"Dear Editor,

As a private mathematics tutor, I read “Making Maths Count” with interest. I have questioned the Numeracy Project for some time. Its major failing is its early focus on mental “strategies” at the expense of teaching written skills.

We have a generation of children who quickly run out of steam when faced with large numbers or complex calculations because they have neither the mental capacity nor the written skills to cope.

Whether or not it was the true intention, the harsh reality is that our children are being actively discouraged from writing things down. Being able to communicate effectively in writing is a vital skill. Isn't it ironic that when these children turn 15, they're expected to show their working in exams to gain full credit? Yet at primary school they're refused pencil and paper if they want to scribble a few calculations.

The most important change needed is to reintroduce teaching vertical algorithms from day one. Young children like these methods because they are easy to remember and apply, even when the numbers are large. If children are confident with the basic written skills, the mental skills can be learned in half the time.

Some will embrace the more sophisticated alternatives while others will prefer the slower but always-reliable vertical methods. I see nothing wrong with that, as long as their reasoning is sound and they get the right answer.

Another important change needed is to simplify the content to make it more accessible to primary school teachers and their students. I'm forever amazed at how a simple concept is turned into an elaborate one. A fine example is your sidebar “New Ways to Make Sense of Algebra”. Not only is the algebraic expression incorrect, its connection to the diagrams is tenuous. Any calculation of this kind can be generalised algebraically, but to call it an “algebraic way of thinking” is pushing it.

If the concepts are made so complicated that even the experts can't explain them correctly, what hope is there for our teachers in delivering them effectively, let alone our children in learning them?

Dr Gill Thomas hopes in 15 years we'll be closer to having every child effective in mathematics. New Zealand can't afford to wait that long. By implementing my suggestions, progress would be seen much more quickly, as demonstrated by my students.

Yours sincerely,
Dr Audrey M. Tan."

"Dear Editor,

As a private educator, a parent, a high academic achiever (an honours degree at 17 and a PhD at 22), and of Asian descent, I read Joanne Black’s “Greater expectations” (June 9) with great interest.

While I am enormously proud of my Chinese heritage, I am uncomfortable whenever anyone mentions the topic of “Asian” academic achievement, because it is too easy to conjure up an illusion that high academic achievement, or, worse, intelligence, is somehow related to an ethnic or cultural difference. We must debunk the myth that academic success is “for Asians only”. We can discuss at great length why Asian values produce better students, but as John Hattie and others rightly say, it is really about hard work and perseverance, and nobody should feel there is any kind of cultural barrier preventing them from achieving.

Yet, I wonder whether this work ethic is really so foreign to New Zealanders. Even our most talented sporting heroes have to put in the hard yakka to perform well at the highest level. If children can understand that playing hard on the sports field is not so different from working hard in the classroom, they can transform a love of sport into a love of learning.

This is what I try to impart to all of my students, and it makes a huge difference to their motivation levels, self-esteem, and consequently their performance.

There is no doubt the family environment is a huge influence on a child’s attitude towards education.

However, I would prefer to see parents set high aspirations for their children, rather than high expectations, which implicitly put pressure on their children to perform.

It is fine (good, in fact) to share parental aspirations with our children, but the key is to help them find their self-motivation, their own sense of achievement and satisfaction in learning a new skill, their own sense of pride in being good at something.

In this way, children will start to set their own high expectations, and then all they need from their parents is love, support and encouragement.

Yours sincerely,
Audrey M. Tan (Dr)."