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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
- understand how whole numbers relate to fractions, decimals, and percentages
- 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.
Number#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- play times tables games, including the division facts – for example, 7 x 8 = 56 and 56 ÷ 8 = 7
- talk about sales in town, such as 25% off, 30%, 10% or half price, and look for the best value
- talk about goals and plan to budget for items for themselves or others.
Your child is learning to:
- represent numbers in expanded form and use exponents, square roots, and order of operations
- apply divisibility rules, identify prime numbers under 100, and find highest common factors and lowest common multiples
- use number lines to order, add, and subtract positive and negative numbers in real-world contexts like temperature and money
- use rounding, estimation, and multiplication facts to solve problems with whole numbers, decimals, and powers of 10
- divide by 2-digit numbers to get decimals or fractions, and divide whole numbers by unit fractions
- multiply and simplify fractions and decimals by whole numbers; add and subtract fractions with different denominators
- add and subtract decimals up to three places and convert between fractions, decimals, and percentages
- solve percentage problems and use multiplication/division to model changes in quantity
- calculate costs, change, and percentage discounts using money in real-world scenarios.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- associative
- benchmark
- brackets
- commutative
- discount
- distributive
- divisibility rule
- evaluating expressions
- expanded form
- exponent, power
- highest common factor (HCF)
- integer
- lowest (least) common multiple (LCM)
- order of operations
- negative
- prime numbers, composite numbers
- radicals
- repeating and non-repeating decimals
- round up or round down
- square root
- terminating decimals.
Algebra#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- create a mystery number challenge – for example, "I'm thinking of a number that, when multiplied by 5 and increased by 3, equals 28; what's my number?"
- work out costs for family events, such as, “movie tickets are $13.50 per person, and we have 6 people, plus 2 popcorns at $11 each”.
Your child is learning to:
- solve equations with one or two steps, like finding a missing number in equations such as t + 7 = 12, and 5s +3 =18
- replace letters with numbers in formulas to work out values (for example if w = 4, then w + 12 = 16)
- rearrange simple formulas to solve for a different part (for example changing A = l × w to find w)
- simplify maths expressions by combining like terms (for example 3a + a + a = 5a)
- read and plot points on a graph using coordinates, including all four quadrants
- use tables, graphs, and patterns to spot rules and predict what comes next in a sequence, write a rule using letters, and use it to make predictions.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- algebraic notation
- expanded form
- formulae
- like terms
- linear equation
- linear pattern
- ordered pair
- origin
- rearrange
- substitution
- variable
- value.
Measurement#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- plan a journey using a bus or train timetable and find out how long it will take to get to 3 different destinations
- talk about any measurements you use in your work, or daily life
- talk about speed limits when you are driving
- look at a step counter on your phone or a pedometer and talk about how many steps you each take to cover a kilometre.
Your child is learning to:
- estimate and measure length, area, volume, weight, temperature, time, and angle, choosing the right tool, and unit for the task
- convert between metric units and use decimals – for example, 724g = 0.724kg
- read and interpret schedules to plan journeys and calculate travel times
- investigate perimeter, area, and volume, and use formulae to find unknown measurements.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- angles (complementary, supplementary, vertical, adjacent)
- composite shape
- duration
- recompose.
Geometry#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- find 3D shapes around the house (like jars, boxes and blocks) – draw what it looks like from each side and above, and then draw what they think it looks like from underneath; when finished, check the underneath of the real object against the drawing, and as a challenge, combine objects to create a more interesting shape and draw again
- discuss directions during car trips or walks – for example, "we're heading southwest now".
Your child is learning to:
- classify triangles based on their sides (like equal or different lengths) and angles (like right angles)
- move 2D shapes on a grid by sliding, flipping, or turning them by 90°, 180°, etc.
- recognise which 2D shapes make up 3D shapes, and draw flat layouts (nets) that can be folded into 3D shapes like boxes or cones
- solve problems involving perpendicular and parallel lines, and find unknown angles by setting up equations based on a diagram
- use coordinates and compass directions (like NE or SW) to describe locations and paths.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- base angles
- equilateral, isosceles, scalene triangle
- exterior angle and interior angle.
Statistics#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could choose a favourite athlete or team and track their performance statistics over several games, calculating averages and identifying trends.
Your child is learning to:
- respond to a statistical question by planning how to collect appropriate data
- calculate suitable averages such as mean, median and mode, and find the range of numerical data
- draw appropriate graphs such as dot plot, bar graph or time-series graph to represent their data and understand what the graphs are showing
- check data for inconsistencies and accuracy and understand outliers in a given set of data.
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- central tendency
- median, mode
- outlier
- skewed data (positively, negatively), tapering tails.
Probability#
Ideas to help at home
With your child, you could:
- track weather forecasts against actual conditions to calculate the accuracy percentage of predictions
- play board, card or dice games and talk about the chances of rolling the number you want or drawing the card you want.
Your child is learning to:
- design and conduct chance-based experiments using at least 30 trials, and listing all the possibilities as fractions, decimals or percentages
- calculate experimental probabilities and compare to theoretical probability, carrying out experiments with at least 100 trials and comparing findings with theoretical probabilities and those of others to demonstrate the Law of Large Numbers
- compare the likelihood of different things happening or not happening (complementary events).
Words your child will be learning
Words include:
- complements/complementary event
- experimental or theoretical probability
- estimated probability
- law of large numbers
- relative frequency.
