WDYD -- the struggle with math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is her working memory? Does she have her math facts down cold? If you say 7+6 or 14-6 does she immediately know the answer or does she have to think or use her fingers? It is hard to do well in math if you don't have instant recall math facts particularly if you don't have really strong working memory skills. If she doesn't know her math facts down cold, send her to Kumon but you have to think long term about how long it will take to get to level D. Maybe a year or so.

If a child has memory processing issues, Kumon isn't the best option. It's not evidence based and focuses on rote memorization which is why many kids have difficulty with math later on b/c they don't understand the basic concepts to begin with.

[Anonymous]

My fourth grade daughter also did great in math until last year and this year she got three Ds in a row. I now sit down with her and go over each one of her homework problems to see if the issue is comprehension or "silly" mistakes (like simple calculating errors or not copying the problem correctly or skipping entire problems) I also require that she write all of her work out so I can see her thought processes. I've accepted that math will not be her strongest subject. She's getting bs now. Two of her friends had the same struggle with math, and the teachers tell me that many 4th graders suffer through this bump in the road. The important thing for me was getting her confidence up again. We did look into tutoring, but she preferred my help to the tutoring center we looked into. We go over her work every school night. It takes a Long time and a lot of patience. And sometimes a glass of wine...

[Anonymous]

I think it is the schools fault. With the nonsense report cards (MCPS or private) you don't really know whether your kids are doing well in school or not. Then you wake up one day and realize that they are behind.

When I was little, we have the actually percentages. No way a parent won't know whether we did well or not.

[Anonymous]

OP talk to the school about testing for working memory and dyscalculia. How is her writing? Dysgraphia can also cause some math issues. Children will mask these issues with 'bad' behavior because they themselves cannot figure out why they can't do it and they can tell from adults around them that everyone thinks they should be able to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is her working memory? Does she have her math facts down cold? If you say 7+6 or 14-6 does she immediately know the answer or does she have to think or use her fingers? It is hard to do well in math if you don't have instant recall math facts particularly if you don't have really strong working memory skills. If she doesn't know her math facts down cold, send her to Kumon but you have to think long term about how long it will take to get to level D. Maybe a year or so.

If a child has memory processing issues, Kumon isn't the best option. It's not evidence based and focuses on rote memorization which is why many kids have difficulty with math later on b/c they don't understand the basic concepts to begin with.

OP's kid has solid fluid reasoning which correlates to math applications, so conceptual knowledge shouldn't be a problem. If you don't know math facts you use up working memory trying to do simple calculations instead of using your available working memory to understand how to solve multistep problems. Kumon is great only for rote memorization (not a good program for conceptual math), which might be what OP's kid is lacking.

[Anonymous]

Buy IXL. (Can get it cheaper through Homeschool coop.) (www.ixl.com - you can try 20 problems a day for free)

Your child can ago across different grades, and elementary school math may look like game! ( My children sometimes play with K and pre-K )
Do NOT FORCE your child to master skills. If she can do it up to score 70-80, move to next skill.

I do not have child exactly like yours. But I have ADHD child who is bad with writing (excellent with math, and extremely slow processing speed...) Then I have another child without ADHD who can't retain much math...
However with persistence you will get there.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

4th grade math is god awful boring. I excelled in the subjects your dd does, but did not do well in math until 7th and up. I still do not like math. It doesn't matter because my job involves reading and writing and only the most basic math. Thinking of those horrible elementary school math worksheets with the endless problems gives me the chills. If your mind wanders for even a moment and you make a simple mistake, you get the whole problem wrong, wrong, wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP sounds like you need to get over the fact that just because you and DH are engineers doesn't mean you DD will be strong in math. Obviously its not her strong subject or she feels she will never please mommy and daddy because they have natural math brains. That turns into math-phobia or anxiety.

So she needs extra help. Be grateful that's her only area of challenge.

I think this is spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4th grade math is god awful boring. I excelled in the subjects your dd does, but did not do well in math until 7th and up. I still do not like math. It doesn't matter because my job involves reading and writing and only the most basic math. Thinking of those horrible elementary school math worksheets with the endless problems gives me the chills. If your mind wanders for even a moment and you make a simple mistake, you get the whole problem wrong, wrong, wrong.

This is good advice. Do not forget about math, but focus on what your daughter is good.
This is what I am doing with my ADHD child who is gifted in all tech things and horrible with writing.
It is extremely important for these kids to know that they are good at something, and they will find their way (with parents' support) to build on their strong sides.