maths for junior/leaving cert query

banjobongo

I have 4 children. My eldest will be starting secondary school next year. Neither myself nor my wife are/were very good at maths at school (I got a D in pass maths and was delighted with this!).
My query is that I would like to be able to assist my kids in their maths as they go thru secondary school.
What would be the best way for me to do this, any ideas?
Is there a maths book for dummy parents which will help bring parents up to speed on maths for the inter and leaving cert?

LeixlipRed

My advice would be unless you are extremely comfortable with the subject matter (which on your own admission it seems you might not be) to not try and help your children as you would have done when they were in primary school. The subject matter is more advanced and without a full understanding of it you are more likely to confuse them than to help. More useful would be to allow your kids to avail of online resources,etc and participate with them in learning the material as opposed to trying to tutor them or help with homework. That's only my opinion of course.

MathsManiac

I would also suggest taking a careful approach, but I do think that it is possible for parents to offer help and support.

Firstly, it is very important that you not let your children pick up on your own discomfort with maths or pick up vibes that it's difficult or scary. Try to portray the attitude that you would like them to end up with. This can be hard if they ask you something you don't know. But, there's a big psychological difference between saying: "Oh I don't really understand maths, so you'll just have to ask the teacher" and saying "Gosh, it's ages since I did this, let's have a look at it together", (and try to make it sound like you're looking forward to the prospect!)

LeixlipRed is correct that one could do more harm than good by trying to help by doing a problem by a half-remembered method from your own school days. The method or approach used by the child's teacher may be very different. Learning with them is a great way to go. Try to keep track of what they're at before they start asking questions; look through the sections of the textbook that they're working on, and look at the notes they're taking in class. (i.e. sneak their copies and do your swotting when they've gone to bed!) When they do ask for help, you'll at least know the context of the difficulty they're having. I would then suggest sitting down with them, helping them look back to find a similar problem done in class, (or a worked example in the textbook,) and help them bring that to bear on the problem at hand. This way, not only are you less likely to run counter to what the teacher is saying, but you're also modelling a good studying style for them. They'll become more independent learners that way.

Finally, you have what will hopefully be a great advantage. Since your child is starting in September 2010, they'll be working with the first strands of a new syllabus which has been designed to ease the transition between primary and secondary school, and to make maths more meaningful and relevant to students. If it works, it'll be great. You might actually enjoy learning it yourself!

LeixlipRed

Excellent post MathsManiac. I didn't mean to sound harsh, my post may have come across that way. It's great that you wish to help your kids as a lot of parents hear the word "maths" and instantly reach for the wallet to waste money on grinds or those grinds schools scams. I recommend you learn with your eldest as they do just as MM suggested. You might even enjoy it