Domino Maths for Parents – Day 6

More problems from our Hands-on with Dominoes series.

For the Early Years, we have chosen a problem that involves doubles and near doubles.Becoming fluent with doubles to 10 and beyond is a first step towards becoming fluent with multiplication tables. Also, if you have two numbers to add and see that they make a near double (such as 4 + 5), then you can use the double fact (4 + 4 = 8) and count on one more to find the answer. Having access to a strategy such as this “saves brain space”, as we like to say, and greatly reduces the stress that can easily put a child off maths.

For the Middle Years, we have chosen two more odd-even investigations. But there’s also a sting in the tail when it comes to finding how  many dots altogether. An effective technique here is to look for pairs that add to 10 because it is so easy to count how many 10s can be formed and that too “saves brain space”. In maths it always pays to work smart, not hard!

Click here to download the pages for Domino Doubles. You’ll find that the teacher (read parent) notes are included for you to use as well. There is no absolute need to print the pages, but you can if you want to.

Click here to download Evensville Cityscape. Again, there is no absolute need to print the pages for these domino challenge and accompanying notes, however they do help children to organise their thinking.

We do recommend that you join in the fun with these challenges, they could be quite entertaining for the whole family.