Blog

The story of this project, one post per day, newest first.

Articles

  • Telling the time on an analogue clock, step by step
    2026-10-07 · G1–G3

    Digital clocks are everywhere, but reading an analogue clock teaches fractions, skip counting and the idea of time passing. Here is a sensible order for learning it, and games that help it stick.

  • Comparing fractions without a rule to memorise
    2026-10-07 · G3–G5

    Which is bigger, 3/8 or 2/5? Children can answer by reasoning about size instead of memorising cross-multiplication. Here are the benchmark and unit-fraction ideas that make comparing fractions make sense.

  • Fractions start with fair sharing
    2026-10-07 · G1–G3

    Children meet fractions long before school: every time they split a snack. Starting from fair sharing, rather than from symbols, gives them a meaning for halves, quarters and thirds that lasts. Here is how to build it.

  • Measuring in the kitchen and the garden
    2026-10-07 · K–G3

    Measurement is where numbers meet the real world. Comparing, using non-standard units and then rulers and cups gives children a feel for length, weight and capacity. Here are kitchen and garden activities that build it.

  • Beyond finger counting: mental addition and subtraction strategies
    2026-10-07 · G1–G3

    Fingers are a fine start, but children who stay with counting-by-ones hit a wall. Here are the mental strategies that replace it, why they work, and how to practise them in conversation at home.

  • Coins, change and shopping maths at home
    2026-10-07 · G1–G4

    Money is one of the most meaningful places children meet place value, counting on and decimals. Here is how to turn pocket money, shopping trips and a toy shop into steady practice with coins and change.

  • Number bonds to 10 and 20 with everyday objects
    2026-10-07 · K–G1

    Knowing that 10 is 6 and 4, or 7 and 3, is the quiet foundation of fast, confident mental arithmetic. Here is what number bonds are and how to build them at home with objects you already own.

  • Why 34 is not '3 and 4': helping children understand place value
    2026-10-07 · G1–G2

    Children who write 34 can still think of it as a 3 and a 4. Place value, the idea that a digit's position gives it a value, is one of the biggest conceptual steps in the early grades. Here is how to build it with real objects.

  • Real counting vs reciting numbers: what to look for before school
    2026-10-07 · PK–K

    A child who can say 'one, two, three, four, five' is not necessarily counting. Here is how to tell the difference, and how to build real counting at home with everyday objects.

  • Shapes, position and direction words for young children
    2026-10-07 · PK–G2

    Before children name a triangle or follow a map, they need words like 'above', 'between' and 'next to', and a feel for what makes a shape what it is. Here is how to build that language and thinking through play.

  • Seeing 'five' at a glance: why subitising matters
    2026-10-07 · PK–K

    Some quantities can be recognised instantly, without counting. This skill, called subitising, quietly underpins addition, estimation and number sense. Here is how it develops and how to play with it at home.

  • Times tables: memorising and understanding, in that order?
    2026-10-07 · G2–G4

    Parents often ask whether children should memorise the times tables first or understand multiplication first. The best answer is both, in a particular order. Here is how understanding and recall support each other.

  • Reading the maths in word problems
    2026-10-07 · G2–G5

    When a child can calculate but cannot solve a word problem, the trouble is usually reading, not arithmetic. Here are habits that help children see the story, choose the operation and check that the answer makes sense.

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