Bar Model approach - That "aha" moment

The bar model approach has gained a huge fanbase over the last two years. It’s amazing how if you go back a few years, hardly any primary teacher or secondary teachers were using the bar model approach. As a graduate of the Institute of Education, I know I didn’t come across any training on visual Maths and as a pupil, I think I would have personally benefitted from the approach, especially in the first two years of secondary education and anytime in my primary education.

Why The Bar Model Approach?

Many children struggle to “see” the maths, not just in word problems but also in your everyday lessons. The bar model approach allows children to have a starting point and develop their understanding of the question using a pictorial representation. It not only helps pupils to decipher questions but it also allows teachers to directly understand a child’s misconceptions – via a simple picture of bars!

As a struggling pupil throughout most of my primary and secondary life, when I finally had the “aha” moment it felt absolutely amazing. It was a new lease of life at school and the more moments I had like that, the more interested I was in Maths and this then allowed me to really flourish in the subject. I know, first hand, how important those “aha” moments are and it’s not really much different as an adult because those moments are what excites you and makes you feel like you have achieved. Those are the same feelings I now love to see and hear when I deliver my training sessions. We all deserve to have “aha” moments and the bar model approach really does make that happen more often than not.

Watch the moment our delegates discover the missing part of the jigsaw which allows them to make the next steps in a before and after situation.