Checking math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eventually their grades will suffer and that will motivate them to be careful with their work (or not).

+1. Both of my kids came to this realization at a certain point.

This is what happened to my kid too.

We were very lucky to get an Algebra teacher who took a lot of time going over every math problem on each test and my kid got dinged a lot and dinging for every small issue that was sloppy. We got him a tutor and he figured it out. At first there was this attitude of being annoyed the teacher was doing it, which we quickly dispelled and moved on from. The teacher did him a favor.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. You have to make them write out every problem. If they get a problem wrong, they go over it and find the mistake. The bright kids catch on quickly that they need to be more careful, because they are used to get all As.

If you can’t do it, get a tutor if you can. If the kid won’t cooperate with you, then you have consequences. Immediate consequences. They can go right ahead and try to not cooperate, and you take the phone or whatever. When they realize you are not kidding, they will knock it off.

I made my students redo every missed problem on tests and quizzes. Ask the teacher if you can have the test or quiz back to go over with and correct. If the teacher has after school hours, you make sure the kid goes there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's such a battle.

Just getting the middle schooler to show me their assignment is a battle, to be honest. The teacher even said at back to school night "I won't be able to look over every problem on every problem set so please go over your student's homework with them."

I feel like that is way too much to ask of parents. How does the teachers know parents can even do the math? I was a great student and some of the new methods are confusing to me.

I know my kid could do better with more checking and more help, but it's not a fight I can handle on a regular basis.

And what happens to the student if the parent doesn’t understand the math and can’t check it?

This is us. We got a tutor once kid started HS. At first it was to fill in gaps as it was Covid and we were worried about missing material. Then we kept the tutor, not b/c kid was having problems, but it was the fine-tuning.Teaching to check work and why important. And frankly, the classes at the HS are just too big. Too many kids and not enough one:one to explain things the way each kid needs. The tutor does this, gives tips/tricks, and reinforces the lessons. AND then kid has someone else to be accountable to, instead of me.

I'd rather not pay the additional money and have the schools do what we expect them to do but, given the sizes of the classes and various capabilities of the teachers (though in our case, our teachers have been pretty good across the board), I just realized it's simply not possible to get my kid the math foundation needed w/o some extra help and instruction. They don't meet every week and sometimes it was only a few times a quarter. Right now it's every week b/c we are at a higher AP level class and it's hard. Really hard.

And there is zero possibility I can understand the math. I tapped out long ago. My DH may be a bit better than me but my DH and DC working together on something like this is . . . . not possible. Nor desired. By any of us.

[Anonymous]

Honestly this is a problem for all of them. It doesn't matter if they are in accelerated math or not. The more problems they work on and get marked off on, the fewer mistakes they make. Eventually they learn to anticipate certain mistakes and stop making them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eventually their grades will suffer and that will motivate them to be careful with their work (or not).

+1 DS also in accelerated math and made careless sloppy mistakes through middle school. In HS he started caring and checking his work because grades are important to him now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing. I am a math teacher and the only way I can get kids to check their answers is to put a box on the test that gives points for showing the check—and even then often kids will just write “I did it on the calculator” or show a check that doesn’t work and submit it anyway.

It’s a battle I fight all year, every year.

If you find something that works, please share!!

Agree.

I have a child in very accelerated math. Still an issue.

OP here. Also accelerated, but with little to no idea how to study or review/check their work (I think because it’s always come so easy). But the sloppiness is creeping in…

How is a student in accelerated math and they don’t know how to review or check their work, a skill that is taught very early on. Such a basic skill and a good way for student to increase their grades.

Not the OP, but a PP with same issue.

They end up in accelerated math because they are very good at math. They test extremely high on standardized tests (where work shown doesn’t matter), and have always done well in math classes. But showing your work in upper el and early middle school isn’t complex or time consuming. Showing your work in Alg I and beyond gets to be tedious, time consuming, and more complex with multiple steps to show. This is when kids (especially if they understand it) want to cut corners.

It’s surprising since this is an easy way to gain points on your tests and grades. If they think showing their work in algebra is tedious they will really be upset with the tedious time consuming tasks are waiting for them in high school.

My 6th grader’s math teacher said it doesn’t matter how they got there but she wants to see it. I was surprised. I thought it was rigid when first learning but you could go your own way in more advanced classes.

[Anonymous]

Ask them to solve the problem using a different method

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eventually their grades will suffer and that will motivate them to be careful with their work (or not).

Afraid we’re headed down the “or not” path with one kid. She’s completely unmotivated and does not want to show her work or do the check. Her teacher (6th grade) seems overwhelmed and is not setting a good foundation on what’s to come. Definitely doesn’t want to hear it from her parents.

Have your child correct ALL work with careless errors - but during a time that would have been reserved for a preferred activity. A few times of this natural consequence of missing out on fun to fix silly mistakes will usually push them to “decide” to check it the first go ‘round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. You have to make them write out every problem. If they get a problem wrong, they go over it and find the mistake. The bright kids catch on quickly that they need to be more careful, because they are used to get all As.

If you can’t do it, get a tutor if you can. If the kid won’t cooperate with you, then you have consequences. Immediate consequences. They can go right ahead and try to not cooperate, and you take the phone or whatever. When they realize you are not kidding, they will knock it off.

I made my students redo every missed problem on tests and quizzes. Ask the teacher if you can have the test or quiz back to go over with and correct. If the teacher has after school hours, you make sure the kid goes there.

+1

[Anonymous]

Getting wrong answers is a natural consequence of not checking math — eventually they will get it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eventually their grades will suffer and that will motivate them to be careful with their work (or not).

This is the only thing that works. Give it time.