The methods your child will meet in an English primary school
The national curriculum in England sets out when each method is taught. The early years are about pictures and patterns. The written methods most of us know come later than many Nigerian parents expect.
| Method | What it looks like | When it is taught |
|---|---|---|
| Number bonds | Pairs that make a number, such as 7 and 3 make 10 | From Year 1. Children should know number bonds to 20 by the end of Year 2. |
| Part whole model | A whole split into its parts. 6 is the whole, 4 is a part, 2 is a part. | From Year 1 |
| Bar model | Bars drawn to show a word problem, such as finding the difference between two amounts | From Year 1 |
| Partitioning | Splitting 46 into 40 and 6, or into 30 and 16 | From Year 2 |
| Column addition and subtraction | Numbers lined up in columns by place value | Year 3, for numbers with up to three digits |
| Short multiplication | A two or three digit number times a one digit number, in a set layout | Starts in Year 3, expected in Year 4 |
| Long multiplication | Up to a four digit number times a two digit number | Year 5 for two digit numbers, Year 6 in full |
| Short division | Dividing by a one digit number, often called the bus stop method | Expected in Year 5 |
| Long division | Up to a four digit number divided by a two digit number | Year 6 |
Notice two things. First, column addition is not formally required until Year 3, and long division waits until Year 6, the last year of primary school. Second, the government's own guidance says the exact layout of working will vary by method and format. That is why your child's teacher may care where the carried digit goes, even when your answer is right.
Why the school wants its method, not yours
Many of us were taught maths as steps to learn, practise and repeat until they are fast. Speed still matters in England. Children are expected to be fluent. But the curriculum has two other aims alongside fluency: to reason mathematically and to solve problems. A child who gets the answer but cannot say why has only done one third of the job.
- Understanding first. Number bonds, part whole models and partitioning show a child how numbers break apart and fit together. That understanding is what makes the column methods make sense later.
- Showing working. Teachers want to see the reasoning, not only the final number. A method the teacher knows lets them see exactly where a mistake happened.
- Consistency. The Department for Education's maths guidance uses a core set of pictures and models on purpose, so that what a child learns in Year 2 connects to what they learn in Year 4. If home uses a different picture, the connection breaks.
- Building blocks. The early methods are stepping stones. A child who skips straight to a quick trick at 7 may struggle at 10, when the numbers get bigger and the problems are worded.
None of this means your method is wrong. Your column method and the school's column method are often the same idea. The difference is usually the order in which it is taught, the words used and the layout on the page.
If your child is in a US school
Parents in America hit the same wall, often with the Common Core standards. These ask children to work with strategies based on place value first, and to explain their calculations using equations, rectangular arrays and area models. An area model is a box split into parts, one for the tens and one for the ones.
| Operation | Standard method expected fluently by |
|---|---|
| Adding and subtracting multi digit numbers | Grade 4 |
| Multiplying multi digit numbers | Grade 5 |
| Dividing multi digit numbers | Grade 6 |
So the method you know is not banned. It is simply expected later, after the strategies. States and districts vary, so ask your child's teacher which standards and methods the class uses.
How to help without confusing your child
- Ask the school whether it has a calculation policy or worked examples you can follow at home. The most useful examples show every step, and then give a very similar problem to try.
- Ask your child to teach you. Say, "Show me how your teacher does it." Explaining a method out loud is exactly the reasoning the school wants, and it tells you how well your child really understands it.
- Learn the class words. You may say carry and borrow. Your child's class may use different words. Use theirs at homework time.
- Keep your method for checking. Once the homework is done the school's way, your quick method is a good way to check the answer. Present it as a second method, not the right one.
- Do not switch methods in the middle of a problem. If your child is halfway through the school's layout, let them finish it that way, even if it feels slow.
- Practise the facts, your way. Times tables and number bonds are the same everywhere. Quick recall of these is where the Nigerian habit of regular practice really pays off.
- Watch your own words about maths. If you say, "I was never good at this," your child hears it.
A useful question for parents' eveningAsk the teacher, "Which method should my child use for this year, and when will they move on to the next one?" The answer tells you what to reinforce at home and what to leave alone for now.
When a tutor helps
If homework time has become a tug of war between two methods, a teacher who knows both can help. At Masani, our carefully vetted Nigerian teachers, the top 3% of those who apply, teach the UK, US and Canadian curricula one to one online. They use your child's school methods, and you get a written report after every lesson so you know exactly what was covered. You can book a free 15 minute call to talk it through.
Quick answers
Is it wrong to teach my child the method I learned in Nigeria?
No, but use it for checking, not instead of the school's method. Teachers want to see the working, and a method they do not recognise makes mistakes harder to spot.
When do children in England learn long division?
Long division is in the Year 6 national curriculum, for numbers up to four digits divided by a two digit number. Short division is expected in Year 5.
What is a bar model in maths?
A bar model uses rectangles to show the amounts in a word problem, so a child can see what is known and what needs to be found. It is used from the early primary years.
Sources
- Department for Education, Mathematics programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2
- Department for Education, Mathematics Appendix 1: examples of formal written methods
- Department for Education, Mathematics guidance: key stages 1 and 2
- Common Core State Standards, Grade 4 Number and Operations in Base Ten
- Common Core State Standards, Grade 6 The Number System
- Common Core State Standards, Grade 5 Number and Operations in Base Ten