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# Copyright © Mathematics Mastery 2017
This guide is for parents/carers and any adult working with the child.
The Year 4 homework book is aimed at parents and carers, to enable you to engage in maths with your child in a fun and practical way. There are ten activities, each linked to the units of work in the Year 4 programme of study.
In order to support your child with the tasks, each piece of homework is accompanied by parental guidance. This guidance aims to provide an opportunity for you to understand the methods your child is being taught, which may differ from methods you are familiar with.
What is ‘Mastery’?
The ‘mastery approach’ to teaching mathematics is the underlying principle of Mathematics Mastery. Instead of learning mathematical procedures by rote, we want your child to build a deep understanding of concepts which will enable them to apply their learning in different situations. We do this by using three key principles:
Conceptual understanding
Your child will use multiple concrete and pictorial representations and make connections between them. A key part of a ‘deep understanding’ in maths is being able to represent ideas in lots of different ways.
Mathematical language
When asked to explain, justify and prove their ideas, your child is deepening their understanding of a concept. The correct mathematical vocabulary is taught from the outset and communication and discussions are encouraged.
Mathematical thinking
Lots of opportunities are planned for your child to investigate open questions that require them to sort and compare, seek patterns and look for rules. Good questioning, both for and from your child, build a deeper understanding of maths.
34 864 - 25 423 = 9441
This is an equation
We don’t round a number ‘up’ or ‘down’, we round it to the nearest multiple of 10, 100, 1000 etc.
What is the same? What is different?
Is there a rule? Is it always, sometimes or never true?