I started using this series (KS3 Mastering Mathematics) with my daughter in at the start of her Year 9 and I have been so impressed with it that I asked the Hodder Education if I could get a copy of their Year 8 book so I could share what is included in Year 8. The reason that we like this series is because it helps the person who is the facilitator (i.e. me – it has made my life a lot easier) and it helps the student by explaining everything really clearly and it provides lots of practice. It really is ticking all the boxes for us and the only extra Maths that I have printed out for my daughter since starting this series are some Maths puzzles / Maths Murder Mystery pages which she enjoys working through.

To start with let me explain the difference between the different books. The textbook is your main book – it contains explanations for every topic covered and with every explanation they ALWAYS include worked examples (which we really appreciate).

The textbook always includes examples for the kids to work through. They are grouped into different bands (there are three bands with band 1 being the easier questions and Band 3 being the Extend questions).

Also at the end of each topic there are Review exercises and they have included Progress Review activities every few chapters. The progress reviews are included at roughly every half term (if you are working through the book in order of the chapter and linked up to school terms). We tend to use these Progress Reviews as mini-tests (we are trying to get into the habit of writing tests as a way of preparing for exams). And ALL answers are on the Hodder Education website and are FREE to download.

The Practice Books. There are two practice books linked to every textbook. Develop and Secure is the slightly easier practice book (if your kids are working more at Band 1 and Band 2 level this is the one for them) and then the Extend Practice Book (if the kids are working more at a Band 3 level). All the questions in the Practice books are different from the questions in the student book so it really is EXTRA practice and all answers are FREE to download from the Hodder Education website.

Okay so what Topics are covered in the Year 8 books.

• Sequences
• Graphs (straight line and real life graphs)
• Angles
• Constructions
• Calculations (a review of the four operations including multiplying decimals and dividing with decimals)
• Negative Numbers
• Fractions (including multiplying and dividing fractions)
• Expressions and Formulas (expanding brackets, factorising expression, rearranging formulas – we actually did these questions as revision as part of my daughter’s Year 9)
• Working with 2D shapes
• Properties of 3D shapes
• Percentages
• Multiplicative Reasoning (I might try and squeeze this in as revision as well I really like this)
• Working with data
• Circles
• Pythagoras’ Theorem (like the way this set-out).

There is a lot included but based on how we are progressing with her Year 9 books you can manage a textbook and practice book and fit it all in.

Why do we like this series so much? Honestly it is making Maths A LOT easier. The explanations and worked examples really do all the explaining for you and then the questions get gradually harder so the kids build up. I am no longer spending ages looking for resources or good explanations because everything I need is in these books. And I actually feel that since we started using these books my daughter’s Maths confidence has increased

My youngest is currently Year 6 and I can already say we are going to be using this series with him for his KS3 Maths, it really does just make doing home education Maths that much easier and less stressful.

You can buy the Mastering Mathematics Book 2 directly from Hodder – Text book, Practice book Develop and Secure and Practice Book Extend.

Or you can buy them from Amazon Key Stage 3 Mastering Mathematics Book 2, Key Stage 3 Mastering Mathematics Develop and Secure Practice Book 2, Key Stage 3 Mastering Mathematics Extend Practice Book 2

I have not spotted them in any of my local bookstores (Waterstones or WH Smith).

Admin Bit – As I mentioned above after using the Year 9 books with my daughter and really liking them I contacted Hodder Education and asked for a Year 8 text book so I could write this post. This is NOT a paid for post this is written purely because I like this series.

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