If there’s one subject that often feels the most intimidating for home educators, it’s maths. For many of us, maths came in the form of worksheets, timed tests, and trying to find the “right” answer as quickly as possible. It often felt rigid and disconnected from real life. But throughout our home education journey, I’ve…
If there’s one thing I’ve come to value most in our home education journey, it’s curiosity. That natural desire children have to ask questions, explore, experiment, and understand the world around them is, in my opinion, the foundation of all meaningful learning. It’s something they’re born with… but it’s also something that needs to be…
I started growing my own food shortly after my daughter was born. At the time, I didn’t think of it as anything significant, I was just dabbling, planting bits and pieces in containers in the garden. Looking back now, I realise it was so much more than that. The garden became a quiet kind of…
(and why traditional learning doesn’t work for every child) Every June, thousands of 9-year-olds sit a short check. 25 questions.6 seconds each. It’s called the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC). It sounds simple. But for many children, it isn’t. What is the MTC really testing? The MTC checks whether children can recall times tables instantly, up…
Backgammon is a brilliant way to strengthen mental arithmetic because every move involves quick counting, combining numbers, and planning ahead. Children naturally practise adding, splitting, and recognising number patterns as they play, all without it feeling like a lesson. It builds speed, confidence, and flexible thinking with numbers….. If your child finds mental arithmetic challenging,…
If you are looking for an easy maths card game for kids and teens, this simple activity is a fantastic way to practise mental maths while having fun together. Many children find traditional maths practice repetitive or stressful. Turning numbers into a quick and enjoyable card game changes the experience completely. Instead of feeling like…
Maths tests are not designed to be cruel. They exist to check whether children truly understand what they have been taught. In reading, teaching has evolved dramatically over the past twenty years. We now understand phonics, structured approaches, memory retention strategies and cognitive development far better than we once did. But in multiplication, many children…
Why You Must Teach Number Bonds First — And Why Our Add-to-13 Game Then Becomes Effortless 👇 Building number fluency shouldn’t feel like hard work — and at Fables World, it isn’t.But before any game becomes truly easy, children need something essential: effortless number bonds. Without strong number bonds in place, children rely on fingers,…
When I was a child, my mum made me play every card game she could find to help with mental arithmetic. We spent hours around the kitchen table but I still used my fingers to count. She couldn’t understand why it just wouldn’t click. It wasn’t until years later when we developed our own unique…
Counting backwards is one of the most important early maths skills and yet it doesn’t come naturally to many children. Research shows that early number sense (especially subtraction and counting backwards) is the strongest predictor of long-term maths confidence and success. 💔 In fact, a 2022 study showed that nearly half of children who struggle…