The Maths Factor enables children aged 4-12 to learn with Carol Vorderman. It was one of the great successes of last year’s lockdown, supporting half a million children worldwide, and the shift in POD’s maths confidence was remarkable. Just a few short sessions each day made all the difference and POD enjoyed it so much, she continued with The Maths Factor right up to the summer term. She’s found Year 5 maths hard at times, not helped by the current lockdown, so we recently returned to The Maths Factor. We know from our months of experience it will help improve her understanding and in turn provide her with a much-needed boost.
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The Maths Factor
The Maths Factor, created by Carol Vorderman over a decade ago, is matched to the National Curriculum and makes maths fun! It’s also owned by leading learning company Pearson and is suitable for children from Year 1 through to Year 7. POD typically finds maths a challenge (unless it involves colouring!) but she was intrigued by The Maths Factor from the get-go. The Maths Factor Park map on the home page is interactive and provides easy access to the Daily Challenges, Topic Tree, Tower of Achievements, Games Centre and much more. POD also got to create her own avatar – currently a cat but she’s been other characters in the past.
One of the things we love about The Maths Factor is that it’s so easy to use. We embarked on the 30 Day Challenge initially, which is one ten-minute session a day for 30 days with virtual prizes to collect along the way. There was plenty to keep POD engaged and she loved these sessions so much, some days she completed more than one. Maths is usually something she shirks away from, not requests to do! She completed two of the 30 Day Challenges before moving onto a Club prior to the school holidays with many maths-related games played in-between.
Learn with Carol Vorderman
The current lockdown has been difficult for POD in that she finds the pace of maths too fast. Sometimes she needs more practice to understand a topic or task on top of trying to remember what she learned in 2020. Added to which, remote learning and different methodologies haven’t helped the situation. POD’s teacher has been amazing in helping her with maths following the class lesson but POD is struggling.
We recently returned to The Maths Factor so POD could familiarise herself with division and boost her maths confidence. She’s currently working on division with remainders in addition to her Year 5 classwork. Each of The Maths Factor sessions consists of a video tutorial from Carol, a fun warm-up and a more formal practice. The video tutorial is theory-based, upbeat and explained by Carol in such a way it’s easy for children (and adults!) to understand. Tutorials have been a combination of visual and sums-based calculations. This is ideal for POD as it helps her understand the formula. The pace of each topic is great as there are 3-4 sessions in each module providing ample time to put the practice in before moving onto the next module that increases in difficulty.
Build maths confidence
As The Maths Factor is so fun, provides encouragement and is reward-based, it’s an excellent way to make children feel more positive. Sometimes it’s just the little things like POD being able to correct a few wrong answers thus making her end score higher. She likes to check the leaderboard following a session too. There are only a few available places but these are not time-based so even if she’s had a slow session, she might still make it. It’s a great mood booster.
Once ten sessions have been completed, marbles can be collected and this unlocks Marble Pachinko. POD adores this game as it helps raise money for Dogs For Good, the RSPB and Tiggywinkles. Separate to this is the Games Centre, which can be accessed any time and has an array of level-appropriate games. These are highly entertaining and brilliant for POD as she doesn’t realise she’s practicing maths. Favourites include Balloon Pop (times tables based), Marching Madness (addition) and Hedgehog Hurry Organising. All the sessions POD has completed, including marbles collected and games played, can be found in her Tower of Achievements. Like the rest of The Maths Factor, it’s colourful, fun and engaging.
Support for parents
Typically we do The Maths Factor together but that’s not always possible. Support for parents comes in the form of a results card email following each session. These are in an easy-to-digest format and summarise the topic, module and child’s score plus a certificate from Carol and an overview of the next session. On completion of a module, usually 3-4 sessions, the parent email also includes supportive information on the next module, such as video advice from Carol and printable materials.
All videos by school year and topic can be accessed on The Maths Factor website along with printables, clubs and revision topics. The Maths Factor was designed for children to complete a few short sessions a day. This works so well in creating the required understanding around each topic. POD’s maths confidence has already increased so the focus moving forward will be integrating The Maths Factor learning with school. This way POD can learn with Carol Vorderman, and continue with her current classwork. I’m sure she’ll progress to where she needs to be in no time.
The Maths Factor is currently offering 3 weeks free access and they’ve also halved their subscription costs to just £4.99 per month. To find and more and enjoy their online maths school, visit: themathsfactor.com/thedoves/.
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