tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9462344.post9001367782301119394..comments2023-06-28T17:05:30.899+01:00Comments on The Literacy Blog: Off topic - maths in the UKJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13315146014179526480noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9462344.post-69893347426508914702010-11-18T17:05:48.667+00:002010-11-18T17:05:48.667+00:00This makes perfect sense, Anon, and is, I think, a...This makes perfect sense, Anon, and is, I think, as you would expect.<br />A number of years ago, a teaching assistant remarked to me that children taught using, in this case, linguistic phonics were able to answer questions on a test which had remained impenetrable to other whole language taught children. The maths wasn’t particularly difficult, whereas the questions were very hard to decode.<br />But, I wonder how much the two areas of teaching are mutually reinforcing. For instance, children who are systematically taught to use scientific concepts, such as how the alphabetic system in English works, begin to develop a reflective consciousness that enables them to become much more independent of their immediate personal experience. So, instead of being spontaneous, they become more likely to be ‘theorists’ and are more likely to develop formal-logical thought. Of course, they also need to learn the procedural knowledge and skills through practice that are relevant to the concepts.<br />Hmm.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13315146014179526480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9462344.post-82382208825674795552010-11-18T14:58:02.239+00:002010-11-18T14:58:02.239+00:00Reading impacts on maths; 40% of errors on maths a...Reading impacts on maths; 40% of errors on maths achievement tests were found to be due to reading errors. <br /><br />Schools that take up teaching reading through sytematic, synthetic phonics find that maths scores rise throughout the school, in addition to the reading scores: '(I)n Clackmannanshire the teachers found that when the synthetic-phonics-taught children went into the second year at school, they needed to go up a level in the Maths scheme, that is, one level above what would normally be used. This was thought to be a direct effect of the children coping better with the reading requirements of the maths scheme.' (Prof Rhona Johnson, personal communication to J.Colby. http://johncolby.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/maths-and-grades/)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com