What is Bridge the Gap Maths™?
It begs the question: Will your child be ready for high school maths?
If in the later years of primary school (or maybe already at high school), this question is a concern for us all.
Are, or will the fundamentals be in place?
Bridge the Gap Maths™ is a NEW & DIFFERENT parent/student handbook to equip and empower parents to tutor their child in JUST the often-missing-but-really-need-to-know-bits from the Intermediate maths curriculum.
It targets JUST core essentials – the Intermediate Maths ‘GOLDEN KEYS’; it aims to firm up maths fundamentals, to equip students to hit the ground running in later primary and high school.
It’s so good to hear students say, “Yes! Nailed it... let’s move on!”
Why did you decide to write it?
I realised that the methods I use for the 1:1 lessons to help students gain confidence in maths, could be shared with thousands more students if I showed parents WHAT I teach and HOW I teach it.
I had the list of skills... and ways to get them across simply; it was time to share.
Who would benefit from this book and why?
I felt I had created a resource which could help anyone who wanted to firm up fundamentals, and the timing was good as there was lots of National and International news coverage and heartfelt concerns about HOW to best ensure maths fundamentals are in place.
Initially it was to help age 10, 11 & 12 students preparing for high school, but then I used it with students who were already at high school who needed to backtrack – but in a ‘sensitive’ way which didn’t talk down to them – I had found a way to help, where students could keep their dignity. I have used it with adults too who needed to pass maths tests for new jobs!
I also started using it with bright age 9 students who wanted to get ahead.
Another important person I had in mind was ‘the concerned parent’: many parents asked me to make the book ‘script-like’ and easy to deliver – they told me they didn’t really feel secure themselves to teach the maths concepts in the ‘right way’, as methods change.
It is now being used in the following arenas: both homeschool and mainstream students, later primary and early high school students, special education, relief of maths anxiety, teenage support, education assistants, adult use, international students and ESL/E2L.
How did your educational experiences in UK and Canada influence the book, and why do you consider yourself worthy of being called a specialist in the field?
As both a teacher in mainstream school for 20+ years in UK (therefore having a realistic view of coping with class sizes of 30+/trying to keep on top of government guidelines about what to teach and which methods to use), and then over 8 years 1:1 in Canada, having the luxury of being able to focus JUST on Intermediate core elements, I believe I am able to count myself as a specialist in this area; my experiences, research and trialing have been extensive... and results from using the programme have been excellent. I still teach it daily.
How is your book different from all other math resources out there?
There are two main differences:
1. Bridge the Gap Maths™ is NOT another single Year text book; it does not have every single maths concept you would see on a curriculum list for a particular Year, level or age group... INSTEAD it has only the concepts I identified in my experience as being common sticking points, and this makes it different.
To firm up fundamentals, it is not practical to revisit every individual Year/Grade – the thought of that feels overwhelming and depressing; this book is unique in that it has ONLY the main essentials selected from the Intermediate Maths curriculum so you can zoom right into the core issues.
2. It is NOT simply another ‘work-through-these-questions’ text book – it TEACHES the learning objectives via a script of what to say and do, before you try out questions. It provides instant parent/student self assessment: “Have we achieved this?” If yes, move on; if no, revisit. It provides a ‘do-able in the busy family home’ solution to nailing the vital bits.
It has 100 learning objectives and uses the words of a maths teacher of 30 years’ experience. There is only one page per concept: a straight forward learning objective, a concise teaching section, 8 questions to try with support... then 8 questions to ‘test’ to see if the student can say, “Yes! Tick it off – I’ve got it!
Where can people find more information?
Telephone: Laurie Beesting (+1) 604 947 0520 (BC, Canada: UK -8 hours; Sydney, Australia -17 hours)
Skype: Bridge the Gap Math (no ‘s’)
Website: www.bridgethegapmaths.com
Email: info@bridgethegapmaths.com