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Flat illustration on a deep purple background of a parent and child sharing a round pie cut into equal slices, with a set of measuring cups beside it.
Math at Home· 7 min read

Fractions explained for parents: what school teaches now and how to help at home

Fractions changed since most parents learned them. This guide explains equal parts, the number line, equivalent fractions, comparing and adding with unlike denominators, with worked examples you can do at the kitchen table.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
Flat illustration on a deep purple background of an adult holding a shopping bag and a phone calculator, next to an abstract pie chart and a large percent-like shape.
Classroom Notes· 7 min read

How to calculate percentages: three formulas and the mental shortcuts

Every percentage question is one of three calculations. Here are the three formulas with a worked example each, the 10% trick for doing them in your head, and the mistakes that make a sale price or a news headline come out wrong.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
Flat illustration on a deep purple background of a parent and child at a kitchen table, working through a stacked division problem on paper drawn as abstract shapes.
Classroom Notes· 8 min read

How to teach long division, with worked examples

The four steps of long division, three fully worked examples, the partial quotients method many schools teach first, and the mistakes that cost the most marks.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
An adult working through arithmetic practice on paper beside a phone and a cup of coffee.
Classroom Notes· 8 min read

How to Get Better at Math as an Adult: A Realistic 60-Day Plan

Most adults who feel bad at math have three or four specific gaps rather than a general weakness. Here is how to find them in 20 minutes and close them over 60 days.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
A child sorting small wooden counting blocks into groups on a table.
Math at Home· 8 min read

Signs of dyscalculia in children: what parents notice first

How dyscalculia shows up at different ages, how to tell it apart from math anxiety or a missed topic, who can carry out a real assessment, and what helps at home in the meantime.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
A pencil working through a multi-step arithmetic expression with brackets on squared paper, one line per step.
Classroom Notes· 8 min read

The order of operations, worked out step by step

One rule, several acronyms, and one detail almost everyone gets wrong. Five worked examples from a single multiplication up to nested brackets with an exponent, plus an honest answer to the viral equations.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
A parent and a child at a kitchen table with a notebook of number work and a tablet showing a math exercise.
Math at Home· 8 min read

Math Skills by Grade: A Parent Checklist for Grades 1 to 6

What children are expected to master in each of grades 1 to 6, the 20-second checks that show whether a skill is there, and what to do at home when you find a gap.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
A notebook page with a calculation broken into simple steps, next to a coffee cup.
Classroom Notes· 8 min read

Mental math tricks you can learn in one sitting

A working set of calculation shortcuts for adults and older students: the rule, a worked example, the mistake it invites, and the drill that makes it automatic.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt
Wooden number tiles laid out in a multiplication grid on a desk beside a pencil and notebook.
Math at Home· 9 min read

Learn the times tables fast: the ten facts that take real work

Most of that frightening grid runs on rules and patterns. This guide names the ten multiplication facts your child has to memorize and sets out a four-week routine that fits into ten minutes a day.

By Laura Bennett, MathIt