I used the Written Calculation series with my oldest when she was in KS2 and I have been using the exact same series with my son. The series consists of 6 different workbooks (they also have answer books and teacher’s guides but we have never needed those). The books in the series are – Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication 1, Multiplication 2, Division 1 and Division 2.
This series is straight forward teaching the kids how to do the four operations and then giving them a chance to practice them and become confident using them. I always knew that making sure the kids mastered the basic four operations where important but now that my daughter is in secondary school I really can say it is vital. Making sure they understand and are totally confident with these 4 operations in a key parts of KS2 Maths and one of the foundations for them to move into KS3 Maths. And me these books do just that they allow the kids to master the 4 operations.
My son (who would be Year 5 if he attended school) is currently working through the Division and Multiplication books in this series. So I thought I would explain a bit about these books – but really think – lots of practice, getting gradually harder and more advance with each step.
All the books in the Written Calculation series are set out in the same format. Double pages with a worked example as an explanation at the start of each page, then some examples for the kids to work through and finally between 2 to 4 problem solving questions. The explanation at the top of the page means the kids can actually work through these books independently (which is very helpful).
Multiplication 1 – Is the column method for short multiplication (if you are not sure what I mean by that it is multiplying by single, double or triple digit numbers but with only one line answer. In Multiplication 2 the kids do long multiplication where they end up with two lines of answers that need to get added together, hence it is called long multiplication)
Multiplication 2 – Goes from the short multiplication of the first book into long multiplication and includes examples where you are multiplying decimals.
Division 1 – Is short Division (some people refer to this as the bus stop method). It includes answers with remainders, writing remainders as fractions and extending the numbers into decimals.
Division 2 – Goes from the short division of the first book into long division. Again it includes remainders, writing remainders as fractions and extending the numbers into decimals.
Each of these books sells for around £3.95 and honestly if I think of printing costs and the times and effort it takes to find all of these examples and set them out in such a logical order, where they get gradually harder, it is £3.95 well spent.
You can buy these books directly from the Schofield & Sims website, a local book store or Amazon (links below)
Admin. I bought our first set of Written Calculation books that I used with my oldest and then Schofield & Sims kindly provided me with a second set to use with my youngest. The fact that I am using the exact same books with both kids shows that I do think they do the job but as always all opinions expressed are mine.
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