Typical A student is now a B student in math

[Anonymous]

My DD has always been known at her LCPS school for having really, really good grades. However, this year (9th), she has been unusually struggling in Alg 2/Trig. She managed to pull through with a low A last quarter, but got mostly Bs on the tests. After getting another B this quarter, she started doing math for hours every night, teaching herself concepts before she learned them in class, getting an extra workbook for more practice problems. Just got grades back for the last 2 tests she’s taken and they’re both Bs. DD is devastated because at this point her quarter grade is shot and she’s been working so very hard to improve. She also said that she thought the tests were easy and that she double and triple checked her work. I’m at a loss of how much else I can do to help her. She’s on track to get a B for the quarter, which is very, very unlike her. She has A+s in all other classes. She’s really trying her very best, but this year has just been hell for her, and math usually comes very easy to her. From talking to other kids in the course, she has better grades than most, but she knows this is going to tank her GPA and she’s very worried. Any advice on how else I can help her improve?

[Anonymous]

Mathnasium saved the day in this exact same situation for us. It only took a couple of classes.

[Anonymous]

Generally speaking, problems in math at one level are because the student didn't learn it well enough at previous levels. She quite likely needs algebra or even pre-algebra skills she didn't fully develop.

[Anonymous]

What does her teacher say?

[Anonymous]

Good time to start getting Bs and seeing it isn’t the end of the world. Most people would say a B grade is struggling. Get some sessions with a tutor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good time to start getting Bs and seeing it isn’t the end of the world. Most people would say a B grade is struggling. Get some sessions with a tutor.

NP. Most people would ? Or did you mean would *not?

[Anonymous]

Have you talked to the teacher about what they think is going on? Also, I would hire a tutor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good time to start getting Bs and seeing it isn’t the end of the world. Most people would say a B grade is struggling. Get some sessions with a tutor.

NP. Most people would ? Or did you mean would *not?

I meant that a B is not evidence of struggling. A low C or D and below is evidence of actual struggle.

[Anonymous]

Does she get her graded tests back?
Can you look with her to see the errors? A pattern that indicates a misunderstanding?

[Anonymous]

Talk to the teacher about what’s going wrong.
Confirm the grades are being recorded correctly.
Get a tutor or do Mathnasium or Khan Academy. I agree with PP that some foundational skills may be weak, so what builds on them is not as strong. How does your DD do on the homework assignments?

[Anonymous]

I think algebra and geometry are when it becomes harder to do well in math unless you’re actually good at it. Before that, it’s easy to get As if you’re just an average kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Generally speaking, problems in math at one level are because the student didn't learn it well enough at previous levels. She quite likely needs algebra or even pre-algebra skills she didn't fully develop.

She did have a sub for math the last two quarters of the year for algebra 1 because her teacher got fired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does she get her graded tests back?
Can you look with her to see the errors? A pattern that indicates a misunderstanding?

Yes, and there's never a pattern: problems she gets wrong aren't consistent across the tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think algebra and geometry are when it becomes harder to do well in math unless you’re actually good at it. Before that, it’s easy to get As if you’re just an average kid.

I don't think so, she's always been 99th percentile for everything, since the age of 4 or so, math has always come naturally to her, until now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does her teacher say?

Teacher says she doesn't understand it either, that she does very well in class and gets mostly perfect scores on classwork and homework, that she clearly understands the concepts but then it doesn't translate to the test