Maths for Little Ones (Carol Vorderman's Maths Made Easy Ages 6-7 Beginner - Carol Vorderman)

Member Name: frangliz

Product:	Carol Vorderman's Maths Made Easy Ages 6-7 Beginner - Carol Vorderman
Date:	03/01/08 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of friendly pictures

Disadvantages: A little short on basic addition

Once again, I'm at pains to point out that the authoress of this workbook is Sue Phillips, and not Carol Vorderman!

The workbook is aimed at children aged six to seven, in Year 2 of primary school (Key Stage 1). It is labelled 'beginner' and so covers the first half of the syllabus for that year, the second half being covered by another workbook labelled 'advanced'. The front cover states that it 'supports curriculum teaching in the UK and Ireland'.

The very first page of the book deals with numbers from 1 to 50 in the form of a chart where friendly looking snakes are covering up certain numbers; it is reminiscent of a snakes and ladders board and does therefore help to make this page look like a game. The child of course has to work out which numbers the snakes are hiding. Pictures, albeit in black and white, form a huge part of many of the pages of work here: there are flowers, frogs, spotted toadstools, rockets, balloons, dragons, birds and more. The final page on 3D shapes shows these in the form of icecream cones, packets of biscuits, cereal boxes, oranges and so on - it all helps to encourage a child who is flummoxed by numbers and shapes and needs some encouragement that looks as though it might be fun.

Underneath all this the serious stuff is there: counting in 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s, both backwards and forwards, ordering numbers up to 100, elementary work on fractions, adding numbers up to 20, doubling, telling the time, going shopping with two or three coins. Reading is kept to a minimum; reading mathematical questions can be a stumbling block for some young children, so here they get a chance to build their confidence with numbers right up until the last few pages where they will then be asked, for instance, how many seconds in a minute? Or how many shapes with straight and curved sides? There is one page where the child has to draw stamps to the correct value on envelopes that are addressed, to quote one example, to Master Robbie Robot, 999 Mechanical Mansion, Metalville, but even if this proved too difficult to read, stamps to the value of 21p could still be worked out and drawn.

I actually feel that this workbook is less repetitive and more varied than the one I previously reviewed for ten- to eleven-year-olds. It covers basic counting, times tables, fractions, simple money problems, time, months of the year, Venn and Carroll diagrams, as well as 2D and 3D shapes. The one thing that perhaps has been skimped on is simple addition, although this is of course involved in the pages that deal with money.

Again, as with all the workbooks in the series, there is a detachable eight-page section in the centre that provides answers and gives helpful notes about each page for parents. As usual, there is a sheet of gold stars, one to be stuck at the top of each page and one on the inside front cover to form a certificate once the workbook is completed.

I have used this on a one-to-one basis with children who are struggling at school, one for example who had had hearing problems and another from a large class who was afraid to ask for help when he didn't understand. There can be all sorts of reasons for children not keeping up at school, and if parents are able and willing to give a little extra help at home, this workbook is an excellent one to work through. Once again, it would be invaluable to anyone who is homeschooling a child. I would definitely recommend it - excellent value at £2.99.

Carol Vorderman's Maths made Easy: Ages 6-7, Key Stage 1, Beginner
Paperback, 40 pages
Published by Dorling Kindersley (2005)
ISBN 978-1-4053-0954-7
Price £2.99 (Amazon £2.84)

Summary: Very good maths workbook for ages 6-7