Accelerated Education Publications Ltd is an independent publisher
established by Stephen Curran in 1999. The Company's philosophy
is based on a traditional subject by subject teaching approach helping
children achieve excellence in Maths, Verbal Reasoning, English
and Non-verbal Reasoning.
The company publishes a series of workbooks in each
of the following subjects:
Below is an article by Stephen first published
in Prep School Magazine that explains why the 11+ Maths set of books
were written in the first place.
Why write one more set of maths books? Aren't there thousands out
there already? The answer is 'yes', but as a teacher of maths I
found many of them of little use. It all started when I was wandering
around my local WHSmith in Slough trying to find one set of books
that I could teach from successfully. I complained to the shop assistant
Kathy (not for the first time) that there was nothing of any use.
She said: "Why don't you write them then?" After mumbling a few
excuses, I realised there was only one thing I could do. Write them!
I believe in a traditional approach because it works. I discovered
that many of the modern maths books do not appear to be systematic
but are sporadically organised. This relates to the National Curriculum,
which I believe encourages the teaching of maths by level rather
than subject. Children that I teach privately who attend state primaries
tend to have a piecemeal understanding of maths by the time they
are nine or ten. Nothing appears to be covered comprehensively from
beginning to end. Children study number, then move to another subject
like decimals. Then they may go to shapes and then back to decimals.
They never seem to have really grasped any subject fully.
I also believe it is a mistake to expect children's understanding
to go in tandem with their learning of method. An excellent state
primary teacher I know was recently explaining how children are
currently taught to subtract when there are zeros at the top. He
explained each stage in detail to the children. My response was:
"Why not just teach them the method?" He said he couldn't do that,
as they wouldn't understand it. "So what?", I heard myself say.
I often tell the children: "Maths is Method!" I believe that if
you learn a method the understanding will drop in afterwards. After
all, who would build a house by starting with the windows and bricks.
Surely there must be a timber frame first? Is it not true that children's
minds and thinking have to be organised first before being deluged
with information?
In the lower years it is important to concentrate on the four rules
of number, mental arithmetic and tables, but I am convinced that
children in upper primary need to be taught systematically. I have
now been working in this way for ten years and have seen hundreds
of children succeed mathematically who were formerly written off
by their schools and their teachers. I have found that parents have
been delighted with the results. I encourage them to join their
children at the end of my lessons each week. They often remark that
it is the first time in their lives they have understood something.
Many parents are terrified at the mention of maths and they immediately
say they could never help their own children because the have no
understanding themselves.
I am a child of the 'sixties and 'seventies like them and I know
what they mean. I can remember being completely baffled by maths
lessons. As a child I wanted it to be organised and straightforward.
I was continually given bits of information but nothing fitted together.
All I remember was confusion and the growing belief that I was useless
at maths and should concentrate my energies elsewhere. Consequently
I am an arts graduate and English teacher by training. My need to
teach maths however has helped me adopt what would now be seen as
radical - 'a traditional approach'. |
