4th grade math - speed drills??

[Anonymous]

My 4th grader gets speed drills every couple of weeks from her math teacher that are causing a ton of stress. She's actually fine with math facts/fluency based on what we see at home, but is not particularly fast, and she does really poorly under the added pressure of these timed drills. Usually the goal is 40 problems in one minute which seems absurd to me, an adult who is really good at math. The teacher also makes them do every problem in order - she's not supposed to jump around or skip problems.

These are *not* the sprints in her Eureka books; they are separate worksheets/quizzes that I assume are generated by the teacher directly. They are graded and recorded in ParentVue as "Multiplication Facts - Assignment"; she's had 5 so far this quarter, all Ds. (She's in compacted math, if it matters, but I believe the non-compacted class taught by the same teacher gets them too.)

My DD absolutely hates math now, and its starting to spill over into her feelings about the rest of school. Is there any use complaining?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 4th grader gets speed drills every couple of weeks from her math teacher that are causing a ton of stress. She's actually fine with math facts/fluency based on what we see at home, but is not particularly fast, and she does really poorly under the added pressure of these timed drills. Usually the goal is 40 problems in one minute which seems absurd to me, an adult who is really good at math. The teacher also makes them do every problem in order - she's not supposed to jump around or skip problems.

These are *not* the sprints in her Eureka books; they are separate worksheets/quizzes that I assume are generated by the teacher directly. They are graded and recorded in ParentVue as "Multiplication Facts - Assignment"; she's had 5 so far this quarter, all Ds. (She's in compacted math, if it matters, but I believe the non-compacted class taught by the same teacher gets them too.)

My DD absolutely hates math now, and its starting to spill over into her feelings about the rest of school. Is there any use complaining?

Oh wow! I wish my 4th grader's teacher did math drills or homework. Everything seems lackadaisical with my daughter as their homework (which is the Eureka practice book) is completely optional.

[Anonymous]

Have you looked into tutoring for your daughter? MCPS provides some options for free.

Then on the private side, there's Mathnasium, Kumon, etc.

[Anonymous]

I would reach out to the teacher to discuss, particularly with your statement that it's making your kid hate math and dread school. I'm sorry that's happening, and I hope the teacher would be willing to work with you and her to make it better.

My daughter (currently in 9th grade, doing great in honors algebra 2) had a similar 4th grade math teacher who had speed drills, and found that hard and frustrating, as she understood the concepts but wasn't super fast. Grateful that her math teachers later on didn't emphasize that as much; her 8th grade teacher specifically emphasized that math wasn't about speed and that helped to restore her confidence in her math abilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you looked into tutoring for your daughter? MCPS provides some options for free.

Then on the private side, there's Mathnasium, Kumon, etc.

My daughter does not NEED tutoring. She knows her math facts and understands the material just fine, if anything she is advanced in math - she's just got slow processing. Rote memorization is not required for math fact fluency, and speed drills are not an effective way to teach - math anxiety actually *worsens* working memory, processing, and problem solving.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t complain exactly- the teacher isn’t going to change most likely. But I would reach out to explain the problem, the consequences of the times nature of the tests, etc. to provide context.

[Anonymous]

What is the effect of her not doing all the problems in the alloted time? Speed drills are common, and useful for building fluency. There's probably no expectation that every kid gets them all done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you looked into tutoring for your daughter? MCPS provides some options for free.

Then on the private side, there's Mathnasium, Kumon, etc.

My daughter does not NEED tutoring. She knows her math facts and understands the material just fine, if anything she is advanced in math - she's just got slow processing. Rote memorization is not required for math fact fluency, and speed drills are not an effective way to teach - math anxiety actually *worsens* working memory, processing, and problem solving.

So what outcome are you seeking? To make her eliminate math drills completely for the whole class or to excuse your child from the math drills?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 4th grader gets speed drills every couple of weeks from her math teacher that are causing a ton of stress. She's actually fine with math facts/fluency based on what we see at home, but is not particularly fast, and she does really poorly under the added pressure of these timed drills. Usually the goal is 40 problems in one minute which seems absurd to me, an adult who is really good at math. The teacher also makes them do every problem in order - she's not supposed to jump around or skip problems.

These are *not* the sprints in her Eureka books; they are separate worksheets/quizzes that I assume are generated by the teacher directly. They are graded and recorded in ParentVue as "Multiplication Facts - Assignment"; she's had 5 so far this quarter, all Ds. (She's in compacted math, if it matters, but I believe the non-compacted class taught by the same teacher gets them too.)

My DD absolutely hates math now, and its starting to spill over into her feelings about the rest of school. Is there any use complaining?

My DDs are out of elementary school, but both had similar reactions to speed drills, so I send my empathy. Timed math tests are a thing starting in Middle School, so it's not the last time this issue will arise, I'm afraid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the effect of her not doing all the problems in the alloted time? Speed drills are common, and useful for building fluency. There's probably no expectation that every kid gets them all done.

She certainly *thinks* she's expected to be able to do them all, based on the messages she's getting from her teacher.

What is the effect? They are graded and listed in ParentVue, bringing her overall grade down (most of the rest of her math grades are As, but her overall grade is a C, primarily because of these drills). *I* don't care about grades that much, but *she* does - it's hard not to feel bad when your worksheets are sent home with a giant red "47%" marked on them.

She's developed worsening anxiety about math in general and these tests in particular. It's killing her self confidence and any enthusiasm she may once have had for learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you looked into tutoring for your daughter? MCPS provides some options for free.

Then on the private side, there's Mathnasium, Kumon, etc.

My daughter does not NEED tutoring. She knows her math facts and understands the material just fine, if anything she is advanced in math - she's just got slow processing. Rote memorization is not required for math fact fluency, and speed drills are not an effective way to teach - math anxiety actually *worsens* working memory, processing, and problem solving.

So what outcome are you seeking? To make her eliminate math drills completely for the whole class or to excuse your child from the math drills?

I would love it if she eliminated them or at least made them ungraded or optional for everyone, but I recognize that's unlikely. Barring that, yes I guess excusing her from them would help.

[Anonymous]

Talk to the teacher! What is the teacher's argument for doing the drills? Does your kid have any other accommodations in school based on slow processing?

This was a regular part of my 4th grader's math curriculum, but my kid has a 504 for anxiety and her teacher flagged that the timed drills were causing her anxiety symptoms and, because her math foundational skills were strong, they figured out a work-around for her to show her fluency and be able to meet the standard. This is not something your kid should have to endure.

[Anonymous]

My 4th grader loves the speed drills, but I feel you OP. I would find them stressful as well.

Ask your teacher if you can get a Reflex login for your DD - it is a math facts game that the kids seem to LOVE and it really helps them build speed and agility on facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the effect of her not doing all the problems in the alloted time? Speed drills are common, and useful for building fluency. There's probably no expectation that every kid gets them all done.

She certainly *thinks* she's expected to be able to do them all, based on the messages she's getting from her teacher.

What is the effect? They are graded and listed in ParentVue, bringing her overall grade down (most of the rest of her math grades are As, but her overall grade is a C, primarily because of these drills). *I* don't care about grades that much, but *she* does - it's hard not to feel bad when your worksheets are sent home with a giant red "47%" marked on them.

She's developed worsening anxiety about math in general and these tests in particular. It's killing her self confidence and any enthusiasm she may once have had for learning.

Your child should not be getting a C in standards based grading based on being slow in these drills.

[Anonymous]

MCPS grading is very lenient and I’m shocked that even a few grades are swaying the rest. Generally I get frustrated that a child has a few’A’s and the rest B and C’s and that it somehow calculates up to anA so are you sure you’re seeing the whole picture of the grade and not just those tests?

That said, talk to the teacher and explain what you said here. Ask her if she has a recommendation. This might be a signal that there is more going on than just slow processing (anxiety comes to mind) that might need a different way of assessing. She does need her facts, but if she can show she knows them in a different way, that might help.

My own DD’s teacher used multiplication.com timed tests which place a time on the top and the facts turn yellow (for slow) or red (for incorrect) but the kids can take as long as needed. She doesn’t like having yellow/red squares and having others see them so I worked with the teacher and she now takes the “test” at night and during the test in class’s she just practices her facts on another site. However, she does have an IEP with this accommodation so that helps. There might be a solution like this that works for the teacher.

Good luck.