Guidance for Parents
As parents, many of us are unsure about how best to help our children with Maths. If our child is finding something difficult, we wonder if it is OK to show them the way we were taught at school, or whether this will confuse them. If our child tells us they are not being challenged by what they are learning in school, we don’t know how to stretch them. The guidance you will find on this website will hopefully give you the understanding you need to be able to help.
Guidance for Teachers
As teachers, we often feel we are expected to work miracles. We have a class of children of widely varying capabilities, who all need our individual attention, and we are asked to give each of them the right level of support or challenge so they can maximise their potential. This can be particularly difficult in Maths, where skills and concepts need to be built up step by step. What resources and approaches might there be that would engage all pupils together?
What will I find here?
Whether children find Maths easy or difficult, they are often capable of far more than we think if they are. All we need to do is give them the right encouragement and support. The guidance and resources you will find on this site should enable you to do just that, and truly explore with them Maths Without Limits.
Photocopiable Resources
Open-ended, Guided Explorations
Much of mathematical learning can happen through guided exploration. These activities encourage children to work with others and with an adult to discover the wonder of Maths in a whole range of different contexts.
Example:
The Egyptian Triangle
Discover the special triangle that the Egyptians used in their buildings, while learning about how simple decimals work, the importance of accurate measuring and how to work systematically to solve...
Practical Activities for Core Skills
These activities focus not on teaching rules but on building children’s understanding through practical materials and diagrams. This ensures that children learn not just how to do things, but why things work the way they do.
Example:
Make it Fair
Raid the games cupboard for hoops and bean bags and you are all set for this engaging talking activity. Children are determined to make it fair and in so doing explore the concepts of odd and even,...
Memorising Activities & Games
Knowing key facts like multiplication tables and number bonds is really important for building children’s confidence. The activities here are carefully designed to build their skills step by step so that secure learning takes place.
Example:
Find the Treasure
Get to grips with missing number problems like 7+?=15 using these engaging games on a floor number track. Teach the games to the class and then leave the track in place while the children do their...
Interactive Slide Show Resources
With the increasing focus on sustainability, we are are all trying to reduce our printing budgets. These activities are predominantly worksheet-free and instead encourage children to draw and explore things from scratch on blank or squared paper. Like the pdf explorations above, they open children’s minds in a steadily unfolding way to the wonder of Maths.
Extended Explorations
These resources provide a wealth of material for both whole-class teaching and group working which can act as the backbone for a topic over a number of weeks. There is a particular focus on exploration through mathematical talk.
Example:
Populations
This exploration introduces pupils to the Worldometer population table and then gives them various challenges to consolidate their skills in finding information in a table, reading large numbers...
Mini Explorations
These shorter explorations are ideal for home learning. Each focuses on a single idea and encourages the child to explore it fully. ‘Together time’ slides at the start of each task encourage discussion with a parent before the child works alone.
Example:
Factor Rainbows
A factor rainbow is a beautiful idea that deserves to be part of every child’s Mathematical vocabulary. This mini exploration encourages them to explore freely and see how many they can find....
Visual Skill Builders
To be really confident with Maths, children need to build up a bank of visual strategies which they can draw on to solve different problems. These activities each focus on a single visualisation and explore how it can be used for a particular skill.
Example:
Rectangle Diagram – Multiply Two Numbers
This is one of a series of visual skill builders which are designed to give children a toolkit of diagrams, words and phrases to help them explain their mathematical understanding and solve...
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the resources come from?
Nearly all the resources on the site are activities I have carefully developed myself, for my own use and for my colleagues, over more than 25 years teaching in three different schools as a Primary Maths Specialist. They are tried, tested and unique, so you will not find them anywhere else.
Who are they for?
The activities have all been developed for primary and early secondary pupils. Some are mainly intended for use in the classroom. Others are designed so they can be used both in school and at home.
What topics are covered?
The resources cover the following topics.
What does it cost?
You can sign up for free and have random access to all the resources, so you can try one or two and see how they work for you.
If you like what you find, you can upgrade for a small fee to an Enhanced subscription where you will have access to the full topic menu and a comprehensive search, so you can find resources to suit your particular needs.