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Ivy Maths

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The Ivy Maths Blog

Guides, stories and practical advice from our own learning journeys: what to teach next, how to spot a gap early, and what actually works when maths is taught at home.

12 articles

A parent and child at the kitchen table, looking through marked maths work together

Sep 7, 2026 8 min read

How to Identify Gaps in Your Child’s Maths Knowledge

A practical method for finding what your child is actually missing in maths: collect the errors, trace each one back to the skill it depends on, and confirm it with four short questions.

A parent holding a Year 6 progress summary that says “Working at Year 6 level”, with a notebook of questions beside it

Aug 26, 2026 5 min read

What “Working at Year 6 Level” Actually Means

Schools use the phrase constantly and rarely define it. Here is what a year level judgement is anchored to, and the three things it cannot tell you.

A marked maths test scoring 18 out of 20, with an area question underneath left unanswered

Aug 31, 2026 4 min read

Why a Child Can Get Good Marks in Maths and Still Have Gaps

Strong test results and weak understanding coexist more often than parents expect. The reason lies in when maths tests are taken and what they reward.

A student working through column addition and subtraction on squared paper at a desk

Aug 21, 2026 5 min read

How to Support Your Child’s Maths Without Teaching the Lesson Yourself

What to do when your child is stuck, why teaching your own method usually backfires, and the questions that help more than an explanation.

A diagram of an adaptive assessment: from the start, each answer branches to a harder or easier question until the working level is found

Sep 4, 2026 5 min read

What Is an Adaptive Maths Assessment?

How adaptive assessments adjust difficulty as a student answers, what they show that a fixed test cannot, and where they are the wrong tool.

Five short daily maths sessions of thirty minutes against one long Saturday session of two and a half hours

Aug 3, 2026 4 min read

How Often Should You Practise Maths?

How many days a week, how long a session, and what to put in it. A practical structure for maths practice that holds up outside exam periods.

Topic cards from Year 4 fractions to Year 9 graphs rising in a line above a desk, each resting on the one before

Aug 7, 2026 4 min read

Why Revisiting Old Maths Topics Matters

Forgetting a topic you once understood is normal and predictable. Here is why maths punishes it more than other subjects, and what to do instead of rereading.

A student’s working for solving 3(x − 2) = 2x + 5, with the first wrong line circled in pen

Aug 12, 2026 4 min read

What to Do When You Understand the Lesson but Keep Getting Questions Wrong

Following a worked example and answering on your own are different skills. How to work out which type of mistake you are making, and what fixes each one.

A closed blue exercise book beside a blank sheet of paper and a pencil on a desk

Aug 17, 2026 5 min read

How to Know When You Really Understand a Maths Topic

Four tests that separate genuine understanding from recognising a method, and the false signals that convince students they are ready when they are not.

A desk with a pile of books labelled tests, homework, missed work and disruption on one side, and review, practise, build and progress on the other, with a plan written in a notebook

Jun 3, 2026 6 min read

Academic Recovery: Rebuilding After Disruption

Targeted support to rebuild knowledge and confidence after disrupted schooling, and a realistic picture of how long genuine recovery takes.

A student learning remotely with headphones

Apr 8, 2026 5 min read

Education Without Borders: Learning for Globally Mobile Families

Learning that travels with your child. How expat, diplomatic, and travelling families keep education consistent across countries, time zones, and school systems.

A tidy desk set up for studying

Jan 28, 2026 3 min read

Setting Up Your Study Space

The room teaches. How light, tidiness, and a few deliberate choices turn any corner of the house into a place where focus comes easily.