The Easter holidays are upon us again. The kids will be shouting, screaming, banging, farting and doing your nut in. Lets face it, that’s what being a parent is all about. After the holidays your children may be facing their first year SATS at school. It might be worth your while to sit down with them and go through some questions. This may help them to understand some of the questions they will be hit with in the weeks to come. Preparation is the key. Bellow is guide to help you loving parents out.

The missing numbers is a classic for all children. help your child follow the sequence of numbers and work out the pattern. Watch out as it gets a Little bit more tricky towards the end.

Write the missing numbers:

23 24 25 __ __ __

33 43 53 __ __ __

110 100 90 ___ ___ ___

29 31 34 38 __ __ __

37 __ __ __ 41 __ __ __ __ 46 __

__ __ __ 98 __ __ ___ ___ 103 ___

The joy of the Odds and Evens. A simple but effective way towards helping your children understand the basic principles of number types.

Odds and Evens:

Circle the odd numbers.

3 5 6 9 10 15 21 24 20 2

Circle the even numbers.

45 56 67 70 90 93 100 103 23 19

Your child may need some extra help with this at first. Try and try again. Good luck with this one.

Doubling numbers:

Double each of these numbers.

10 __ 6 __ 5__ 9__ 7__ 4__

Half each of these numbers.

12__ 6__ 4__ 10__ 18__ 16__

Money, Money, Money. Lets face it, if your going to give your children a ten pound note to run round the shop for a 10p mix up and a packet of crisps, you want change. Understanding the value of money should be on the high priority list, especially in this current economic crises.

Using money:

With the amounts of:

1p 5p 10p 2p 20p

Try and make all the amounts from 1p up to 20p ( You can use the above amounts more that once).

Get the 30cm ruler out, its measuring time. You might want to get your children to draw some lines of different lengths. This will help them towards a better understanding of the length and height principles.

Using weights and heights:

Write the names in order starting with the shortest.

Dave is taller than Mike.

Sally is shorter than Sam.

Sam is almost as tall as Mike.

Shortest: 1_______ 2_______ 3_______ 4_______

Now put the boxes in order starting with the heaviest.

Sam’s box is heavier than Dave’s box.

Mike’s box is lighter than Sally’s box.

Dave’s box is heavier than Sally’s box.

Heaviest: 1_______ 2_______ 3______ 4_______

Always carry the unit. Getting your children to show how they got the answer is very important. Marks are awarded even if the final answer is wrong. Teach your children to carry the units.

Sums:

Please show your workings out.

35 + 46 =

41 + 12 =

29 – 18 =

33 – 12 =

5 x 3 =

8 x 4 =

10 divided by 2 =

24 divided by 4 =

Ok! so your ready for a bit of advanced learning? maybe you have MENSA in mind. Problem solving will help your child achieved a higher understanding in life. They can apply these methods in daily task routines.

Problem solving:

Emma had 9 gold rings. Her dad bought her 4 more.

How many gold rings does Emma have now?

5 people are on a bus. 6 more people get on the bus and 2 get off.

How many people are on the bus now?

Mum buys 6 cartons of milk. Each carton holds 2 litres.

How many litres of milk is this altogether?

There are 3kg of bananas in 1 bag.

How many kilograms of bananas are there in 4 bags?

Steven had 80p. He bought a packet of sweets for 20p.

How much has Steven got left?

Good luck with your teachings.