Ofsted was asked to provide evidence of effective practice in the teaching of early arithmetic, its report entitled; "Good practice in primary mathematics: evidence from 20 successful schools," was published in November 2011. Did this report pass you by? Unfortunately, as with many other reports not blessed with a "high…

In "MT218" the author looked at the possibility of basing a classroom activity on a simple, though not totally transparent, number-theoretic result. In this article he considers another relatively straightforward idea from number theory that could be used either as a lesson starter or as the basis of a more substantial task, requiring students to…

The field of mathematics is complex, areas such as arithmetic, and geometry each consist of several sub-domains and encompass many cognitive processes. Achievement tests for elementary pupils assess a wide range of arithmetic skills such as number sense, procedural knowledge, and using problem solving strategies. Although mathematical tests often…

An approach to solving many linear programming problems, using only arithmetical thinking in conjunction with the usual diagram, is given. (MN)