5th grader won't stop doing math in her head

[Anonymous]

She's in private school, but she's taking prealgebra through a local homeschool coop because she's bored and not challenged. Problem is, she refuses to show her work because "she doesn't need to." That's obviously okay when you're dealing with something like 2(x-8)=6, but it's not sustainable once she gets into true algebra. When I tell her she has show how she solved the equation, she flips out on me and says it's a "stupid waste of time". Any suggestions for convincing her to do this?

(She gets marked off at school for not showing her work as well.)

[Anonymous]

For things for fun - like the prealgebra - maybe you don't.

For everything else, you require it. Like you start implementing consequences if it's not done. Sometimes I tell my kids "In life sometimes there are hoops we have to jump through and we don't know the reason, or maybe there isn't a good one, but if it's not morally wrong we just jump."

Or you give her a problem that's complicated enough (but solvable with her current skills) she can't do it in her head. But you have to be sure she can't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For things for fun - like the prealgebra - maybe you don't.

For everything else, you require it. Like you start implementing consequences if it's not done. Sometimes I tell my kids "In life sometimes there are hoops we have to jump through and we don't know the reason, or maybe there isn't a good one, but if it's not morally wrong we just jump."

Or you give her a problem that's complicated enough (but solvable with her current skills) she can't do it in her head. But you have to be sure she can't.

I really like this. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

She could take it up with her teacher, but generally students are asked to show their work to demonstrate the strategy they used to solve the problem to enable collaboration. If you have a wrong answer, and there's no work shown, it's a total waste of time for everyone. Because the collaborator (the teacher) doesn't know what happened.

Documenting process in order to facilitate collaboration is usually kind of unpleasant, but basically everyone who does knowledge work has to do it because otherwise we can't work in teams. The collaborator can also be your future self, who might not remember how they did something. But if you have notes, it's a lot easier to go back and recreate or learn from something you did before.

The teacher might also say they require it to know students didn't cheat, but at this point with the internet that's kind of a dumb reason.

[Anonymous]

This is not a fight you need to take on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not a fight you need to take on.

I agree. Leave this between her and her teacher. I realize that with homeschooling, you're her "teacher", but since you know she's not cheating, just leave it alone.

As it gets harder, she'll start writing stuff down if she needs to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not a fight you need to take on.

I agree. Leave this between her and her teacher. I realize that with homeschooling, you're her "teacher", but since you know she's not cheating, just leave it alone.

As it gets harder, she'll start writing stuff down if she needs to.

or when a teacher deducts points for not showing her work. Either way is better than mom picking a battle

[Anonymous]

She needs to learn to show her work or lose points

[Anonymous]

Tell her that it’s not about getting the right answer, it’s about showing the process. As she gets to higher level math and science the scoring is all about process and very little for the “answer”. Now is the time to develop the habit of showing your thinking.

[Anonymous]

Part of school is learning to do stupid stuff because it is required. I can do math in my head really well (into low level calculus) because I have a photographic memory and I write it down in my head. But others can’t read my brain notes so I have to put them in a communicable form.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She needs to learn to show her work or lose points

unfortunately this... she will learn the hard way.

My DC was doing calculus in their head, and didn't show their work. They got dinged. Then one time, the teacher sort of jokingly said to DC that they could do one exam without showing their work. DC thought it was the whole exam, but the teacher meant just one page. LOL. So, DC got marked down. They were allowed to show their work later, and the teacher gave back the points.

Yes, my kid is a math genius. Didn't get it from me. They're a dual math major in college now, still doing math in their head.

Your kid might be very advanced in math like mine is. I tell DC doesn't matter how smart they are in math or how dumb it is to show their work; they still have to show their work to get the grade.

[Anonymous]

Suggest that she do the problem in her head for the challenge, and then write it out on the paper for the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Why would you put her in a position where she is repeating every math class if you think she’s a kid who doesn’t handle boredom well?

[Anonymous]

Once she gets deductions she will likely do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell her that it’s not about getting the right answer, it’s about showing the process. As she gets to higher level math and science the scoring is all about process and very little for the “answer”. Now is the time to develop the habit of showing your thinking.

Agree, but this isn't even my concern. My real concern is that she's not even learning the process, you know?