This week I was asked about classes for parents to help with their children’s maths as apparently some London boroughs offer these e.g. Parental Involvement Courses in Newham. I am not aware of any similar scheme in Kingston.
Kingston does offer an online website resource – the RBK Maths Website – but I have not been able to get the parents section of this to work (for more technical readers, in their wisdom someone decided to offer this as a Java app which just seems to crash any web browser that I threw at it) and for that simple reason I would not recommend it.
However, from looking into this query I did come across this interesting article in The Independent titled “Maths doesn’t have to make parents panic.” which may provide some useful insight.
Some guidance and online resources can be found from the Government from this DirectGov page – Developing maths skills for 5 to 11 year olds – interestingly most of the online resources link to the BBC Schools website.
The links to the QCA’s National Curriculum site are also useful for knowing what the statutory requirements are for maths learning – Key Stages 1 & 2 Maths
Please add a comment if you have any hints, tips or links that may help, or if you know of any local courses or groups that may be of help.
Gee-Kay Wong
Further to looking into this I have been told that Surbiton Children’s Centre on Alpha Road may be able to provide this sort of help to parents.