Antigua Maths

Back to school in the last few weeks for many. Remember that you need to pass maths CSEC for many work and study opportunities. Don't wait until a few weeks before you write the exams to get help. If you are finding it hard, now is the time to do extra classes.

Here are a couple of G6 style questions.

I overheard two ladies talking about how to support children preparing for G6 yesterday. Two key pointers from me! Keep on working on the times tables, they will help young learners so much as they progress with maths. Also you can find practice G6 NA questions here, and you can even DM your answers to get a mark!

How did the first CSEC Maths paper go for you? Don't stop the revision, there are still plenty of marks available on the multiple choice paper and it's easy to improve your score by working on past papers. The format is quite similar every time so make yourself familiar with the question styles. Here are a few to try. You can DM your answers to me for a score.

It's not long now until the first paper for CSEC maths in January (Paper 2 is timetabled for 4 January, Paper 1 on 23rd January). If you are writing it again after a disappointing result from the summer you should be using the next 4 weeks for intensive revision and practice. You can comment here and ask for a sample question on any of the topic areas.

If you have read the article in Antigua News Room about the low level of achievement in maths CXC and are concerned for your children, remember that it is the early years that will form the foundation for their future studies. Encourage them to become proficient in their times tables, and introduce simple addition and subtraction into the general conversation. Even if you as a parent are not confident there are plenty of free resources available.

So far the most requested topic for G6 is fractions, for CSEC revision it's been algebra and at CAPE level it's calculus. That's interesting because all of these topics are building blocks for further studies - and therefore good choices for a revision session.
Another week before school restarts, so there is still time to ask for a practice question and get it marked.

The exam season is fast approaching, whether its the Grade 6 National Assessment, CXC CSEC, IGCSE or CAPE, you should be revising and practising during the Easter break. DM for sample questions to try. You can send them back for marking as well.

Preparing for paper 1 this Friday? Scroll through old posts on here to find some past paper examples to try.

One of the recurring themes I see when assessing students is that they are not able to recall their times tables. Coping methods include multiple addition and subtraction, and counting on fingers, but these take extra time and it's easy to make a mistake. For younger children learning by heart is still the best method. For older students, if learning the whole set seems daunting, encourage them to progress by learning the square numbers (2x2, 3x3 etc) as these are also useful when working with square roots.

Some of you will be resitting the CSEC in January if you didn't achieve your target grades in June. With only a few weeks before you write the first paper (which will be Paper 2), make sure you are retaining your knowledge. Revise the basics - you can't afford to lose marks on the Section 1 questions. Then go through past papers and get help with any questions you don't know how to approach. Remember that just starting a question and using a correct method will pick up some marks. Stuck on something? Post a question here for a worked answer.

Not long now to the maths examination day. Time to focus on the basics and ensure that you pick up all the straightforward marks. Look through old papers and familiarise yourself with the question styles.