Maths level 4c in year 2

[rocketjam]

DS is very good at maths, after sats in year 2 they tested him for year 3 sats and came up with an evaluation of 4c. He is 7.

The school doesn't have a G&T policy, I don't know what to expect/do. We think that he has a natural talent for maths, but don't know what do next.

[rocketjam]

I clicked too early - the schools differentiates his work, give him more/higher level stuff to do, but he is way ahead and already working on very advanced fractions, square root, etc. on his own with little support from us at home. We just need to explain to him what something is (such as percentage) and he figures it out on his own. Any tips/help? Advice from you friendly mumsnetters?

[tenderbuttons]

Hmmm. What does he think of the maths at school? Is it interesting and does it challenge him? Or is there a gap between what they are seeing at school and what he can do at home?

Because if that's OK - and it does sound as if they are doing more than a lot of schools would - then do you just need to find some resources to keep him 'fed' with stuff at home? We have a 7-year-old English specialist here, so I'm not the best person to ask, but people do recommend nrich maths for giving sideways extension. Or I might look at a homeschool maths course just to keep him amused.

[rocketjam]

He knows he is top of the class in maths, and he knows that he is better than me (so he says)! He plays lots of problem solving games at home such as Rush Hour and Nibble, Maths snap cards etc. He is learning the piano now which is keeping him busy and he is learning very fast. He enjoys maths at school because they teach him different methods and I don't think he's bored with it. However, I know that some children in his class still struggle with things like adding on a number line whereas DS knows all his times tables, can add 5 digit numbers in his head and knows that 25% is a quarter, etc. He enjoys counting backwards in 3s, 4s, 7s, etc. He knows about and understand prime numbers. He understands and knows what a square root is. If he is not bored now, he will be at some point... especially as next year he is moving into Juniors, I am just thinking ahead, should we get this formalised with school...

[MirandaWest]

Why will he get bored at some point? If he isn't bored at the moment then he has been having good teachers so far so I'd assume he's going to continue getting good teachers. It isn't a problem that there's a range of abilities in his class as long as his teacher is differentiating, which sounds like it is the case.

[jimblejambles]

Ds2 is at a similar level. I would ask his school how they are going to continue to challenge him.
At ds school they have a maths app called mathletics which can also be done at home and do tests every week called big maths. This helps them keep ds challenged.
We were also told that if a child excels in a certain area this is monitored by someone outside the school. That means that if the child then stops questions are asked. So it's in the schools interest as well as the child's to keep working with them at the child's pace

[tenderbuttons]

I think then it would be good to go and have a chat, but you could do it along the lines of thanking them for how well they have kept him engaged, and asking how this is going to be maintained in juniors?

[tenderbuttons]

Right, he might also like:

The Number Devil

and Penrose the Mathmatical Cat

[GeorgeHerbert]

Yes to nrich. He might also like Murderous Maths books. My ds was the same in Y2. I made sure he was happy with what he was doing in school and met with teachers each year to check they had some strategy other than just pushing him forward. The problem with pushing forward too much is that in maths, there is no limit so no natural point at which maturity might be needed to develop further until you get to A level or beyond.

My ds got through primary mostly happy and at times learning to cope with bring bored and finding ways to stretch himself. Secondary are much stricter about staying with what the others are doing although in the 2 Set 1 groups there are about 4 or 5 other kids all working at very high levels ( level 8 in Y7). They are made to focus on accuracy and routinely expected to get 100%!

[rollonthesummer]

Do they set for maths in year 3?

[soddinghormones]

Ime don't expect too much more from school - they're already doing much more than many others (ds2's included)

Ds2 was assessed as level 4 at the end of Y2 and we were promised all kinds of things which never materialised. He spent KS2 getting 100% in level 5 tests and getting v bored

He enjoyed the murderous maths books and played lots of maths games on the computer plus got into robotics (Lego mindstorms)

There was a huge change once he got to secondary school - there's a lot of very able mathematicians in the top set of his partially selective comp so he's no longer out on a limb and much happier