Reply to What should I help my future 3rd grader learn this summer?

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[quote=Anonymous]The biggest and only thing you really need to have your child learn and practice this summer is the multiplication tables.  They will be fine waiting for the rest in the fall.  The AAP program knows that everyone entering in 3rd grade has only had through 2nd grade math, and your child will have the aptitude to pick up the curriculum well.

It's important to know that, unless things have changed in the last 2 years, the 3rd grade AAP classes will be taking timed math tests twice a week during the year.  They will be given 100 math fact  problems and will try to complete as many as they can in 5 minutes (ie. 4x9=36, 8x7=56, 12x11=121, etc).  First they will start with addition.  Once they are able to complete 100 addition problems with only 1 or no mistakes in 5 minutes, they then will move to subtraction.  Same thing.  Then multiplication (through 12s), then division (through 12s), then a mix of all.  Once they finish that, they next move onto the same rotation again but this time completing 100 problems in 3 minutes, starting with addition, then subtraction and so on.  This will take pretty much all year to reach the end and some won't finish entirely.  My daughter made it through addition and subtraction in 3 minutes but didn't quite finish the rest before the year ended.  It really does work in helping the kids memorize the multiplication and division facts.  There's no way they can complete 100 multiplication or division fact problems in 5 minutes without having almost all if not all of them memorized.  If they have to pause several times to calculate without just knowing them by memory, time will run out before they finish.

Of course some students are a little stressed at the beginning, doing these timed tests, until they've done them so many times it becomes rote.  That's why practicing in the summer really helps...they're used to the time tests in the fall and, having practiced multiplication and division during the summer, can move through the stages at a quick pace which helps their confidence.

We had our daughter practice timed tests but in a different way during the summer before starting 3rd grade.  Rather than seeing how many problems she could complete in 5 minutes (with there being some she didn't get to when the buzzer went off), we did it the opposite way.  We had her start with 25 multiplication fact problems a night or every other night (changing them up of course), and seeing how long it took her to finish.  Then the next time she'd do it again and try to beat her time from the last session.  She loved the challenge of trying to beat her previous time and it made it a fun game for her.  We started with multiplication fact problems 0-6, then 0-9, then 0-12.  Once she had the whole 0-12 test down to a low time, we moved to division math facts, same process.  By the time she started in the fall she was ready for the timed tests in class and not stressed about them at all.[/quote]

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