagine most parents would think similar to you xx

 

[rwhite]

That's awful! Poor Aidan Definitely not appropriate for a 5 year old, and not a good teaching tool at all

 

[catty]

I'm not even joking I think I answered 5 in 30 seconds and I'm 20 years older than him!!

 

[catty]

I actually remember doing something like this in secondary school, it was harder questions than that but we weren't allowed to work it out on paper all had to be done in our head. I came away completely stupid after getting nothing right, it's not fair everyone has different ways to learn. I don't think my nephew could have done any and he's the same age, I actually think he can only count and isn't at the adding stage yet

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

Thanks guys. I was worrying I was over reacting but your responses have made me even more sure I am right to be against it x

 

[pinklizzy]

I would be so angry if they made my daughter do that! Hope you manage to get somewhere with the headteacher x

 

[alphamummy]

Aidan's mum, I feel for you. Last year my daughter was in Y1 and began taking these tests. The problem was that she learned the equations quickly, but couldn't write fast enough for the ridiculous time limit. She spent 5 months on that first test before passing and by that time had an ingrained belief that she was 'bad at maths'. I was furious and still am. This year, now in Y2 she has to complete 17 problems in 30 seconds!!!!!!! It is total madness. As with last year, she knows all the equations but can't write fast enough to finish--the best she has done is 12 (I think that's amazing). Again it could be a long time before she can pass it. Her writing skills are about average for her age.

I did some searching on Big Maths and learned that Ben Harding the author of it is both an OFSTED inspector and working for the consultancy agency, Andrell Education, that is peddling this gimmick--a bit of a conflict of interest if you ask me. Also, since OFSTED is the body that assesses how well a school is doing in math, they are not likely to criticise the teaching 'method' cooked up by their cohorts.

What galls me is that a child can learn what they need to know in maths but not be allowed to learn anything new because their test-taking skills are not advanced enough. I can see this gimmick keeping kids down and preventing rather than helping learning. It is also incredibly boring for my daughter to go over the same quiz week in and week out. She constantly complains about it. I try to stay positive for her, but I can find little positive to say about this. It is a real problem for us and many other parents at our school have voiced similar concerns.

I don't know what the answer is since it is used at many schools (but not all). The whole situation stinks. We will be moving in a few years and will endeavour to find a school that does not use this useless, damaging gimmick.

Good luck to you.

 

[EcoMama]

Awful, your poor boy! I'd hate for my just 5yr old to do this!

Can parents opt out of tests?

 

[amazed]

im 32 and would of got it wrong in half hour never mind 30 secs

 

[icklemonster]

That's ridiculous?! I was almost certain when I read it you must have got confused that it was 30 minutes not seconds! Talk about a horrible way to make a child doubt their ability. Age 5?! Seriously?!

 

[RachA]

Looks like I'm the only one on here that's going to defend this.

The school my two go to have been doing this for the last 2 years. I go in as a parent helper and have marked a lot of the big maths beat that sheet.
If your son is coming home upset about doing this then it's the way they are doing it that's the problem not the sheet they are doing. It is supposed to be fun and not a test. It lets the teacher see where the issues are in the child's learning. For example my son gets everything right about from the question where they give them a sum like 7 x 3 = 21 and you have to give all the other combinations.
I do find it quite worrying how many if you have said you wouldn't be able to do those sums in 30seconds. My mental maths is rubbish yet I did those in way less than 30secs!

You need to remember this is done in conjunction with the other maths and they don't take the results if this and assume your child doesn't know anything.
While I don't agree with putting pressure on children they do need to learn to do work within a time constraint at some point.

I would imagine a lot of parents don't actually realise their children are doing these papers-we've never had the sheet come home and it's only because of working in the school that I know that they do these.

I know my son is slightly older but we use these to discuss where he needs to improve etc. he regularly gets less than half of them but is never upset by this. They don't make it a big thing in the class how many everyone's got it anything. DS is a very sensitive boy and does get discouraged over things but never over this. He actually gets more upset over reading hands so maybe schools shouldn't have reading bands!

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

Looks like I'm the only one on here that's going to defend this.

The school my two go to have been doing this for the last 2 years. I go in as a parent helper and have marked a lot of the big maths beat that sheet.
If your son is coming home upset about doing this then it's the way they are doing it that's the problem not the sheet they are doing. It is supposed to be fun and not a test. It lets the teacher see where the issues are in the child's learning. For example my son gets everything right about from the question where they give them a sum like 7 x 3 = 21 and you have to give all the other combinations.
I do find it quite worrying how many if you have said you wouldn't be able to do those sums in 30seconds. My mental maths is rubbish yet I did those in way less than 30secs!

You need to remember this is done in conjunction with the other maths and they don't take the results if this and assume your child doesn't know anything.
While I don't agree with putting pressure on children they do need to learn to do work within a time constraint at some point.

I would imagine a lot of parents don't actually realise their children are doing these papers-we've never had the sheet come home and it's only because of working in the school that I know that they do these.

I know my son is slightly older but we use these to discuss where he needs to improve etc. he regularly gets less than half of them but is never upset by this. They don't make it a big thing in the class how many everyone's got it anything. DS is a very sensitive boy and does get discouraged over things but never over this. He actually gets more upset over reading hands so maybe schools shouldn't have reading bands!

I just don't see how it's meant to be fun? A few parents have said it effects their child's confidence in a negative way. Also I don't understand why it is worrying that most of us have said we wouldn't be able to do it? Many parents including my dad who is very good ataths said they would struggle purely because they know there is a time limit. I glad it works for your son but as a mother and as a practitioner I know what works for one child will not work for another. Chd have different learning styles and to use as a tool to work out where they are lacking is flawed In my opinion on so many levels. Maky because children don't for into the same way of learning. Yes this could do wonders for some children but I have also seen it have the opposit effect too. Plus why the pressure? Why 30 seconds? My son got every question right without a time limit so he is perfectly capable of doing the sums just at his own pace.

Sorry for any spelling mistakes I am on my phone x

 

[Quartz]

I assume its suppose to learning numbers in the same way as you learn how to read and write. I can write because I have remembered how to spell words so I can do it without thinking.

Addition and subtraction can be the same and I think this is what the Total Recall challenge is trying to do. No matter how many numbers you are adding together its always adding two numbers together (3 if you could one you carry forward) and the highest is 9+9. Training the brain to do it without thinking means

I think its going back to how I was taught times tables learning by rote and its a good way of giving people a grounding in maths and mean that addition, subtraction and multiplication are not scary but seen in the same way as we viewing writing and reading something that you do naturally.

I think if its affecting the children negatively its more to do with how it is taught. Its suppose to be a personal challenge which means as time goes on and they learn it 30 seconds should be no problem.

 

[RachA]

I assume its suppose to learning numbers in the same way as you learn how to read and write. I can write because I have remembered how to spell words so I can do it without thinking.

Addition and subtraction can be the same and I think this is what the Total Recall challenge is trying to do. No matter how many numbers you are adding together its always adding two numbers together (3 if you could one you carry forward) and the highest is 9+9. Training the brain to do it without thinking means

I think its going back to how I was taught times tables learning by rote and its a good way of giving people a grounding in maths and mean that addition, subtraction and multiplication are not scary but seen in the same way as we viewing writing and reading something that you do naturally.

I think if its affecting the children negatively its more to do with how it is taught. Its suppose to be a personal challenge which means as time goes on and they learn it 30 seconds should be no problem.

That's what I was trying to say too. If they are feeling discouraged by it then it's the way the teacher is presenting it and not the challenge itself.

As I said before my son is very sensitive and gets easily discouraged but he loves the big maths challenge. I've also seen it work across the whole of the school so it's not just that my son likes it.
The children don't compare with each other-it's a personal challenge. The first week they get say two right and then the next 3 and so on so they can see themselves improving over time which as a positive impact on them.
Another thing it teachers them is that it's not always the best idea to work through the list in order. They don't get harder so at a glance they should be able to see which ones they can answer easily. For example-any that add up to 10. By the end of year 1 they should all know their number bonds to 10 and be able to answer the sums that add up to 10.
Also as a parent it's our job to help them not to get sad about these things. Quite often it's because we say to our child 'how many did such-n-such get' thereby making it about compares peers and not about personal improvement. It's only because I help at the school that I actually know about it. We've never had the sheets come home-it's all part and parcel of their general maths learning.


The reason I say that most of the adults not being able to get them is worrying is because most adults should be able to add up numbers that total 100 or under fairly easily. Yes putting a time limit on it does make it harder but as an adult we should be able to focus on the task at hand and not get flustered by the time limit.


As a parent of a child that feels upset about it I would major on his personal improvement and I would mention it to the teacher-any teacher worth their salt would want this to be fun and if it's not they they need to know so they can alter how it's done.

 

[LoveCakes]

This is a big ask for a five year old but I suppose it is the way it's taught.

I'm also a bit shocked by adults who say they couldn't get more than a few. Even someone with poor maths should be able to add up two numbers even with a time limit and get at least 50%

It reminds me a bit if the numerical reasoning tests recruiters do where you are given too many simple questions (inferring from a table, percentages etc...) and they see if you do all the easy ones for example or work sequentially.

 

[Natsku]

I just looked at the questions, I'm shocked too if adults can't get them all right in 30 seconds, let alone a few. Don't people instantly recognise the ones that equal ten at least?

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

Some people aren't great at maths? Don't think its really nice to point out how shocking it is :/.

 

[Quartz]

But thats my point simple addition and subtraction should be as natural as the ability to spell its just the curriculum in this country has let people down, the knowledge that 2+6=8 should be as natural as the ability to spell simple words.

I think this is a good thing I was taught by rote at school (showing my age a little I guess) to memorise addition, subtraction and my 12 times table so I can do it without thinking. Its says nothing about my ability at maths more how I was taught.

If this teaches children the same if delivered correctly I think its a good thing.

 

[minties]

I just looked at the questions, I'm shocked too if adults can't get them all right in 30 seconds, let alone a few. Don't people instantly recognise the ones that equal ten at least?

I'm terrible at maths and got them all right in well under 30 seconds. I think it would be hard for a 5 year old though. A 5 year old has only just started school here.