Do you struggle with maths?
Like a lot of people, you probably do and you’ve landed here looking for help and some answers.
If you’ve been doing maths since childhood and still find it confusing, scary and/or downright painful, I completely understand.
You are not alone.
I have met fully grown adults who still struggle with the tens, hundred and thousands columns and cannot comprehend numbers bigger than 1000.
Shocking isn’t it?
But then, when you consider the schooling system, the large class sizes and the pressure to perform in exams, it isn’t really surprising.
Our education system is failing most of us – but I will save that rant for another post.
You’re here because multiplying decimals makes you want to cry and fractions just don’t make sense (no matter which way round you write them!)
So how can you get better at Maths or at least make it less painful?
Is it possible that it will start to make sense and you will at least pass your GCSE and maybe even get that grade 9??
Yes. Absolutely.
I know, because I have done it.
In these blog posts and in my future course, I will be sharing all of my secrets, studying tips and exam technique that will get you there.
WARNING: You will need to be dedicated. Mastering a subject requires patience and consistency. So if you’re looking for a fast way out, sorry, you’ll have to wait until we evolve into robots. Until then your 2 options are:
1. Put in the hard work and learn how to do maths.
2. Do nothing and spend the rest of your life complaining and feeling embarrassed about your lack of number skills.
Still here? Excellent.
Let’s get started:
Fun fact: Most people who struggle with Maths, do not know their times tables.
It sounds so basic and we often shrug them off as unimportant.
But really, times tables form the the foundation of Maths and you will really struggle with GCSE Maths, if you don’t know them really well.
Learning times tables help you with other maths topics like fractions, division, number bonds etc.
Here is a very simple example: 2 x 5 =10
From that we can also see: 10 divided by 2 is equal to 5. And 10 divided by 5 is equal to 2.
By learning 1 fact, we’ve memorised 2 others at the same time.
This kind of foundation helps with fractions, algebra, area of shapes…in fact most of maths will become much simpler and faster to do if you memorise your times tables at lightning speed.
Times Table Game:
Here’s how I help my students improve their times tables whilst making it enjoyable:
1. Choose 1 set, starting from the beginning. So the 2s, or 3s, or 4s.
2. Write them out in full: 1 x4 =4, 2×4 = 8 etc.
3. Read through the list 10 times.
4. Grab a dice and you can play this on your own or with family and friends.
5. Roll the dice and you’ve got 2 seconds to say the answer. For example, if you are learning the 3 times table, and you roll a 5 on the dice, you need to work out 3 x 5 as fast as possible. Take it in turns and it’s a really fun game.
Classroom Game:
If you are a teacher or work with groups of children, try using a bean bag and a random number generator on the screen, whoever has the bean bag has to answer and then passes the bean bag to someone else.
Repeat those steps at least twice a day, and you will quickly see an improvement. You want to memorise at least the first 12.
Leave a Reply