Parent Home Teaching

We agree with Rome

Just to say I agree wholeheartedly with Penny's comments. Vikki, sorry I have been too busy to give you any feedback, but Penny is right, Angela's doing amazingly well with Stern. And she really enjoys it. We aim for about 20 mins of Stern at least 3 times a week at home (generally starting with number bonds to 10 and 20, then +1,-1, +2, -2 and perhaps a couple of more difficult/newer things like addition/subtraction across decades etc.) Angela hardly ever refuses/has to be coaxed into it. So, thanks very much for having introduced it to us!

Ramani - Happy Parent

A Wonderful Difference .........

Thank you for your email, I have been using the materials mainly with my youngest son, william who is 6 years old. When he started using the mathsextra materials he did not like maths much and lacked confidence. He now looks forward to maths and especially using the mathsextra materials. His confidence has increased and he says he loves maths now. He has improved so much so fast I can hardly believe it, these materials are fantastic and the teachers workbook is perfect. His mental arithmetic is so good now I would say it is as good as his brother's who is 9 but I would not say that too loudly!!!

Thank you so much for these materials they have made a wonderful difference to my homeschooling.

Lucy Cutworth

Sean's Progress

I wanted to briefly tell you about the progress Sean has made since he has been home tutored these last few weeks. He has been less stressed and less anxious, he is also very agreeable to sit and do his maths and literacy work.

Specifically, we have begun in earnest the Maths Extra work from Stern Kit A and he is flying!! He enjoys "seeing" the "numbers" fit together whilst filling a particular number box. He can automatically tell you what number is odd just by looking at the pattern boards and seeing the ones"without the partner". We have begun making the combinations for boxes 1 to 9 and he is now ready to attach the actual number symbols to "explain" the "friendships". In his role as the "teacher", he is using the language he has heard me model and can transition quite easily between activities.

Of course the true test for Sean will be how he "generalizes" the information beyond the blocks. As you are aware, his greatest deficit is the transfer of knowledge when he is given things in an unfamiliar format. I suspect if I emphasize his ability to "visualize" the block patterns, he will have a picture in his mind to work it out.Overall, I am thrilled at how well he has caught on. This program is well thought out, organized and, of course, highly visual; all the qualities of a great system for teaching the "abstract-ness" of maths.

I can not thank you enough for introducing me to the program. I will most certainly bring MathsExtra and Stern maths to the attention of Blossom House and hope to get Vikki in to see the maths Form teacher in the fall.

Theresa Demarco - Mum

After Just 4 Days ...

Hi Vikki, thought I'd let you know how Olivia and myself are getting on.

First The Charlotte Clock. I can only say this is absolutely brilliant. The book is amazing and straight forward and its the first time I have ever seen the importance of teaching children not just how to tell the time but the concept of time as well. It made me realise that schools focus really on getting children to memorise the time, for Olivia this hasn't worked and also it has made me realise that she struggles with knowing how much e.g. 5 minutes is or an hour. Although she may have memorised where the hands are supposed to be for o'clock, half past and quarter past I don't think they really mean very much to her.

Second Stern Structural Arithmetic - Experimenting with Numbers. Olivia was very excited when I got the counting board, she picked up and studied and had a good feel with the number blocks. We started off with the very first exercise. Olivia had no trouble fitting the blocks into the counting board, however she counted the marks on the number blocks as she was doing this. Again finding the block for the groove I indicated was no problem, but she was counting as she did this. She didn't make any mistakes with this. Building the sequence from 1-10 again she was able to do this fine. We ended on finding a block of equal size (am I going too fast Vikki?). Again this went well but instead of using the colour of the blocks, she checked for a twin by again counting the grooves in the number blocks. She wasn't satisfied to rely on them being the same colour but wanted to check by counting. Even when I asked her to hold 'twins' in her hands she seemed to be reluctant to rely on the evidence if that makes sense. She has enjoyed her sessions very much so far. I hope I am doing this correctly Vikki!!!

Parent from Middlesex

Just thought I would drop you a quick note to say...

Dear Jackie, although we have been on holiday and my boys have both been unwell we have managed to do experiments 1 - 8, Level I, to page 20 and to be honest I found that Freddie (3yrs) found it very easy, he picked the concept up very quickly. My only trouble is Stanley (21 months) wants to keep taking the blocks. I'm obviously going to have to do it when Stanley is out of the way. I find the manual easy to follow particularly when I need to refer back to the exercises. The brief but simple examples make it easy to double check that what I am doing is correct.
Parent from Brighton

Excited reader...

Dear Maths Extra, I was very excited to read about the experiences from other parents and schools using Stern Structural Arithmetic materials and the Charlotte Clock. I am a parent of a little girl with Down syndrome and I have just purchased the first kit and can't wait to get started. I will of course be writing to you with an account of our experiences at some point in the future! Also, I love your website, it is so easy to navigate and is full of really useful information! Thank you!

Parent from Devon

Parents timing...

Dear Vikki, I used the Charlotte Clock with my six year old daughter. As an ex-primary school teacher I had always been dissatisfied with the way I taught time as a concept and was very excited by the ideas presented in Vikki Horner's new approach to teaching time.

We put the working clock on the kitchen wall, where we eat, and started to use it at the begininning of the summer holidays.

I found the section on fractions very helpful as my daughter hadn't really covered it at school, but with the rest of the programme it was really just a case of showing her how the knowledge she had already gained with number could be applied to telling the time. A big breakthrough came for her when she realised that accuracy wasn't always called for. She loved telling the time the way we as adults do using the phrases in the book, "it's just gone" and "it's almost/nearly." This gave her the freedom she needed to move on quickly.

My daughter now tells the time accurately from all kinds of clocks as the knowledge gained from the Charlotte Clock has transferred readily. If she is ever in doubt she runs to the kitchen to check it out with the Charlotte Clock to reassure herself. She is now able to estimate how long an activity will take and can work out how much time we have left before we have to go somewhere. My daughter was so proud when she told her new teacher at the start of the Autumn term that she could tell the time. And she really could!

Parent - Warwickshire

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