How-to-make-maths-easy-for-your kids-#3-The-power-of-near-doubling

Tutor My Kids Near doubles #2

This is the third in a series of articles explaining How to make maths easy for your kids – this one is on near doubling.

Parents often like to work with their kids between weekly sessions of private tuition and/or school to supplement the work of their private tutor and/or class teacher. At Tutor My Kids, all our private tutors are teachers, so we’re often asked by our parents how to make maths easy for their children.  

Helping your kids to learn their number bonds is a key skill that lays the backbone of future maths learning.

E.g. 4+6=10, 7+3=10, 14+6=20.

Here’s the link if you missed it – How to make maths easy for your kids #1

The second one looked at doubling – How to make maths easy for your kids #2

This third one looks at the power of near doubles

What is near doubling?

Doubling is simply adding one number to another (or multiplying it by 2). Near doubles are those that are close to it.

e.g. 6+6=12

6+7= 6+6+1=13 i.e. 6+7= 1 more that 6+6

Or 6+7= 7+7-1=13

Why is this important?

Mental strategies are important for kids to grasp because it makes them quicker at maths – fewer things need to be remembered, freeing up the memory for new stuff. Also it makes kids more numerate, generally.

It’s also dead handy with things like money.

£1.99=£2.00-1p

Makes adding money word problems much quicker.

How can it be applied?

As with all maths, due to its sequential nature, one thing helps with another.

36p+37p= 36p+36p+1p=73p

350+360=  350+350+10=710

So many children will automatically go to a written method for this, which is time consuming and prone to errors in carrying.

compact vertical addition Tutor My Kids

Teaching children to look at the numbers first to see if there are quick wins is invaluable in helping their numerateness.

Maths Confidence and Numerateness

Helping students to be confident at maths is something that our private tutors in Cambridge and surrounding areas do all the time. This confidence starts with having number facts at quick recall; it speeds up the work and enables students to feel that they’re able to work more quickly and allows children to access more complex material. Teaching children numerateness (Yes, I know this is a made up word – but it fits the bill) means that they have an understanding of number which sets them up for life and further learning.

Tutoring maths is a highly specialised thing, because each child will have gaps in their learning that are unique to the child. One-to-one tuition enables these gaps to be filled thoroughly, effectively and efficiently.

Then finally, you’re making it easy for your children to excel at maths, to be confident and numerate.

Get help from a private tutor in Cambridgeshire.

If you would like further information on private tuition in Cambridge, Ely  and the surrounding areas, there’s more information on the Tutor My Kids website here or you can call Rachel Law for a chat on 01223 858421.

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