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What your child will learn in maths#
Your child is learning to:
- use different methods to solve problems, including word problems and using tables, graphs, and diagrams
- connect their understanding of whole numbers to fractions and decimals
- apply maths skills to understand concepts like angles, perimeter, and area
- explore patterns, shapes, and data.
Good maths skills and a positive view of themselves as maths learners will help your child in the future. Maths is important for solving problems and creative thinking.
Encourage your child to use the maths vocabulary they learn in class.
This helps them develop a strong foundation in maths, making it easier to solve problems and think creatively.
Numbers#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- find and read large numbers in your environment, like your car’s odometer
- estimate the cost of items on a menu
- play times table games, or ‘I’m thinking of a number’ games.
Your child is learning to:
- work with larger numbers by adding and subtracting numbers up to 10,000
- multiply and divide 3-digit numbers, for example, 245 x 8, 118 ÷ 4 = 29 remainder 2
- learn the 7-, 8-, and 9-times tables
- use formal methods like vertical columns to set out their work
- practise estimating, rounding, and connecting their knowledge of place value and basic maths facts with their calculations
- order, compare, add, and subtract numbers with 2 decimal places, for example, 32.55 - 21.21 = 11.34, and find simple fractions of whole amounts (2/3 of 24)
- represent money in different ways using coins and notes, such as calculating the total cost of items and the change from the nearest $10.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- change
- divisor, dividend, quotient, remainder
- factor
- hundredth
- multiple
- product
- proportion.
Algebra#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- make up a rule, like ‘x 2 add 1’, and use it to make a pattern (2, 5, 11, 23)
- give step-by-step instructions for a simple task – for example, making a sandwich or drawing a shape
- play board games like ‘snakes and ladders’ that help children follow a set of rules to move along a path.
Your child is learning to:
- use different operations to solve problems, like 674 + 56 – __ = 671
- identify patterns, understand the rules behind them, and predict what comes next in a growing pattern
- create and follow step-by-step instructions (algorithms), like explaining the fastest way through a maze or giving instructions to draw a diagram.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- algorithm
- corresponding element
- procedure.
Measurement#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- collect the family and family birthdays and put them in order to make a reminder calendar for the year
- make water balloons and see how far you can throw them and how far the water splatters
- play mathematics ‘I spy’ – for example, ‘something that is 1⁄2 a km away’, ‘something that is 5cm wide’, ‘something that is 1kg’.
Your child is learning to:
- accurately measure length, weight, capacity, temperature, and time using the right tools and units
- measure the perimeter of shapes using millimetres, metres, or centimetres, area using squares and volume using cubes
- identify angles as acute, right, obtuse, straight, and reflex
- connect angles with turns, for example, 90 degrees is a right angle and looks like a quarter turn
- work out time problems by understanding units of time (days in a week, months in a year) and converting between them
- solve time problems using ‘am’ and ‘pm’, for example figuring out how long something lasts from 10.30am to 3.15pm.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- am, pm
- attribute
- degrees celsius
- kilometre, millimetre
- acute, obtuse, reflex, right and straight angles
- timetable.
Geometry#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- collect boxes – undo them and see if you can make them up again or make them into something else
- draw a shape made out of blocks from different angles, and have the other family members try to build the shape
- find and classify objects around the house as regular or irregular polygons – for example, a cereal box is a rectangular prism, and a stop sign is a regular octagon
- plot their walk from home to school using compass point directions or look at an online map to plot a journey.
Your child is learning to:
- identify and describe 2D and 3D shapes, including regular polygons (equal sides and angles) and irregular polygons (different sides and angles)
- explore shapes like cubes and pyramids, learning about faces (flat surfaces), edges (where 2 faces meet)
corners and cross-sections (shapes seen when cut through) - notice parallel sides (lines that never meet) and perpendicular sides (lines that meet at a right angle)
- read grid maps and use coordinates (like A3, B5) to locate objects
- give and follow directions using compass points (north, south, east, and west).
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- compass points
- cross-section
- net
- parallel or perpendicular line
- perspective
- prism
- regular or irregular polygon
- resize, enlarge, reduce.
Statistics#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- ask them to predict an outcome – for example, "how many red cars will we see on the way to school?" – and compare it with real data
- look at a news article or advertisement with a statistic or graph – discuss whether it makes sense and how they might check its accuracy.
Your child is learning to:
- ask and answer questions using data and predict what they think the data will show
- compare data, such as, "can people in Year 5 jump further than people in Year 6?"
- plan how to collect their own data, check where the data comes from and make sure it is trustworthy
- organise data and look for mistakes
- create and describe graphs and charts
- make statements about the results
- compare their findings to their original predictions and what they already know
- check and improve how others collect and present data to avoid mistakes or misleading information.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- categorical
- data visualisation
- discrete numerical
- group of interest
- source.
Probability#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- roll 2 dice and add the numbers together, asking, "which number do you think will come up most?" and tracking the results over 20 rolls
- put different coloured blocks or buttons in a bag, ask, "is each colour equally likely to be picked?" and then test it
- talk about the likelihood of a sports team winning based on past games or statistics.
Your child is learning to plan and carry out probability experiments to:
- explore situations involving chance, including those that are not likely to have equal outcomes
- ask questions, predict possible outcomes, and identify all ways each outcome could happen – for example, "what is the chance of pulling out a red counter from a bag with 10 red and 15 blue counters"
- collect and record data and compare results and probabilities.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- evaluate
- not an equally likely outcome.
Resource#
Maths at home - Year 5 NZ Curriculum