PlusyThe Plusy Blog
Plain help for the math your child brings home, written for parents of 6 to 12 year olds.
Why times tables don't stick, and what works instead
Your child knew the table on Sunday and lost it by Friday. Here is why chanted facts fade, what makes them stay, and a two-week plan for ten minutes a day.
Carrying and borrowing: the slips to look for
Four slips to look for when column addition and subtraction come back wrong. See each one worked out beside the right working, and the one question to ask.
Careless mistake or real gap? How to tell
A simple way to sort a week of your child's math mistakes into slips, fact gaps and method gaps, with what to do about each kind and when to ask the teacher.
How to end math homework fights
Why math homework blows up, what to say and not say, how to help without doing it for them, and when to stop and write the teacher a short note.
How much math practice a day is enough?
No research gives a number of minutes for home math practice. The evidence supports short, spaced, mixed practice. A sample week by age and signs of too much.
New math methods explained for parents
Number bonds, regrouping, partial sums, the area model, partial quotients and the bus stop method, each with a worked example and its link to the column method.
Is counting on fingers a problem?
Counting on fingers is a normal stage, not a fault. What moving on looks like, from counting on to making ten to recall, and when to ask the teacher.
The Year 4 multiplication tables check: a parent's guide
The Year 4 multiplication tables check in England: 25 questions on screen, 6 seconds each, in June, no pass mark. What children score and how to prepare calmly.