Top ten tips for making maths real

• Supports home learning

While as adults we understand how essential mathematical skills are in day-to-day life, this is not necessarily apparent to children – we’ve all heard the ‘but when will I ever use this?’ refrain in our classrooms. Therefore, exposing children to the application of maths in the real world from a young age is really important – both to give a sense of purpose to their learning, but also to help them to understand how to select the right maths for the right practical problem.

However, it is not just a case of squeezing real-world maths into the curriculum at every possible opportunity; we need to proceed with caution. So, what can you do to ensure the real-world problem solving and reasoning contexts you use have a positive impact on learning? Here are 10 top tips to get you started.

1. Use contexts of interest