Typical comments from parents about the home support packs
"I just wanted to say thanks for such a fantastic resource - I feel less in the dark now about what's in each of the maths levels and my son found it to be very re-assuring," and "Dear Tom, my daughter did really well again in her tests at level E which she sat at the end of P7, and using the Maths on Track practice materials has really helped her."
Feedback from teachers who've attended numeracy courses given by Tom Renwick
"So many practical ideas and justification for mental agility", "well presented and inspiring", "nice to hear that the strong basic foundations are still important and valued", "fabulous, inspirational practical and funny!", "entertaining speaker with a good down to earth common sense approach", "very practical and addressed a lot of issues".
Supports for Jan – April 09:
include the Glasgow High School as well as Stewart Melville’s junior school, Trinity, Canal View, Preston St, Craigour, St Johns (all in Edinburgh), Chatelherault, Callander, Auchtertool, Craigbank, Carron, Killearn, the Dunfermline HS cluster of schools, the Breadalbane Ac cluster (working with all P7 teachers and their pupils) and a number of Saturday talks across the country. These supports can be talks for teachers, or, working in the classroom with teachers and their pupils to share interactive mental agility techniques from the Wee Red Box, as well as evening talks for parents.
Forthcoming on-line developments for the Curriculum for Excellence, for both HOME and SCHOOL use:
this will involve adapting the successful Maths on Track materials (currently specifically written for the 5-14 levels) to meet the content of the Curriculum for Excellence. These adapted materials will be available for both home and school use by Easter of 2010 using a credit scheme, and will include downloadable podcasts of Tom Renwick sharing the numeracy techniques that involve the Wee Red Box flashcards.
Over the past 7 years Tom Renwick estimates he has supported about 500 Scottish schools and met more than 100,000 pupils with their teachers. He has recently been researching dyscalculia and how it is related to dyslexia, and his findings can help explain why the Wee Red Box can be so helpful, even for the many children who are not dyscalculic.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Testimonials
"Dear Mr Renwick, the materials have proved really useful — it was just helpful knowing what level B actually consisted of"
"Thanks for the prompt support — the mental agility materials have been particularly helpful, since this was the area my daughter needed to feel more confident with"
"Jenny passed her level D without dropping hardly a mark — the Get Ready materials were very thorough and supportive. Thanks"
"Thanks for the prompt support — the mental agility materials have been particularly helpful, since this was the area my daughter needed to feel more confident with"
"Jenny passed her level D without dropping hardly a mark — the Get Ready materials were very thorough and supportive. Thanks"
Feedback and Queries from Parents
Dear Tom - thank you so much for the quick response. The pack arrived on Monday and Bxxxxx has already done four worksheets because she started doing one and got quite excited about it and carried on. I will let you know how she gets on.
Thanks Jxxxxx - if there is any specific advice you need about any of the maths please remember you can phone or e-mail me - this is part of the support.
Hi Tom - I just received D & E packs. They are great and just what we needed - our children have enjoyed the practice and then then the new topic.
Dear MG - children do benefit from having enough practice, and sometimes this is difficult at school - the clarity of the materials seems to help.
Dear Mr Renwick - just to let you know my daughter has now passed her level D maths in P6, despite the feelings of her teacher that the others would fly, while she would be likely to fall behind. She scored higher than most of the other children in the class. Thanks for your help - she has gained much confidence and experienced success using your materials. We look forward to getting the level E materials.
Dear Mrs xxxx - thanks for the feedback, I'm glad the news was so positive. She probably just appreciated knowing what the goalposts looked like, at her leisure instead of the classroom with all the other things going on. Getting level D in P6 puts her into the top 20% or so, so she is actually doing well at maths!
Dear Mr Renwick, thanks for sending the level E materials so promptly in time for his tests the following week - my son managed to do them all in three nights and the mental agility stuff was most helpful. He's now passed his level E and his new teacher in second year thinks he'll get his level F by then.
Dear XXX - thanks for the feedback and I'm glad the materials were useful — a level F performance in S2 would put him inside the top 15% across Scotland for his maths.
Fiona has just passed her level D - your materials helped to target difficult areas but also enabled us to understand what was being taught and how. She actually got nearly everything correct in her actual tests. Why don't you do the same for English?
I've no time to do the English — any offers out there?
We've been in Australia for 8 years and we're coming back to Scotland in July. Will the Maths on Track materials be beneficial for our children? — we've no idea about 5-14 maths or the levels. They'll be going into P3, P6 and P7 next session.
Dear Mrs XXX, Yes, they will be, since they are tailored to the Scottish 5-14 curriculum. They will clearly show the maths at each of the levels and after your children have worked their way through the appropriate materials each materials you'll have a real feel as to which level they should be working towards when they start their new school.
There are fairly regular MoT sales to ex-pats returning to Scotland and who wish to see where their children currently fit into the scheme of things, and feedback has usually been highly positive.
Dear Mr Renwick, just a quick note to say thank you for the materials you sent. As you know our daughter had been anxious about her maths all year and the reassurance and confidence they gave her was tremendous — she's feeling on top of things now. She enjoyed their clarity.
Dear Mrs XXX — thanks for the feedback — the clarity is something I get regularly — I've always tried to keep the language requirements at the same level as the maths so that the reading requirements don't get in the way of the maths — also I've kept unnecessary diagrams to a minimum.
Do you ever tailor your support materials at parents request?
Yes I have done in the past eg a child may only need support materials on fractions and percentages rather than all the other maths — we just agree a price for my doing this.
Dear Mr Renwick, thanks for sending the P6 pack recently (having already got one of the P5 packs last year). You may be interested to know that my son passed his level C maths last term, and didn’t drop a mark’.
Tom — you may remember sending an 'on track' for level E for my daughter in P7. She whizzed through them and has attained her level E! Many thanks — she will go onto secondary school next term with a good start and more importantly, confidence.
That's great news — about 5% of pupils manage to attain their level E maths by the end of P7 — she should look forward to her level F with a good grounding at E.
Thanks for the materials. They are already helping me establish where my daughter has missed out on some of the basics over the past term and why she seems to be having problems with the more advanced work she is doing just now. It's helping her confidence.
Do you do any work in schools?
Yes — I do a number of things — the main one is doing interactive mental agility with classes, using flashcards designed for all the 5-14 levels, working with the kids when the teacher is there — this is a very good way of doing inservice with teachers — they can actually see it happening. At the end of the day I meet the teachers and we discuss some of the strategies they have seen working with their kids earlier in the day. I also leave them with lots of flashcards.
Head teachers can e-mail me at tom@mathsontrack.com for further information.
My daughter is in S1 now, and beginning to lose confidence with her maths — she's actually been moved down a set. Can Maths on Track help with this?
Yes, I'm sure. She probably can't be given the same support as she got at primary where she would have the same teacher for most (if not all?) of the day — this allows for more flexibility. In her high school she may now get upwards of 15 teachers in a week, and her maths teacher is only one of them. It seems crazy to have a system that goes from 1 teacher to 15!
Are the maths materials the same as the children will be using in class?
Not necessarily, not all primary schools use the same maths materials, but since they are written for the levels, they should be in line with the school.
My son has found the stepping stones to be really good at helping with his tables. Any tips on how best to use them?
Yes, talk about how the 6 times table goes to 60, and that halfway is 30, or, that the 7 times table goes to 70 and that half way is 35 — these give a good handle on learning them. Another good idea is if he is doing a sum with 7x6, you should also do 6x7, and 42÷6, and 42÷7 — kids really rspond well to realising that they are all the same sum, but just written round different ways.
What's so special about maths on track materials? I could just go to a shop and get a maths book for my kid.
The support materials are written specifically for the Scottish 5-14 maths guidelines — it's unlikely that you'll find anything in the shops that is specific to what your child should be working on in their classwork in a Scottish school.
I found the 'Get ready for the national test — level B' to be really useful. My son passed his actual level B really well — when should we get the 'Get ready for level C'?
Wait till he has covered most of the work for level C — a level can take from about 1 year to 2 years.
Thanks for the support, my son is already getting more confident with his maths and is much less anxious about going to school now.
"My daughter is in P3, and she has had a number of supply teachers since the start of the year. Will the mathsOntrack materials help her?"
Definately yes, by doing 2 or 3 sheets a week, you'll both get reassurance. Remember you can phone 0141 332 2692 if there are any specific queries you have on the maths.
"I give my P4 son 20p a sheet for every one he does well at or tries hard at. Is this OK? It helps his pocket money!"
Yes, the going rate seems to about 10p a sheet!
"Sometimes I worry that I'm explaining things to my son in a different way than his teacher would. Is this OK?"
Children benefit from hearing variety of language and your way of explaining will offer such a variety. Teachers will often explain things differently themselves, so why not you? The important thing is that you are discussing with your child on a one to one basis, which can be very beneficial.
"Would it help if my daughter's teacher knew she was doing the maths from your packs?"
Probably yes, but not essential. It's likely however that your daughters teacher would see a difference in her confidence and performance over a period of time.
"Many of the sheets are 'Keep the pattern going'. Why is this?"
The password for mathematics is 'pattern'. The times tables are patterns, clock times are patterns, bar charts are patterns, 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5 is a pattern, 6, 16, 26, 36, 46 is a pattern, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35 is a pattern. The more opportunities your child gets to work with patterns the better their maths will be.
Thanks Jxxxxx - if there is any specific advice you need about any of the maths please remember you can phone or e-mail me - this is part of the support.
Hi Tom - I just received D & E packs. They are great and just what we needed - our children have enjoyed the practice and then then the new topic.
Dear MG - children do benefit from having enough practice, and sometimes this is difficult at school - the clarity of the materials seems to help.
Dear Mr Renwick - just to let you know my daughter has now passed her level D maths in P6, despite the feelings of her teacher that the others would fly, while she would be likely to fall behind. She scored higher than most of the other children in the class. Thanks for your help - she has gained much confidence and experienced success using your materials. We look forward to getting the level E materials.
Dear Mrs xxxx - thanks for the feedback, I'm glad the news was so positive. She probably just appreciated knowing what the goalposts looked like, at her leisure instead of the classroom with all the other things going on. Getting level D in P6 puts her into the top 20% or so, so she is actually doing well at maths!
Dear Mr Renwick, thanks for sending the level E materials so promptly in time for his tests the following week - my son managed to do them all in three nights and the mental agility stuff was most helpful. He's now passed his level E and his new teacher in second year thinks he'll get his level F by then.
Dear XXX - thanks for the feedback and I'm glad the materials were useful — a level F performance in S2 would put him inside the top 15% across Scotland for his maths.
Fiona has just passed her level D - your materials helped to target difficult areas but also enabled us to understand what was being taught and how. She actually got nearly everything correct in her actual tests. Why don't you do the same for English?
I've no time to do the English — any offers out there?
We've been in Australia for 8 years and we're coming back to Scotland in July. Will the Maths on Track materials be beneficial for our children? — we've no idea about 5-14 maths or the levels. They'll be going into P3, P6 and P7 next session.
Dear Mrs XXX, Yes, they will be, since they are tailored to the Scottish 5-14 curriculum. They will clearly show the maths at each of the levels and after your children have worked their way through the appropriate materials each materials you'll have a real feel as to which level they should be working towards when they start their new school.
There are fairly regular MoT sales to ex-pats returning to Scotland and who wish to see where their children currently fit into the scheme of things, and feedback has usually been highly positive.
Dear Mr Renwick, just a quick note to say thank you for the materials you sent. As you know our daughter had been anxious about her maths all year and the reassurance and confidence they gave her was tremendous — she's feeling on top of things now. She enjoyed their clarity.
Dear Mrs XXX — thanks for the feedback — the clarity is something I get regularly — I've always tried to keep the language requirements at the same level as the maths so that the reading requirements don't get in the way of the maths — also I've kept unnecessary diagrams to a minimum.
Do you ever tailor your support materials at parents request?
Yes I have done in the past eg a child may only need support materials on fractions and percentages rather than all the other maths — we just agree a price for my doing this.
Dear Mr Renwick, thanks for sending the P6 pack recently (having already got one of the P5 packs last year). You may be interested to know that my son passed his level C maths last term, and didn’t drop a mark’.
Tom — you may remember sending an 'on track' for level E for my daughter in P7. She whizzed through them and has attained her level E! Many thanks — she will go onto secondary school next term with a good start and more importantly, confidence.
That's great news — about 5% of pupils manage to attain their level E maths by the end of P7 — she should look forward to her level F with a good grounding at E.
Thanks for the materials. They are already helping me establish where my daughter has missed out on some of the basics over the past term and why she seems to be having problems with the more advanced work she is doing just now. It's helping her confidence.
Do you do any work in schools?
Yes — I do a number of things — the main one is doing interactive mental agility with classes, using flashcards designed for all the 5-14 levels, working with the kids when the teacher is there — this is a very good way of doing inservice with teachers — they can actually see it happening. At the end of the day I meet the teachers and we discuss some of the strategies they have seen working with their kids earlier in the day. I also leave them with lots of flashcards.
Head teachers can e-mail me at tom@mathsontrack.com for further information.
My daughter is in S1 now, and beginning to lose confidence with her maths — she's actually been moved down a set. Can Maths on Track help with this?
Yes, I'm sure. She probably can't be given the same support as she got at primary where she would have the same teacher for most (if not all?) of the day — this allows for more flexibility. In her high school she may now get upwards of 15 teachers in a week, and her maths teacher is only one of them. It seems crazy to have a system that goes from 1 teacher to 15!
Are the maths materials the same as the children will be using in class?
Not necessarily, not all primary schools use the same maths materials, but since they are written for the levels, they should be in line with the school.
My son has found the stepping stones to be really good at helping with his tables. Any tips on how best to use them?
Yes, talk about how the 6 times table goes to 60, and that halfway is 30, or, that the 7 times table goes to 70 and that half way is 35 — these give a good handle on learning them. Another good idea is if he is doing a sum with 7x6, you should also do 6x7, and 42÷6, and 42÷7 — kids really rspond well to realising that they are all the same sum, but just written round different ways.
What's so special about maths on track materials? I could just go to a shop and get a maths book for my kid.
The support materials are written specifically for the Scottish 5-14 maths guidelines — it's unlikely that you'll find anything in the shops that is specific to what your child should be working on in their classwork in a Scottish school.
I found the 'Get ready for the national test — level B' to be really useful. My son passed his actual level B really well — when should we get the 'Get ready for level C'?
Wait till he has covered most of the work for level C — a level can take from about 1 year to 2 years.
Thanks for the support, my son is already getting more confident with his maths and is much less anxious about going to school now.
"My daughter is in P3, and she has had a number of supply teachers since the start of the year. Will the mathsOntrack materials help her?"
Definately yes, by doing 2 or 3 sheets a week, you'll both get reassurance. Remember you can phone 0141 332 2692 if there are any specific queries you have on the maths.
"I give my P4 son 20p a sheet for every one he does well at or tries hard at. Is this OK? It helps his pocket money!"
Yes, the going rate seems to about 10p a sheet!
"Sometimes I worry that I'm explaining things to my son in a different way than his teacher would. Is this OK?"
Children benefit from hearing variety of language and your way of explaining will offer such a variety. Teachers will often explain things differently themselves, so why not you? The important thing is that you are discussing with your child on a one to one basis, which can be very beneficial.
"Would it help if my daughter's teacher knew she was doing the maths from your packs?"
Probably yes, but not essential. It's likely however that your daughters teacher would see a difference in her confidence and performance over a period of time.
"Many of the sheets are 'Keep the pattern going'. Why is this?"
The password for mathematics is 'pattern'. The times tables are patterns, clock times are patterns, bar charts are patterns, 1+9, 2+8, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5 is a pattern, 6, 16, 26, 36, 46 is a pattern, 0.2, 0.25, 0.3, 0.35 is a pattern. The more opportunities your child gets to work with patterns the better their maths will be.
Support for Local Authorities
Some of the forthcoming in-services that Tom Renwick will be giving include:
- Progressions in problem solving (levels A-C and levels C-E).
- Interactive teaching in the context of mental agility and a progression from levels A to F, and how mental agility can lead the learning.
- In-services for probationers (both primary and secondary), helping to meet one of the requirements of the McCrone agreement, highlighting their responsibilities as teachers for numeracy, irrespective of their curricular areas.
- Formative assessment specifically for maths.
Early Intervention support
Some feedback from HT's and pupils include:
"thank you for a very enjoyable visit — both the staff and pupils got such a lot from it"
"we would like to thank you for helping us a lot with our maths — we are now concentrating more every day and this is just a note to say thank you"
"my class really enjoyed how you made the maths interesting"
"thank you very much for showing us the big blue board — it was really fun and we will enjoy using it in our classroom"
For feedback / information please contact Hilary McGillvray, Early Intervention Officer, East Ayr, 01563 555650.
"thank you for a very enjoyable visit — both the staff and pupils got such a lot from it"
"we would like to thank you for helping us a lot with our maths — we are now concentrating more every day and this is just a note to say thank you"
"my class really enjoyed how you made the maths interesting"
"thank you very much for showing us the big blue board — it was really fun and we will enjoy using it in our classroom"
For feedback / information please contact Hilary McGillvray, Early Intervention Officer, East Ayr, 01563 555650.
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