DD 5th grade - math troubles

[Anonymous]

What should I do? Get her a tutor, have her go to one of the centers? Or just talk to her teacher to see how I can help at home? It's the first time, I'm dealing with this.

[Anonymous]

Does she have her math facts down cold? If not, I'd have her do Reflex daily. (That's the school name for the software, the home version is called Time4MathFacts, I think.)

[Anonymous]

The math centers have a set curriculum. It works for some kids. However, for kids whose number sense is shaky, who have multiple skills deficits, and/or have an emotional response to math, it’s not always the best fit. Look for a tutor with a background in education (so, not just a college student).

[Anonymous]

The best thing you can do is get the common core fifth or sixth grade math book and have your dd complete the tasks. You can thank me later. I believe they are written by Brain quest.

https://bookoutlet.com/book/brain-quest-workbook-grade-6/walker-persephone/9780761182436B?utm_source=Googleads&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Clue&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4Oe4BhCcARIsADQ0csnfMPtfwfC4AvHY_w_v3f4LEYirFB7P4XWf0qc8tDMo3lwLiZiFSh4aAsWpEALw_wcB

[Anonymous]

I had my kids do the one year ahead workbook and it put them one year ahead on the national tests. It's exactly the same thing they learn in school. If you go one year ahead, they get the age level much easier as most of the learning is the same.

[Anonymous]

If you are competent with math and a careful reader, and have some time to sit with her daily, you can get a pretty inexpensive subscription to ixl.com. It will help you diagnose where her difficulties are.

Extra drilling helps kids who are having trouble. It's important to remedy deficiencies at a basic level first.

[Anonymous]

Talk to the teacher to find out exactly what the problem is, and get a tutor for that area. If it’s not knowing math facts, you can work on that at home, and flash cards are the best way.

[Anonymous]

Holy shit the kid is in 5th grade. You can't help? Get a tutor but talk to the teacher. Maybe they need some time for it to all click. 5th grade is elementary without final grades. Is it really that serious??

[Anonymous]

DD in 5th grade didn't feel comfortable. She got As in 7th grade. Worry about this in MS!!!!!

[Anonymous]

We’re talking elementary schools math. Why can’t the OP tutor their child? Buy a math workbook from Amazon like Kumon or Spectrum and do a worksheet with DD each night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What should I do? Get her a tutor, have her go to one of the centers? Or just talk to her teacher to see how I can help at home? It's the first time, I'm dealing with this.

Any of those can work.

We went to Kumon for math reinforcement/catch-up. Dc’s initial placement seemed low to us, but turned out to be correct. She had shaky foundations, so starting a little lower than we expected was actually good. Once they made DC’s foundations solid, then progress has been steady. We are staying with Kumon for now, because we find the quality of math instruction at school is so variable.

One can do online stuff, buy the Kumon workbooks from B&N and have DC do them at home with parents, or other things. Find what works best for your DC and family. There is no single right answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re talking elementary schools math. Why can’t the OP tutor their child? Buy a math workbook from Amazon like Kumon or Spectrum and do a worksheet with DD each night.

Kids vary. Some kids will cooperate with that approach. Other kids will not, hence sometimes a center or a tutor will work better.

[Anonymous]

Buy and play games. Lots of them and play daily.
~a math educator

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What should I do? Get her a tutor, have her go to one of the centers? Or just talk to her teacher to see how I can help at home? It's the first time, I'm dealing with this.

Step one is to breathe. You are a parent who is involved enough to notice, and proactive enough to be planning to do something about it. With this as a foundation you can't go far wrong and your DD will be alright.

When you say math troubles, what do you mean? Is the issue poor grades? She consistently shows lack of understanding? She actually tells you she does not understand or feels lost?

Start by talking to the teacher. What has the teacher noticed? What are your daughter's strengths and weaknesses in math? What does the teacher recommend for kids with those weak areas?

Next, taking her personality into account, consider whether it would be helpful to talk to your daughter. What does she think about her math class this year? What parts are interesting? Boring or bad? What is something she feels like she understands pretty well? What things are confusing or hard?

Whether or not you have gathered feedback from your dd, grab a copy of the math curriculum for grades 4 & 5. For each of the concepts/skills, see what evidence you have of your daughter using those skills. Do graded assignments show whether she has or hasn't mastered each thing? If there isn't available evidence of the skills, ask questions or do activities or as a last resort casually ask your dd to work a few problems in each area. Do not tell her exactly what you are assessing because she will stress out about whether she is behind/stupid/bad, just tell her you want to see which parts of math she could use more practice in.

If you find that she's weak on more than a few fourth grade skills before you have gotten to the rest and fifth grade, take a deep breath and know that this is not uncommon and since you're catching it early your dd will be fine. Get the lower grades' curricula and gently investigate until you find the furthest point at which your dd has firmly mastered everything. You will start remediation from there.

If she's solid on most of fourth grade and the weaknesses start late in the 4th grade curriculum or somewhere in the 5th, make a note of what skills she most needs to practice.

Now, take stock of what you know about how dd learns best. Does she prefer workbooks? Does she learn well from textbooks? One on one in person instruction? Do things that feel like school stress her out and she only really absorbs things if it is a more casual/playful approach to teaching?

If she only needs mild remediation of fifth and late fourth grade skills, consistently using math games or apps might be enough.

If she hasn't absorbed much in a year or two, try her on something like Kahn Academy.

In either case, her teacher may also be able to recommend her for tutoring through the school (depending on what programs are available at your school).

I would not spend much money on a tutor in the above two scenarios until you've tried free methods for a month or two without noted improvements.

If she seems very behind, you may need to either teach her yourself, get her a tutor, or talk to the school about assessing her for specific math-related learning challenges.