One thing has been very noticeable during the pandemic: Huge numbers of parents questioning their maths skills as they oversaw their children’s home learning! Not that this is a massive surprise. Teaching methods have improved and expectations have increased since us mums and dads were at school. If you have struggled with your BODMAS and are unsure about ‘angles on a straight line,’ the infographic below outlining maths basics for parents is for you.
During the various lockdowns, I travelled well outside my comfort zone. Having failed GCSE maths at school, I starting studying for the qualification as an adult and I sat the exam again. Wish me luck, results day is later this week!
Much of what I studied was new to me and wasn’t a part of the curriculum when I was at school. Having taken the GCSE, I know the basics youngsters must learn to pass the exam with at least a grade 4. You’ll find information about: Squared numbers, prime numbers, cubed numbers, averages, calculating volume and calculating area plus BODMAS, calculating fractions and more.
Enjoy the maths refresher and if this infographic proves popular, I may produce another one with even more maths basics! You can also download and print off a pdf version by following this link.
4 thoughts on “Infographic: Maths basics for parents”
Thanks for the infograpic John, really easy to read. Just wanted to suggest a couple of changes, hope you don’t mind. Where you’ve explained about the median – it actually reads “medium” in the description. Also the formula for calculating the volume of a pyramid is missing a “÷3” – perhaps you could use the w x l x h formula for the cube which might be easier to calculate than the “face area x height”. Would love to see some more basics presented like this!
Thanks ever so much for your comment Laura and I am glad you liked the infographic. My apologies about the issues you raised. I have to confess there was a small “version control” issue as this infographic was uploaded during a time when I was having behind the scenes technical issues but the correct version is now live. If there are any maths fundamentals you would like me to cover off in future infographics then please do let me know.
I came here to make the same comments as Laura, so it’s good to see these have been addressed, and that constructive criticism has been well recieved. Also, I think it would be better to have a list of numbers for an example of median rather than “0 to 20”
As for further additions, more algebra would be a suggestion, maybe index laws, quadratic formula and trigonometry.
And of course, the question we all want answered – how did you do in the exam?!
Thank you Matthew. I will keep your suggestions in mind and love the idea of creating a second reference infographic with algebra, quadratic equations and trigonometry. Constructive criticism is always welcomed! You asked how I did in the exam? here’s your answer! https://dadbloguk.com/gcse-maths-fourth-time-lucky/