DS works sloppy and fast

[visitor]

Dear all,

 

I need your advise on this . DS7 understands new concepts very quickly and his handwriting is very good . He reads above his age level. 

 

But because he reads quickly and writes quickly everything is turning into sloppy work. His handwriting is very beautiful but because he wants to get done quickly I cant understand what he is writing now.

 

The same with dictation I know, he knows to write the words good but because he writes without thinking he makes mistakes. When I show him his mistakes he gives right away the good answer and gets upset because he knew to write it correctly but still made a mistake. 

 

The same with reading. He reads many years above his age level but because he  is reading quickly  he makes very strange mistakes 

 

The same with math he understands the concepts , but because he counts quickly he makes mistakes. 

 

I didnt have this problem with him before . 

 

He loves his curriculums and homeschooling . When I do not teach him he gets upset . I have this problem with him for 4 weeks now with him. When he is doing his excersises I dont feel that he hates it at all. 

 

We talked about it many times but I cant get him out of this problem .

 

I hope for some advise because I dont know how to fix this with him. 

 

Thanks in advance ,

Visitor

 

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by visitor

[maize]

Hm. Could you require him to spend a certain amount of time per math problem? Same with dictation--dictate slowly and pause between sentences? If he does it quickly tell him to go back and check before you move on?

 

Might retrain him to not rush through everything.

Edited January 10, 2017 by maize

[chocolate-chip chooky]

I find that my 10yr old makes more little mistakes in work that isn't challenging enough.

 

It's like the work isn't enough for her to really switch on. She's bored, and it's as if she's only half there in the moment. Hence, mistakes. Her mind is actually elsewhere.

When the bar is raised and she really needs to engage on a high level, there are fewer mistakes.

 

Maybe up the challenge level?

[visitor]

Hm. Could you require him to spend a certain amount of time per math problem? Same with dictation--dictate slowly and pause between sentences? If he does it quickly tell him to go back and check before you move on?

 

Might retrain him to not rush through everything.

 

I have tried that for a long time . When I tell him to do that he does it , but I have to tell him that all the time . I want him to do this without telling him every time .

[visitor]

I find that my 10yr old makes more little mistakes in work that isn't challenging enough.

 

It's like the work isn't enough for her to really switch on. She's bored, and it's as if she's only half there in the moment. Hence, mistakes. Her mind is actually elsewhere.

When the bar is raised and she really needs to engage on a high level, there are fewer mistakes.

 

Maybe up the challenge level?

 

He told me that LA is to easy but I didnt want him to go to the next level untill he works decent enough.

 

Math is also easy but he needs to get his math facts done first. 

 

Because of this I dont think he is ready for the next level. 

[quark]

Can you do the work with him, as in side by side, you sitting next to him using a lapboard/ whiteboard, role modeling how to slow down, write neatly? It might take a while (even months) but some consistent, gentle persistence might help.

 

To be honest, mine would fluctuate between neat and messy writing too. It might just be an age thing. Young kids can be highly advanced but also regress when it comes to writing, making sudden computation mistakes etc. And then when you least expect it, they will make a sudden leap ahead again.

[visitor]

Can you do the work with him, as in side by side, you sitting next to him using a lapboard/ whiteboard, role modeling how to slow down, write neatly? It might take a while (even months) but some consistent, gentle persistence might help.

 

To be honest, mine would fluctuate between neat and messy writing too. It might just be an age thing. Young kids can be highly advanced but also regress when it comes to writing, making sudden computation mistakes etc. And then when you least expect it, they will make a sudden leap ahead again.

 

Thanks I didnt know that before DS is only 7 years old now . I am going to try your way. 

[Mike in SA]

Another "to be honest" moment: this sounds absolutely typical for a 7 year old boy.  Don't fret so much - it will pass as he matures.

 

Keep working on the handwriting independently, to entrench it habitually (this may take many years).  Allow the sloppy mistakes to happen, and give partial credit where appropriate.

[Dmmetler]

Truthfully, DD wrote almost nothing by herself except for handwriting practice until about age 8. There was simply too big a bottleneck between brain and paper. Many subjects we did orally, and she started typing when she started doing online classes (which, at the time, only required a couple of sentences a week. She could peck those out, and had an incentive to do typing). We spent from almost 8 to 9 on pre-algebra, first with life of Fred and Key to Algebra and then with Art of Problem Solving, and that transitioned her, over that 2 years, to writing math for herself, from worksheets at the beginning to paragraph explanations by the end. AoPS proofs have nicely grown with her.

 

FWIW, despite still not doing much writing on paper except for math, she was still able to do the 20 minute essay on the SAT as an older 10 yr old, and score quite well on it.

[quark]

Thanks I didnt know that before DS is only 7 years old now . I am going to try your way.

This could be part of his asynchronous development...so capable in some ways and so age-like or even younger in others. Unless there is some consistently troubling learning issue it should get better with time. I had to scaffold till DS was about 11. And then from 12 to now 14 I see much progress.

[katilac]

I have tried that for a long time . When I tell him to do that he does it , but I have to tell him that all the time . I want him to do this without telling him every time .

 

I'm sorry, but you will likely have to tell him almost every time. For years, lol. 

 

This is a typical problem for many students. What worked (eventually) for us: 

 

Many reminders to slow down. Many, many reminders. 

 

To decrease careless math mistakes, I think our rule was that you didn't have to redo any problems if you scored 90% or higher. 80% to 89%, redo all the wrong problems. Below 80%, redo the lesson because you didn't get it. Math was tough - like your son, they made more mistakes with boring work, but also weren't really ready to move on yet. 

 

Daily copy work (we did this even after we started dictation, bc my kids really needed to concentrate on writing only to make no mistakes and be really neat). 

 

Answers I couldn't read had to be rewritten (not just, "oh, that says . . ."). 

 

They could type reports and such, but not tests or regular answers. One, because they could write it out neatly enough with reminders. Two, because I do think that writing things out helps you learn in a way that typing or scribing does not. If I had a student who could really zoom ahead in some subjects with typing or scribing, I might do that, but with continued practice in writing (and some required writing in subjects). 

 

It usually gets better. Eventually. It was junior high for my oldest, but hey, it did get better!

[Arcadia]

He told me that LA is to easy but I didnt want him to go to the next level untill he works decent enough.

 

Math is also easy but he needs to get his math facts done first.

Mine makes more mistakes when it is easier because their mind drifts to daydreaming. When it is harder, my boys complain in a sing song voice. When it is "really hard", my "dramatic" DS11 wails.

 

Does your son like cursive or script? My DS12 prefers cursive and told me so. He asked to learn cursive when he was 3 because he thinks it is prettier so I printed cursive worksheets for him from the internet. My DS11 has no preference.

 

My DS11 did not master his math facts until he was almost done with aops prealgebra :) The local public schools expect math facts mastery by end of 3rd grade so I was comfortable letting him continue learning more math while his math facts catch up at around 9 years old. My oldest had his math facts done before Kindergarten just because that is how he is, I did nothing.

 

It is up to you what level of math facts competency you want for your child.

 

My older boy has nice handwriting by 7 only because he hates to explain verbally so he writes.

My younger boy loves to talk and doesn't have that nice a handwriting but still perfectly legible.

 

My overly pragmatic boys are careful and neat for outside tests but not as consistently neat and careful for daily work. Definitely attitude issue in my house, they still want to be done so they can play.

 

When my kids made careless mistakes with SM many years ago, I won't tell them where the mistakes are so they would have to check the entire page of problems. I didn't want to be doing their job of spotting carelessness for them. If it is like 1 mistake out of almost 20 questions, I'll just tell them which one since even I make careless mistakes.