Reply to Is this problem too hard for a second grader?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]My DD has always done well in math,[/b] but this year suddenly she's saying she hates it.  She brought home some worksheets that they were doing in class, and they seemed very confusing to me.  For example, one was a word problem that required division, although it didn't use that word.  It said someone had 100 pieces of candy and wanted to give five to each person in the class, and there are 25 people in the class.  How many would each person get?  Another said someone had 50 apples and wanted to put 2 in each basket, and so on.  My DD had meticulously drawn out one hundred pieces of candy and then grouped them into 5's and done the whole thing that way...she actually got the answers right, but complained that it was hard.  She has never learned either division or multiplication in school, and last year worked mostly with numbers less than 20, so this seems too difficult to me.  Is your child doing work like this in 2nd?  Do you think they could do it, if they did have it?  This is public.  [/quote]

I'm sorry but what does it mean to have "always done well in math" when your kid is in the very beginning of SECOND GRADE? kindergarten and first grade math = 7 + 7. Woo hard.  :roll:

[b]Look if your kid is finding this word problem hard, she's not that good at math FYI. Your OP is revealing but not in the way you think[/b].[/quote]

You're both wrong.  (How's that for the quintessential DCUM response?  Ha ha!)   :)

But seriously, a second grader (and her parent) needs to learn ASAP that there's no such thing as being "good at math" or "bad at math."

Math is a skill.  It's something we learn.  ANYONE can learn it.  ANYONE can do it.

Math ability is not an inborn, genetic trait (like having blue eyes or brown eyes).  Sure there are some people for whom it comes really easily in the beginning.  And some who face more substantial challenges than average.  But for the rest of us, it's just a skill.  That we learn.  By listening.  By experience.  By trial-and-ERROR.  By practicing.

This whole "not good at math" or "good at math" mindset is total BS.  The sooner parents get it out of their vocabulary, the better.

Why not focus on teaching kids to PLAY with numbers?  To get excited about a CHALLENGE?  To have fun when they FIGURE THINGS OUT?  To see what their inner computer (their mind) can do when they APPLY THEMSELVES?

And of course, stop worrying so much whether an eight year old "does well" or "gets the right answer" on any particular piece of homework.  That's so not the point of an education.

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