Silly math mistakes?

[Anonymous]

5th grade DD is generally good at math, usually gets mid to high 90s percentile on iReady math test. She is a pretty driven kid, and wants to get into the Honors Math class in middle school. This is an attainable goal for her, but one she’s just shy of achieving with her current performance. Her teacher this year sends home their weekly math test, graded, and I see that DD consistently gets a half point off here and there for “silly mistakes.” She sometimes gets basic math facts incorrect, e.g., single digit addition (8+5=12), which I’ve noticed at home as well. Also, she makes random mistakes, such as moving the decimal point one place value. For instance, she correctly did long division and wrote “0.4” in her work. But then she wrote “0.04” in the designated answer space.

I think there are potentially different causes of these two kinds of mistakes. For the math facts, I’m thinking maybe she just needs some rote facts practice? In that case, can anyone recommend a workbook or other pencil on paper practice? I’d prefer not using an app. For the other mistake, I’m not really sure what’s going on there. I suspect she has inattentive ADHD (we’ve scheduled an evaluation), could this contribute to these kind of mistakes?

[Anonymous]

I understand you want paper.

Kumon workbooks can be purchased on Amazon.

I would recommend the Xtramath.org free website and an IXL.com subscription where you could review the parent diagnostics. Perhaps Khan Academy (I don't have experience to share.)

[Anonymous]

Yes, inattentive adhd can definitely look like that. (Obviously there would be other symptoms as well.)

[Anonymous]

ADHD could contribute to those kinds of mistakes. Regardless, she needs to learn to proofread/check her work before submitting.

[Anonymous]

How is everything blamed on ADHD ? She makes stupid math mistakes like most of the kids. She’s in the top percentile's for math. Not making honors math is not cause for an evaluation for Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder.

There are plenty of workbooks for maths, also games to play. Someone doing that well in math would make parents really happy.

[Anonymous]

Kumon workbooks also are available at most local B&N stores. That lets one pick the best fit workbook. We use them for practice and reinforcement. Many students just do not get enough practice these days.

[Anonymous]

I would just write a bunch of math facts on a sheet of paper for her to solve for time. Do 10-15 and time her. Do another set in 2 days.

[Anonymous]

DC is the same, always, knows how to do the math questions but makes silly mistakes. I just keep telling him to double check, triple check or more.

[Anonymous]

I was going to suggest it could be ADHD, but I see you already had the same idea.

My kid is in college now. Nothing helped him with the silly mistakes. He is really really good at math and science but ended up switching to humanities because it is more forgiving. He lacks the ability to see the error in the moment. If he comes back like a day later he can easily spot it. Stress made it worse.

[Anonymous]

I was going to say adhd. My calculus teacher told me to write out every calculation on paper because I would make a silly arithmetic mistake, but would get the calculus portion right.

[Anonymous]

Does she really understand how to check her work? That's a skill. You could probably help her buy having her "grade" worksheets--you can even do the worksheet and have her check it.

Or have her write down a string of numbers and you copy them over with some errors and she needs to compare them.

Or teach her that if she's doing 8+5=12, then 12-5 would = 8 (and 12-8 would = 5). Can she go back through and check her own work in this way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was going to suggest it could be ADHD, but I see you already had the same idea.

My kid is in college now. Nothing helped him with the silly mistakes. He is really really good at math and science but ended up switching to humanities because it is more forgiving. He lacks the ability to see the error in the moment. If he comes back like a day later he can easily spot it. Stress made it worse.

This is OP. Does your kid have ADHD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was going to say adhd. My calculus teacher told me to write out every calculation on paper because I would make a silly arithmetic mistake, but would get the calculus portion right.

OP here. Do you have ADHD? Did you find that writing out every calculation helped you?

[Anonymous]

She just needs to slow down AND check her work.

[Anonymous]

My child, same age and great at math, does this too. He rushes and doesn’t check his work. He doesn’t have ADHD, just a desire to speed through things and no desire to check his work. He still makes great grades so he doesn’t feel the need to address it.