Join us for this throwback episode of POD-CACHE and re-listen to Dr Helen Williams' wisdom on making maths playful. We'll be back with a whole new episode on Wednesday 10 January.

0:00 Introduction to Dr Helen J Williams and her journey with maths

2:30 Moving from a dislike to a love of maths

4:50 Maths' evolution since the 80s and use of manipulatives in maths teaching

7:42 The challenges of applying more practical approaches

9:20 Challenging perceptions of being good vs. bad at maths and how taking risks translates into development

11:50 Problem-solving and Pirate's Gold problem

14:45 Break

15:00 How practitioners can recapture the joy of maths

18:40 Resources available for teaching maths

20:40 Shape and space (geometry) and recalling vs. applying knowledge

27:18 Progress in understanding how primary school children learn maths

30:20 What is subitising and what activities can help children develop the skill

33:00 Helen talks about her book 'Playful Mathematics: For Children 3 to 7' and final notes

Dawn's been leaning into the magic of Christmas, reading The Indisputable Existence of Santa Claus, and can't help thinking back to this magical conversation with Dr Helen Williams about making maths more playful.

Join us as we listen back to this popular episode from Season 4 of POD-CACHE and take some time to look through our catalogue on your favourite podcast platform. Are there other gems that you've missed?

Dr Helen J Williams is the author of the award-winning 'Playful Mathematics: For Children 3 to 7', who shares her journey towards becoming passionate about mathematics and her mission to change perceptions of maths as a dry and uninteresting subject. Dr. Williams also provides practical recommendations for educators and families on how to make maths lessons more fun and engaging for young children.

You can hear more from Helen on her twitter @helenjwc

Links mentioned in podcast:

British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics - https://bsrlm.org.uk/

Association of Teachers of Mathematics - https://www.atm.org.uk/

Early Childhood Mathematics Group - https://earlymaths.org/

NRICH Maths Resources - https://nrich.maths.org/

Helen's Book - Playful Mathematics: For Children 3 to 7

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