STAGES IN EARLY ARITHMETICAL
LEARNING (SEAL) –
PARENTS SESSION
Vanessa Muirhead, Louise McGeary and Mary
Cameron
AIMS OF THE SESSION
Corstorphine’s Aims
 What is SEAL and why are we using it?
 An addition Problem - Activity
 What SEAL looks like across the school
 How you can support your child
 Practical Activities
 Questions
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(Pupil views taken from P4a)
AT CORSTORPHINE WE AIM TO ENABLE
PUPILS TO:
Understanding of the concepts and processes
 Recall key number facts
 Efficient mental strategies
 Applying mathematics to a variety of contexts
 To relate it to real life situations
 To solve problems
 The ability to use their mathematical literacy to
interpret questions
 Financial capability
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(Corstorphine Primary School Mathematics Policy 2016)
WHY DO YOU THINK MATHS IS AN IMPORTANT
LIFE SKILL? – PUPIL VIEWS.
If you are a
shopkeeper you need
to use money.
You need to read
the time for the
bus.
If you were having
friends over you need
to be able to set out
the right number of
plates.
WHAT ARE THE FEATURES
OF EFFECTIVE
LEARNING AND TEACHING IN MATHEMATICS?
From the early stages onwards, children and young
people should experience success in mathematics
and develop the confidence to take risks, ask
questions and explore alternative solutions without
fear of being wrong. They will enjoy exploring and
applying mathematical concepts to understand and
solve problems, explaining their thinking and
presenting their solutions to others in a variety of
ways.
(Mathematics: Principles and Practice Curriculum for Excellence)
WHAT IS SEAL?
ACTIVITY - WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT A CHILD
WHO KNOWS THE HOW TO CALCULATE 7+8?
Is it 15?
7+8
7 and 3 is 10
and 5 more is
15
Double 7 is 14
so the answer
is 15
7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
,9,10,11,12,13
,14,15
I know it- it is
15
THE EMERGENT CHILD
NUMBER WORD SEQUENCES AND NUMERALS
HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AT HOME PATTERNS
Play games with a dice pattern e.g. Snakes and
ladders (good for counting too!) or dominoes
 Show numbers with fingers “How many biscuits
do you want? Show me with your fingers. Can
you show me with 2 hands?”

Make it fun!
THE PERCEPTUAL CHILD
HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AT HOME COUNTING

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Counting items – teddies, cutlery, washing, steps
Counting forwards and backwards – counting down
the steps on the bus, counting down the sleeps to a
holiday
Counting from numbers other than one – “If I am 6
then I will be 7, 8, 9, 10, .....”
Say the number after/number before – “Today is 11th
January, what is tomorrow?”
Move onto counting in multiples e.g. Counting in 2’s
or 10’s (forwards and backwards).
*Extend this so covers chapter 8
Make it relevant!!!
THE FIGURATIVE CHILD
THE COUNTING ON CHILD
8.6 MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION
Arrays help you because
you can just the dots or
to be extra quick I just
count the rows and the
columns.
HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AT HOME OPERATIONS

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Adding and Subtracting – “If I have 3 cards and you
have 2, how many do we have altogether?” (allow
child to check their answer “Do you want to check?”)
Multiplying and Dividing – “Can you share the grapes
between us?” or “We have 3 books each, how many do
we have altogether?”
Practise times tables facts
*Emphasise problem
solving aspect here
It’s all about the experience
THE FACILE CHILD
What strategies do you use in maths?
Doubles
 Near doubles
 Times Tables
 Number bonds
 Using easy bonds to help
with bigger sums
 Links between addition
and subtraction
 Jump strategy
 Split strategy

Chimney sums –
that’s not a
strategy!!
AN ADDITION PROBLEM - ACTIVITY
Uses a split
strategy e.g. 7 + 5
= 12 and then add
20
Needs to use
counters or
other concrete
materials
27 + 5
Uses a jump
strategy e.g.
27 + 3 + 2
= 32
Counts on in
ones from 27
(28,29,30,31,32)
Counts from one
(1,2,3,....,27,28,29,30,31,32)
HOW CAN I SUPPORT MY CHILD AT HOME?

Real-life situations

Cards and dominoes
Bingo
Dice games – snakes and ladders, ludo, Monopoly
Strategy games – chess, draughts, darts, Yahtzee,
Mastermind, Scrabble
Sudoku
Dot to dot puzzles
Read number stories
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Talk about strategies
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ACTIVITIES
ANY QUESTIONS?