Banbury childrens' centre helps families have fun with maths
20 Feb 2013 03:37 PM
Families in Banbury have been starting something new this half term, and finding out how much maths can help in their everyday lives - as the centre takes part in the Start something campaign.
As part of the campaign, The Sunshine Centre, a UK online centre on Eldon Road has been including household math skills in it’s regular Family Fun Day to show parents who might be nervous with numbers that its easier than they think to get their head around sums. From adding up the weights of different fruit and veg to looking at shapes and sizes to figure out the best way to pack their shopping, they’ve been finding that maths can help with lots of everyday tasks.
[redacted upon request] at the Sunshine Centre, knows just how important maths can be to the families who use the centre. She explains: “The Family Fun Day has been a fantastic chance to get parents and children exploring maths together, and parents who need a little help, can sign up to one of the regular family maths courses that we run at the centre, in partnership with Oxfordshire County Council.”
Low maths skills can be a problem for many families in the area. [redacted upon request] says: “We see all the time in the centre that parents feel ashamed and inadequate when their children come to them with homework and they’ve no idea what it means! But if mum and dad are happy with maths it makes all the difference and if they can make numbers and counting a part of everyday life at home, it means that children are confident with numbers before they start school and aren’t getting left behind.”
One person that has seen the benefits of the support the centres provides is mum of three Natasha Rush. She says: “To be honest I’m not very good with maths at all and the way my kids are learning about it is completely different to what I did at school. But the courses here are a great idea, really useful for people like me. After coming here today, they’re definitely something I’ll look at signing up for.”
The internet has been a really important tool for the Sunshine Centre, in helping people trying to improve their numeracy skills. [redacted upon request] explains: “We introduce maths with household tasks so people can see how useful it is, but online resources can make all the difference. Sites like Learn my way and BBC Skillswise are perfect because you can practice at home until it sinks in. They’re really easy to use and you get instant feedback, so you know how you’re doing.
“Before that though, we need to mum and dad to give it a try and the Fun Day is great way to show nervous parents that maths is there to help, and nothing to be afraid of!”