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Daily careless mistakes in Saxon 7/6 questions


momo4
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My ds just completed 7/6, but makes careless mistakes on lessons and tests. Every lesson he misses between 5-10 problems. He has always been this way. Every once in a while he will miss one he really doesn't understand, but for the most part they are simple mistakes that when he goes back over them corrects. Any ideas?

 

I am not sure if we should let him go into 8/7 or keep doing lessons in 7/6 until he brings his scores up.

 

Has anyone else had this problem? Any help and advice would be much appreciated.

 

TIA

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and it drives me crazy! I constantly tell her to be neat, check her work, ask herself if her answer makes sense, etc., etc., etc. I've been told that it comes, in time. Just keep making him re-do the problems he gets wrong. You'd be able to tell if it's carelessness or lack of understanding based on his shown work and the answer. Extra lessons on those he does not understand fully would be helpful. I'm going to 8/7 next b/c I think dd needs the extra practice w/ neatness, problem solving, etc. before moving toward higher level algegraic problems (where you MUST be neat!). Sorry no magic pill...I'll be checking the thread to see if anybody else offers some miraculous fix!

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I guess it makes me feel a little better to know someone else feels the same way. I sometimes think of my son as the absent minded professor. My husband who is very intelligent is a bit like this too, but he is very detailed in careful with math problems. Maybe it will come with age. I hope someone has a great idea too!

 

If he really didn't understand a problem I go over that chapter with him and then he redoes all the practice problems from it. If that doesn't help my husband goes over it with him until he "gets it".

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I have this same problem with my oldest son who's in 6th grade. He is doing a pre-algebra program this year. While he understands the concepts, he misses a lot of problems because he's in a rush to get math done. I've repeatedly told him that there are no time limits, and that he should work slowly and recheck his answers. However, he doesn't do this, misses a lot of problems, and then becomes disgruntled when he has to correct his mistakes. Therefore, I've decided to have him repeat pre-algebra next year with a different program. I don't think the program is a problem at all. I don't think it's an academic issue at all. I think it's a maturity issue (at least with my son). This problem will just get worse as we move on to the higher levels of math. In addition, I think he will get more and more math problems wrong with his lack of attention to detail in conjunction with the more complicated math problems.

 

This has been a difficult decision to make because I know that academically he is gifted in math. I really don't teach it to him; he reads the chapter and knows what to do. But I think I would be doing him a disservice to let him move ahead without the maturity level to really master the higher level math courses. We've been discussing and working on his "unteachable attitude" with math corrections for a time now. After a very rough start to the new year last month, I told him that he will be doing pre-algebra again next year so that he can mature a bit before algebra. He was unhappy, but understood why the decision was made. With the decision made (and not just he threat), he has buckled down a bit and worked more on eliminating careless errors and mistakes due to sloppiness.

 

I see a young boy who will be 12 this summer. He is growing up to be a fine young man and developing the character that we want him to have. There's no need to rush math. I'm much more concerned with his heart.

 

This is just our experience. I hope it helps you in some way.

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It makes me feel better that my ds is not the only one that is doing this. I have been asking myself the same question. Do I move on or do I park until he is not making the careless mistakes?

 

I have ordered a copy of Lial's Basic College Math to see if he just needs more directed practice in certain areas. He says that all the little details are too much to remember.

 

Sometimes I feel like we are skipping around to different things quickly. Maybe it's just me.

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We've experienced the same problem, off and on over the years. I would say it's slowly going away except for occasional recurrences! I think all the suggestions, reminding them to do their work neatly, show their work (because then they don't have to do EVERYTHING over during correction) and the neverending reminder of the "jive test" -- does it make sense. We even have a "jive hat" that you have to wear if you've clearly not done the jive test! I've also noticed that it helps to have my dd do the corrections herself rather than working through it with me. . . a way of getting extra attention YKWIM? Anyway, it seems to be less of a problem every year and all the reminding pays off because she has some very good math habits now!

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I am glad to hear this isn't totally uncommon. Three things.

 

First, my ds is very good at working through the chapters and learning the concepts on his own, but getting 10 or 11 wrong makes him think that he is bad at math. I will have to encourage him, because honestly we have been disappointed in his work too. Maybe we all need an attitude adjustment and focus on what is going well instead of dwelling on the carelessness. It does really bother me that he will get low test grades too, but come home from the test and tell us how easy everything was. So thanks for the change in perspective.

 

Second, I love the idea of him correcting his work on his own. I just dread correcting his work and then having to go back to see what he really missed, because he didn't understand and what was a careless mistake. He is very honest and would tell us where he is having trouble. I like how it puts the responsibility on him. Great idea.

 

Third, I usually just let him correct the careless part of the problem, but maybe if I made him do the entire problem over again, it would motivate him to try harder to get it right the first time.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

 

 

 

 

"I've also noticed that it helps to have my dd do the corrections herself rather than working through it with me. . . a way of getting extra attention YKWIM? Anyway, it seems to be less of a problem every year and all the reminding pays off because she has some very good math habits now!"

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Last year, 3 of my DC used Saxon 7/6. We had the same problem.

 

1. They had to correct any problems they missed. 90% were careless errors. I caught a couple of them correcting their work on their own by erasing the wrong answer and putting in the right one, so I had to grade their papers myself after that.

 

2. They had to make at least an 85% on the tests. If not, we reviewed those same math lessons again, including the practices in the back of the textbook. Sometimes those twerps took tests 3 or 4 times!

 

3. Eventually they made far fewer errors because they hated reviewing the same old material -- and some of them actually did the math on paper instead of in their heads so they could catch their errors.

 

4. Now they are doing the same thing in parochial school in Saxon Algebra I. Being a Mean Mom, I bought the tests and answer keys and I check their homework and test them at home.

 

We are working from the beginning of the book -- I give them no tests at home that they haven't had at school already -- and this year they have to make 90% on the tests before we move on.

 

Math is a very important subject and by golly my kids are going to do it correctly. They all tested in the 90% percentile and above on standardized tests they took in September. For my DC, this is a rush and get through, don't care, refuse to show their work problem. It is a mystery to me how they all did so well on the Terra Nova. They must have been concerned that if they did their usual slapdash work, the teachers at school would think they were dumb.

 

Has anyone else had this problem? Any help and advice would be much appreciated. TIA
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I made him a list that I stuck to his desk. It said something like:

 

- Have I understood the problem?

- Have I used the right numbers?

- Is the calculation correct?

- Is the answer legible?

- Did I write in any units?

 

This improved his checking enormously.

 

Once he understood checking, I started giving him an extra exercise to do in his own time for any one he did sloppily. He does a lot better now - missing fewer than one problem per exercise through sloppiness.

 

Laura

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My son is totally having the same problem with Math. He does really well with doing problems in his head so that is the only way he wants to do problems. He never wants to show his work. It is a fight everyday to get him to write out problems so I can even see where the mistakes are happening. In most cases it is carelessness.

 

This may seem like a stupid question but in reading some of the postings here and in other places where parents have the kids redo work or go over chapters again to make sure there is a solid understading I was wondering if you are able to complete the book in one school year? This is an on going battle I am having with myself. How long should I spend repeating something? I'm finding it difficult to get through the entire book as it is (Saxon 6/5) and were aren't even doing all of the work outlined in the course. My son likes math but hates doing math problems. When he has to complete all 29/30 problems in the mixed practice he nearly losses his mind. I can't image having him repeat the problems that he's missed. We would do nothing except math everyday. Is anyone else having this problem? If so, how have you over come it?

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We did 1/4 of Saxon 6/5 with 10 problems being missed for careless errors. I now have him graph his results and only allow 1-2 missed problems per lesson. If he misses more than that I have him redo the entire lesson the next day. I have told him that we will work through the summer if need be to finish the book. Once I set those guidelines, the error rate went down to maybe 1 missed problem a lesson.

I also check the answers myself.

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My ds had the same problem last summer when we attempted to start 76. We ended up going back to lesson 45 in 65 and repeating all the material. I also provided an incentive for getting 90% or better: he gets an extra 10 minutes on the computer. He also grades his own work (under my supervision) and shows me his mistakes and WHY he made the mistake. We've restarted 76 (on lesson 46) and he's much more careful with his work. :D I've offered to allow him to restart 76 if it gets too difficult. ;)

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This may seem like a stupid question but in reading some of the postings here and in other places where parents have the kids redo work or go over chapters again to make sure there is a solid understading I was wondering if you are able to complete the book in one school year? This is an on going battle I am having with myself. How long should I spend repeating something? I'm finding it difficult to get through the entire book as it is (Saxon 6/5) and were aren't even doing all of the work outlined in the course. My son likes math but hates doing math problems. When he has to complete all 29/30 problems in the mixed practice he nearly losses his mind. I can't image having him repeat the problems that he's missed. We would do nothing except math everyday. Is anyone else having this problem? If so, how have you over come it?

 

My dd does half the problems in any given lesson. I'm with you...30 problems is a lot every day and it was taking her forever to finish. Now I go through and pick out the ones I think she needs the most practice on...usually about 15. But if she does not do them well, I give her the rest of the lesson for homework.

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This may seem like a stupid question but in reading some of the postings here and in other places where parents have the kids redo work or go over chapters again to make sure there is a solid understading I was wondering if you are able to complete the book in one school year? This is an on going battle I am having with myself. How long should I spend repeating something? I'm finding it difficult to get through the entire book as it is (Saxon 6/5) and were aren't even doing all of the work outlined in the course. My son likes math but hates doing math problems. When he has to complete all 29/30 problems in the mixed practice he nearly losses his mind. I can't image having him repeat the problems that he's missed. We would do nothing except math everyday. Is anyone else having this problem? If so, how have you over come it?

 

I have my children do 1 entire Saxon math lesson each day. Even if every problem is wrong, we stop there, no more math is done that day. Once the child's percentage drops below 80% and remains there, I pull the child back to a point where they are able to make 100%. We are usually able to finish the books in a year because we do math 5-6 days a week, 45-50 weeks a year. Doing math almost every day gives us a lot of breathing room. :rolleyes:

 

I should say, my #2 son has been working through Saxon 54 for 18 months now. I started him in 54 before he was ready :o and he's been making wonderful progress, with lots of repeating. I'm not bothered because this is the way my homeschooling has worked. The children need to repeat new 'subjects' 2-3 times before they have enough of a foundation to move forward quickly. This is how they learned to read, to write, etc. Through hard experience I've learned my children must master the material or we will flounder and end up repeating the information anyway. lol, and jumping from curricula to curricula ends up taking more time than simply repeating the lessons and moving forward. :D

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