How do most middle school girls react to math?

[...................]

My dd has always been competent in math, but we've hit the three week mark with school and it's not all that smooth.  She is for some reason that I cannot figure out, shocked every day that she has about 40 problems to do, and even more surprised that she has to study and learn new material.

 

I dream of a day when, like her brother, she will accept this as her fate and get to it with calm cheerfulness and focus.  

 

Or, maybe I need to find a program that teaches itself since she doesn't like for me to teach her, ever.  I mean, if you aren't going to read the section and work the examples, and you hate for me to teach you...what's the next option? 

[Haiku]

My dd loves math, but she does really hate endless numbers of practice problems. While I understand that practice is the backbone of mastery for math, I think that presenting kids with huge math assignments can definitely kill the love.

 

I've solved this problem by requiring only a small number of practice problems on the day a new concept is studied and then spread the remaining practice problems over several days as review as my dd has moved on to learning new concepts. When she studied algebra last year in 8th grade, she usually did about 30 problems, but they were broken up such that about 10 were on the newest concept, about 10 were on yesterday's concept, and about 10 were mixed review from even earlier in the course.

 

Think about when you learned math: did you love tackling huge pages of calculations? (If you did, I'm pretty sure you were in the minority.)

[...................]

True. With the Larson pre Alg, some are mixed review (about 8-10), some are on today's concept and some are application and word problems which may include today's concept or not.

 

I do cut down even more when I see copious amounts of exactly the same

Thing....

 

But then there's also the issue of her not wanting me to teach it but also not wanting to read the section...

[Haiku]

But then there's also the issue of her not wanting me to teach it but also not wanting to read the section...

 

Well of course not. She already knows everything, remember?

 

:lol:

 

It will get better. I promise.

[...................]

LOL yah....maybe just the way things are for now.  

 

:huh:

[alisoncooks]

Well of course not. She already knows everything, remember?

 

:lol:

 

It will get better. I promise.

I have one of these...

The phrase I hear most often: "I know!"

[fourisenough]

My tween just started Derek Owen's Algebra 1. We're both head-over-heels in love. After MM7 it seems easy and brief. We're following his syllabus and splitting the week's work into just 4-days, but so far, so good. She loves that HE is her teacher, not me! I am doing all the grading (since we went with that option), but she doesn't mind that.

 

Maybe you should take a look (if you haven't already).

[...................]

Yes we tried DO last year and liked it but she felt like the days were long since you often had to watch so many videos and take notes and then do the practice and then the homework. She really loved that he was teaching and the quick grading turn-around!!! But, to us, it was the opposite of brief :) (maybe that's specific to the pre Alg)

 

She asked me to go back to horizons today. I'll comply with that request as she loves the super brief introductions and the non distracting pages and larger print.

 

The PS style textbook we have now, the Larson, is very hard on the eyes and very distracting with side bars, extra example, and extra graphs and such. And the print is so small.

 

Horizons has its own problems but she's used it for 7 years so at least she knows what she wants

[BusyMom5]

I can commisserate!  I don't know if I am going to survive Algebra w/ my 8th grader.  Apparently she doesn't want to take notes- either from me or from the text.  She wants me to teach... and also help her with *every* problem.  Math takes too long... and she takes even longer complaining about it.  Recently I've taken to asking random people we run into "Hey, how long did you spend on Algebra 1 per day?" and they all answer at least 2 hours ;)  This is aunts, older high school friends, college-age people we know- just random people so that she sees that this is the new normal!   She doesn't like that the problems are so long, complex, and take up a lot of room on the paper. 

 

I've spent about 4 hours over the last few days writing out pretty notes over what we've covered the last few weeks.  I'm going to make her write out her own copy over the weekend, and we are going to keep a math notebook of just notes as we go b/c I think she needs to learn how to take notes in math- both from me teaching and from the textbook.  I keep telling myself I am not wasting my time- I'll have to look all this stuff up again as the other kids hit this level of math- and while I'll let her use mine as an example, she can't have my copy!

[2_girls_mommy]

True. With the Larson pre Alg, some are mixed review (about 8-10), some are on today's concept and some are application and word problems which may include today's concept or not.

 

I do cut down even more when I see copious amounts of exactly the same

Thing....

 

But then there's also the issue of her not wanting me to teach it but also not wanting to read the section...

 

Maybe we could trade. I could come work with yours, and you could work with my identical to yours in math dd. Maybe if they were dealing with someone else's mom it would go more smoothly??

 

Mine did R&S through 8th grade, and she knew that program inside and out and by the end of the 8th grade book didn't need me. She could work the examples and get through each new lesson. Once we switched to Alg. and she needs me to sit with her and work through it is like a shock to her. And if she tries to read through them herself she just stares at them for hours, accomplishing nothing, putting no pencil to paper, but keeps telling me she is almost done and doesn't need help.

[Haiku]

FWIW, my dd is using Tablet Class for geometry this year, and my ds uses TT. This is the first year I haven't taught math to my dd. She's working pretty independently. The lessons are definitely shorter than last year's algebra lessons, for which we used Math Without Borders/Foerster.

[...................]

I wish they would offer TT online...

[happypamama]

My DD did Saxon for many years and was largely able to teach herself if I didn't have a chance. There's so much review though that she could skip the new problems and come back to them later and still the finish most of them. I've switched her to AOPS for geometry this year, which is even heavier on the self teaching, and although she's only on chapter two, she likes it a lot. Fwiw, her math scores have been consistently very strong, but it's not her strongest area; she likes it fine and has zero math anxiety (which I attribute partly to the fact that MY dad was an AP Calc teacher, so I have zero math anxiety and actually like it). I think it's basically a neutral subject for her. There's a satisfaction for her in getting the problems right, but I wouldn't say it calls to her like it does to my son or like other subjects call to her.

[ScoutTN]

My dd is 11 and in 6th. 

 

She will say that math is her favorite subject, after piano. She likes it because it is challenging and everything else  comes easily. She is a slightly above average math student overall, strong on concepts and somewhat slow and often careless on computation. 

 

[rose]

My dd doesn't mind it. She gets a little antsy if there is too much new stuff. My ds is the one who figures that he know everything and can't stand doing calculations. He wants geometry and any other math stuff that he can easily grasp without any hard work.

[Janeway]

I would not assign 40 problems a day, boy or girl. They do not benefit from 40 similar problems a day. Cut that in half and go for quality, not quantity.

[LMD]

Dd11 likes and does pretty well with math. We mix it up with life of fred and human endeavour.

I get similar attitude over history and writing though!

[Junie]

How do my middle school girls react to math?

 

dd14 --  :blink:  :willy_nilly:

 

dd12 --  :thumbdown:

[justasque]

..

 

The PS style textbook we have now, the Larson, is very hard on the eyes and very distracting with side bars, extra example, and extra graphs and such. And the print is so small....

I love the Larson pre-alg.  BUT - there are indeed a lot of problems.  I usually don't assign quite as many as they suggest.  Are you using the basic, average, or advanced homework assignments?  

 

Note that the book is designed to be done in two segments a day - the teaching in class,  with a start on the problem set, then the rest of the problems for homework.  If she's feeling like it's too much in one sitting, perhaps you can break it into two sittings per day.  I did start to expect "homework" - evening work - from my kids at that level, just as their schooled peers would have.

 

Note also that some lessons are intended to be done over two days - usually teaching the basic idea using the first two-three examples, then doing a homework set to practice them, then the next day teaching the rest of the examples, typically word problems, then doing the second half of the lesson's problems (again, mostly word problems).  I have found that the pacing suggested in the TE is spot-on, and those two-day lessons really are best done over two days.

 

The Larson book, done well, gives an EXCELLENT prep for Algebra I.

[MeganW]

True. With the Larson pre Alg, some are mixed review (about 8-10), some are on today's concept and some are application and word problems which may include today's concept or not.

 

I do cut down even more when I see copious amounts of exactly the same

Thing....

 

But then there's also the issue of her not wanting me to teach it but also not wanting to read the section...

 

I have one like this - does NOT want to be taught.  I let him "teach me" (which basically means he reads the section to me and works through the sample problems out loud).  If I can see he is getting stuck, I ask leading questions (again, playing the student role).  

 

For whatever reason, though he hates me teaching him, he loves teaching me, even though we both know I already know how to do it and he doesn't.  

[regentrude]

I don't know what "most" middle school girls do.

Mine jumped up and down when the new AoPS book came in the mail.

We love math in our house and approach math as fun puzzles. But I also never had my kids do 40 problems in one day. That is excessive. I'd rather have them do a few well designed problems where they have to think than pages of drill.

Some days we solved ONE single problem in two hours. And learned a ton.

Edited August 27, 2016 by regentrude

[EKS]

Forty practice problems seems a tad excessive...

 

As for DO--here's what I did.  I watched the videos myself and took notes.  It really doesn't take that long.  Then I presented the lesson to my son.  Wherever possible, I had him do the example problems himself rather than have me go over them.  This drastically reduced the amount of time it took.

[justasque]

True. With the Larson pre Alg, some are mixed review (about 8-10), some are on today's concept and some are application and word problems which may include today's concept or not.

 

I do cut down even more when I see copious amounts of exactly the same

Thing....

 

But then there's also the issue of her not wanting me to teach it but also not wanting to read the section...

 

Just to clarify - OP, you may already know this, but just in case you don't - you are NOT supposed to do all the problems in the Larson book.  It's designed to be used at three levels - basic, average, and advanced.  There are "homework" assignments in the TE for each of these levels.  Basic does more of the simple practice problems, advanced does more word problems and challenge problems, average does in between.  Of, for example, the review problems, a student is only usually assigned 2-3 of the 8-10 offered.  

[Ellie]

My dd has always been competent in math, but we've hit the three week mark with school and it's not all that smooth.  She is for some reason that I cannot figure out, shocked every day that she has about 40 problems to do, and even more surprised that she has to study and learn new material.

 

I dream of a day when, like her brother, she will accept this as her fate and get to it with calm cheerfulness and focus.  

 

Or, maybe I need to find a program that teaches itself since she doesn't like for me to teach her, ever.  I mean, if you aren't going to read the section and work the examples, and you hate for me to teach you...what's the next option? 

 

I'm not sure that "middle school" or "girls" can be quantified like that. :-)

 

Some children of either or both genders will like math at any age. Some children of either or both genders will not like math at any age. All things are subject to change without notice. :-)

[...................]

I had her assigned to the "average"

Set.

 

Interestingly this child loves Zacarros math. But due to her learning style/issues/ she needs a lot of review. A lot. I

 

But I will cut back nonetheless.

[SilverMoon]

Mine loves it and jumps in with both feet. Her older sister found it interesting and often did math first thing. (Still does)

 

My kid that really truly needed los of extra review (a boy), still grumbles about math in 12th, but got to the just sit down and get it over with stage around 10th.

[Mabelen]

My 12 year old at the moment tolerates math. She has had moments when she has hated math and moments when she has enjoyed math. She is above average and in the accelerated 7th/8th grade math class at her school.

 

My 19 year old is about the same. She did well in her math SAT section. She contemplated for a moment doing a science major and changed her mind. She is doing a social science major that requires some math but not as much as a pure science one.