Worksheets!

I have been thinking a lot about what I said about worksheets and how I couldn't really understand why some children wanted them. It was only a few that wanted them. And I came up with the idea that maybe they like them because they are able to beat everybody else at completing them quickly and accurately - and that was always a focus for basic fact knowledge in the past. We had tested them over and over again, every term, every year, and report comments were always like "has worked hard to increase speed and accuracy in recall of basic facts..." It was all about number knowledge, speedy recall, and the children who were good at it could prove their amazingness by filling in those worksheets and getting all of the answers ticked way ahead of the ones who had to think about it. And we always praised their amazingness by telling them how great they were at it!
I just read the comments, and Dianne is right too, definitely safe, and certainly an easy option for some, those being the ones who wanted worksheets. Well I am happy for them to print their own off to complete in their own time if that's what they truly enjoy doing, but a sudoku or something might be more exciting!
It wasn't all of the children who didn't love maths, just a few. My last post may have given the impression that it was a huge percentage of the class, when really it was maybe 5 or 6 out of 25 who didn't enjoy it, but I need 100% loving maths. That is my goal! But it's OK, we did maths today and I told them it was art, (which it was really but it was maths also) and they all enjoyed it, to the point where I had to tell them all to get out at lunchtime because they weren't moving, so focused were they on their "art"... Sometimes they are doing maths without even realising it is actually maths. And they think it's fun.
This weekend I must remember to buy some more compasses - we love circles! And sticky notes too!