What reasons have you found? Just doing a general survey, would like to get opinions?

The girl I work with has little understanding of what numbers actually mean, e.g. that 10 is more than 6 etc and that makes it very hard for her to understand that adding is making more and subtracting is making less.

I've found that quite often they don't understand the concept of place-value.

no confidence

Agree with others. But strange when you do it with money, they can do it! Real life situations seem to put it in context for them.

Had same problem with multiplication today. My group are brilliant at chanting 2, 4, 6, 8 etc or writing 1 x 2 =, 2 x 2 = (in order). Gave them a random test today and most of them flopped. Soul destroying.

Dot
xxx

Our children are very good at counting on but some still use their fingers by years 5 and 6.

They also count on backwards too.

So 50-25 becomes 50 - 20 - 5(The 25 is partitioned into 20 and 5 and they count up, but really down, to 25.)

They other thing they do is use all the bigger numbers first.

It took me ages to get my head round this as I was taught to do all the carrying and work right to left. Now it comes second nature to me.

As the first person said I find some children don't understand the value of numbers. Things like 2+2 is 4 but when you ask them 20+20 they don't realise it's just 10X bigger so they could use 2+2 and know that 20+20 is 40. (My experience of Maths is mostly years 4 to 6.)

My other point is that we seem to try and teach a ridiculous amount of different ways of types of things very quickly. We just move onto a new subject almost every week. There isn't enough time to let things sink in or be practise enough.

Here's what we did in Y5 last year in bottom half maths group:
This is every(well almost) Learning Objective we did in order:
Year 5
Numeracy
2006-2007

Mental Math
Simple Addition
Pairs That Add Up To 10
Subtraction
Grids With Missing Numbers/Logic
Adding/Subtracting, Number Grid
Fractions Of A Number, 1/2s, 1/4s
Fractions Of A Number, 1/2s, 1/4s, 1/3s
Learn About Place Values
Learn About Place Values
Recognise Place Value
Fractions
To Explore Mixed Numbers
Comparing Numbers, Greater Than, Less Than
To Round Up Any Number To The Nearest 10
To Round Any Number To 10/100
Equivalent Fractions
To Recognise And Write Equivalent Fractions
To Double Numbers Up To 100
To Half Even Numbers
To Double And Halve Multiples Of 10
To Find Out About Decimals And Fractions
To See The Connection Between Fractions And Decimals
To Multiply Any 1 Digit Numbers
To Multiple Any 2 1 Digit Numbers
To Divide A 1/2 Digit Number By 1 Digit Number
To Divide A 1/2 Digit Number By 1 Digit Number
.10 .100 < >
To Order Decimals
To Divide Where The Answer Has A Remainder
To Divide TU By U With Reminder
To Recognized And Write Percentages
To Introduce Bar Graphs
To Draw And Read Bar-Line Graphs
To Draw And Read Bar Line Graphs
To Identify Ratios
To Find Addition Pairs To 100
To Find Addition Pairs To 100
To Find Addition Pairs To 100/1000
To Know The Properties Of Different Triangles
Maths Test
Test
To Recognise And Draw Right Angled Tri Angles
Types Of Triangle
To Sequence Numbers
To Sequence Numbers
Counting Backwards / Forwards In Groups Of Numbers
Reversing Multiplication Facts
To Multiply Multiples Of 10
To Use Multiplication Grid
To Use Tables Accurately
To Count On Or Back In Steps Of The Same Size
To Make Number Sequences
To Understand About Pound And P
To Convert Units Of Length
To Measure And Draw Lines To The Nearest Millimetre (Mm)
To Multiply By 10 Or 100
To Multiply By 10 Or 100
To Multiply By 10 Or 100
To Convert Centimetres Into Metres
To Measure In Metres, The Sports Hall
Rounding To Nearest 10
To Use < And > (Smaller Than And Greater Than)
To Compare And Order Numbers
To Perimeters Of Rectangles
To Find Out The Perimeter Of A Triangle
To Multiply By Halving And Doubling (X3/X6)
To Multiply 8 By Doubling X4
To Multiply By 12 By Doubling X12
To Find The Perimeter Of A Regular Polygon
To Find The Perimeter Of Regular Polygons
To Multiply By 5 And 10 Then Halving
To Multiply By 50 By Multiplying By 100 And Then Halving
To Multiply By Multiples Of 10/100
To Find The Area Of A Rectangle
Area
To Introduce Line Graphs
To Read Line Graphs
To Read A Line Graph
To Calculate Area
To Find The Area Of A Triangle
To Multiply TU By U
To Multiply Tuxu
To Multiply Tuxu Or Htuxu
To Name And Describe 3d Shapes
To Recognise A 3D Shape From Its Net
To Rotate Shapes
To Add Multiples Of 10
To Add A Multiple Of 10 To A 2 Digit Number
To Add 2 3-Digit Numbers
To Read And Plot Coordinates
To Read And Plot Coordinates
To Add 2 3-Digit Numbers
To Subtract Multiples Of 10 From A Number
To Subtract 2 3 Digit Numbers
To Know What Each Digit Is A Decimal Fraction Represents
Decimal Fractions
To Solve Word Problems
To Develop Calculator Skills
To Solve A Maths Puzzle
To Recognized Equivalent Fractions And Decimals
Decimal Fractions
To Recognise And Extend Number Sequences
To Recognized Square Numbers
To Practice Negative Numbers By Counting Past 0
To Round Decimals To The Nearest Whole Number
To Round Decimals To The Nearest Whole Number
To Know The Value Of Each Digit
To Add Decimals
To Add Decimals
To Compare Numbers Using < > =
To Round A Number The Nearest 10/100
To Round A Number The Nearest 10/100
To Add Decimals
To Add Decimals
To Multiply And Divide By 10/100
To Multiply And Divide By 10/100
To Recognise When Percentages, Decimals, Decimals, And Fractions Are Equal
To Find Percentages Of Numbers
Y5 SATS And Revision
To Measure Angles Using A Protractor
To Divide TU By U
To Divide HTU/TU By U
To Become Familiar With Metric Measures Of Capacity
Capacity, l To/From ml
To Multiply HTU/TU By U
To Multiply HTU/TU By U
To Multiply HTU/TU By U
To Know Units Of Time
To Know The Units Of Time
To Subtract 2 Decimal Numbers
To Subtract 2 Decimal Numbers
To Subtract 2 Decimal Numbers
To Be Able To Use Timetables
To Be Able To Use A Timetable
To Look At Square Numbers
To Use Square Numbers To Solve Problems
To Investigate Square Numbers
To Tell The Time To The Nearest Minute
To Tell The Time To The Nearest Minute
To Sort Events According To Likelihood