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Year 5 ESF Question

  1. #11

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    Shri

    thanks for that, interesting - mind boggling lines of inquiry! wow

    Fractions, decimals and percentages looks like your focus.

    You could (if you havent already) get some CArol Vorderman, or similar, fun workbooks to do at home, if bub runs into any problems.

    Very much depends on the teacher, I find, how 'foggy' or clear, the explanations are (and hence grasping new ideas in Maths)
    Not sure too much philosophising helps in these areas! http://hongkong.geoschools.com/forum...ies/tongue.png


  2. #12

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    Carol Vordeman is not the way to go. They are quite generic and not suitable to the outcomes described in the English National Curriculum. If your school subscribes to Mathletics, ask them to download the excellent workbooks for the relevant unit of study in Maths linked to your child's current inquiry.


  3. #13

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    Elise, Thanks. A couple of people have recommended Mathletics to us and a few others have also recommended Carol Vordeman. Will have a look at both these sources.

    I am going to also take a peek into what is going on at futureschools.com as they seem to have a pretty comprehensive curriculum.

    Just so that it is not misunderstood. I don't think the school is doing a bad job teaching. I just think they're doing a bad job communicating with parents on what the kids are supposed to be learning. Consistent communication seems to be a systemwide issue in the ESF, although I can see that Quarry Bay is doing an outstanding job from what little I've seen.

    I'm in contact with a few school principals and the editorial person in the office is helping me reach out the various schools to see if they're willing to share their "curriculum letters" and correspondence about what is going on in their schools / classes with us.


  4. #14

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    Found this while browsing around:

    Year 5

    VERY well documented curriculum information and publicly available for all parents.


  5. #15

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    Elise wrote :- Carol Vordeman is not the way to go. They are quite generic and not suitable to the outcomes described in the English National Curriculum

    Hi

    This is misleading.

    I understand that the English National curriculum (as followed in UK state schools) is not the same as the Primary Years programme, which is aimed at the IB exam.

    The IB programme is the one with the philosophical questions, not the English National Curriculum, as far as I can see.

    Shri, is that correct?

    Thanks for feedback.


  6. #16

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    Shri - Only teachers whose schools are registered with Mathletics can access the workbooks. Best to ask an ESF teacher whose class/school are using this website.
    The IB mathematics outcomes are correlated to the units of inquiry. However, the depth of knowledge required at different year levels for different maths concepts reflect those in the ENC. Teachers in ESF predominantly draw upon maths resources from UK and Aus to address the content of these maths outcomes. Each ESF primary school may utilize different resources. This is why the Voordeman books are not a viable resource. You would never find a copy of them on a teacher's bookshelf. Dig deeper and you will be able to find some excellent resources that are more suitable for your needs. I suggest you ring around the ESF schools and ask what they use to address the maths outcomes. I've taught in two of them.


  7. #17

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    Elise. Thanks. Will try email our sons teacher. Have emailed our sons principal about our concerns and am awaiting his response.


  8. #18

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    Yes. I think the problem is not 'which workbook' shall I pick, to supplement the teachers work (or indeed which Maths tutor)

    It is also nonsense to have to do a wild goose chase for information!

    I think the problem is that many junior school teachers are not qualified, or not good at teaching Maths.
    They cannot explain Maths well or clearly. They think they have explained a concept, but they have not. Then they move to ANOTHER.

    Problems we have come across are :-
    1absolutely no method (no idea how to approach question)
    2 Work not aligned correctly (so Maths ability fine, but answer wrong as number not lined up properly)
    3 unable to use ruler even!

    A bright child will get frustrated if they cannot do something they are expected to do and demoralised.
    Confused teacher = confused child = confused parent...- vicious circle.

    Money for tutors! (Hong Kong method)

    shri likes this.

  9. #19

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    As someone who had perfect scores in Math in school and college, I'm stumped with some of the new concepts (and the lack of a proper text book!!!!).

    My son had to teach me "grid method".. go figure.


  10. #20

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    Shri, our ESF school also has a math coordinator responsible for the math education throughout the school. I've been explained there are two different types maths in the IB. The inquiry related math (could be graphs, time, measuring, etc.) and the stand alone units (stuff that needs to get done and doesn't necessarily link to a certain unit, like timetables, place value, etc.). You may want to check with your school to see if they have a maths coordinator.

    ESFMum likes this.

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