Reply to New Math/Common Core for adhd kids

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[quote=Anonymous]DS is 9, and is very gifted, and particularly in math.

School introduced long division and multiplication this year .

DS, along with half the class in his gifted school, didn't master the skills very well before moving on to the next unit.  I'm not surprised - the rushed, at the computer style of teaching she needs to do (hybrid with zoomers and in-person kids every day) is not amenable to teaching such a big skill, plus the teacher said math skills are still lagging from missing so much school last year.

We had to work on it at home, and holy smokes, is it just me or is the new math/common core about 10 times harder for adhd kids than the old math?  For multiplication, he has to draw a grid (say, 3x3 if the multipliers are both 3 digits), and then run 9 different multiplications.  And then he has to add up those 9 digits - which requires additional steps of adding three digits in three rows, and THEN adding the three answers to that.  So steps are: draw grid, do 9 multiplications, add three rows, and one column, and then re-write the answer in the correct space under the original question.

The amount of executive processing to get through that process is insane for a kid with terrible exec processing skills - even if his math competencies are extremely high.  It was taking him SO LONG to get through these questions - half the time he wasn't even starting because he would get so anxious/distracted thinking about the first step.  Even drawing the grid is a challenge because his handwriting is so bad, the grid ends up having the wrong dimensions or running out of room because he's not thinking about the next steps.

So i showed him "old math" - no drawing grids, or creating new columns or rows for adding.  Just run the multipliers right there in/under the question and then the addends are right there to be added, and then the answer is where it needs to be - no need to rewrite it.  He got it instantly and was solving questions in 30 seconds (compared to many minutes, if he even got started, with old math).

I know lots of parents struggle with new math, simply because it's different than what we're used to.  But it's especially terrible for adhd kids, right?

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