Are You Sabotaging Your Maths Lessons? Teaching Strategies Every Primary Teacher Should Know
- Philip Lee
- Sep 22, 2025
- 3 min read
Maths should spark curiosity, not anxiety. Yet for many primary and PYP students, the subject feels abstract or intimidating. The good news? With the right teaching strategies, you can help children see maths as creative, playful, and deeply connected to their world.
In this post, we’ll look at six maths strategies that promote not just understanding, but real cognitive engagement — the kind of learning that lasts and supports ongoing professional development for teachers.
1. Start with Inquiry, Not Answers
One of the most powerful teaching strategies in maths is inquiry. Instead of beginning with formulas, start with a question like:
“How many different ways can we arrange four chairs in a row?”
“What do you notice about the numbers on a clock?”
Why it works: Inquiry engages curiosity, encourages higher-order thinking, and makes learners active participants. For teachers, adopting inquiry-based maths strategies also doubles as professional development, helping refine questioning techniques and classroom dialogue.
2. Use Manipulatives and Visuals
Abstract numbers can feel distant for young learners. Incorporating manipulatives such as counters, base-ten blocks, or even LEGO, alongside visuals like number lines or fraction circles, turns abstraction into something tangible.
Why it works: This teaching strategy strengthens cognitive connections by linking physical experiences with abstract symbols. It helps learners move from concrete to pictorial to abstract — a developmental path critical in maths learning.
Professional development angle: Teachers who integrate manipulatives consistently see deeper conceptual understanding in students, which can become a focus of staff workshops and PD sessions.
3. Connect Maths to Real Life
Among the most effective maths strategies is making the subject relevant. Whether it’s measuring ingredients, tracking classroom temperatures, or mapping distances, real-world contexts show students why maths matters.
Why it works: Relevance sparks motivation. Linking maths to daily life activates prior knowledge and encourages transfer of learning — the ability to apply concepts in new situations.
Professional development angle: Teachers benefit from PD sessions that share practical classroom projects, giving them tools to embed maths across the curriculum.
4. Encourage Mathematical Talk
Maths shouldn’t be silent. Encouraging students to explain their reasoning, compare strategies, and discuss different solutions is a highly effective teaching strategy.
Why it works: Talking requires deeper processing and builds metacognition. It also helps multilingual learners develop academic language in context.
Professional development angle: Structured PD around “maths talk” equips teachers with sentence starters, dialogue protocols, and strategies to build collaborative learning cultures.
5. Make it Playful
Games are not a distraction — they’re a core maths strategy for engagement. Dice games, card games, and digital platforms make practice fun while reinforcing fluency.
Why it works: Playful learning reduces anxiety, increases motivation, and encourages perseverance. Students willingly invest energy because the task feels enjoyable.
Professional development angle: In PD settings, teachers often share maths games, comparing their impact on fluency and resilience.
6. Differentiate with Choice
Not every learner is in the same place. Offering choice — in representation, level of challenge, or type of task — makes maths accessible and engaging.
Why it works: Choice empowers students to take ownership of their learning. It supports Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, ensuring that tasks are challenging but achievable.
Professional development angle: Differentiation is a frequent focus in PD, giving teachers frameworks and resources to meet diverse learner needs.
Why Teaching Strategies in Maths Matter
When teachers use research-based teaching strategies and classroom-tested maths strategies, the impact is clear:
Deeper learning — students understand concepts, not just procedures.
Greater confidence — learners feel capable and resilient.
Better outcomes — schools see stronger results and more engaged communities.
And for teachers, experimenting with these approaches is a form of ongoing professional development — growing practice, sharing insights, and building a stronger culture of learning.
Final Thought
Maths is not just about answers; it’s about making sense of the world. By using inquiry, manipulatives, real-world connections, mathematical talk, playful learning, and differentiation, teachers can make maths meaningful and memorable.
So if you’re looking for new teaching strategies, practical maths strategies, or even inspiration for your next professional development session — start here. These small shifts can have a big impact on both learners and teachers alike.
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