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Does you child do this with their math curriculum???


lovinmykids
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So we made the switch back to BJU math 2 and we are just finishing up Chapter 7 and tomarrow she'll take the chapter test.

I learned alot about her weaknessess in this chapter. I did find that she has a tough time with story problems still. She can't always figure out if they will be plus or minus, so I'm having her look for the clue words like "all together or more".

Anyways, everyday now she is complaining about how she can't stand doing the same problem, it's borrowing to the tenth place right now. We also worked on carrying to the tenth and estimation.

I know she needs to master this stuff cuz she just wasn't getting before so were stuck still in BJU math while she is in 3rd grade, and I'm o.k. with that. BUT, how do you handle it if your child is acting like they are bored to tears and are fighting doing it???

I keep telling her that if she was in PS it would not be an option, so it's not here either. I also told her that if she passes the test, we move on to another skill to work on, it keeps building as we go along.

She was used to a spiral program so that is probely why she is bored.

But, I don't think she had enough time to master something.

What do I do???

Any advice on this?

Thanks, Kristin

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I keep forgetting and then re-learning that ds does better when I push him ahead. IOW, we were doing multiplication. I could NOT get him to memorize the times tables. Finally, I thought 'I'll show him!' and we started multiplying larger numbers.... Well, he takes about a minute a problem now (two or more digits multiplication and division)...

 

Sometimes, they do better if you bump them up a level on the things they're struggling with, at least that's so with my ds. Learning something new cements the things that keep slipping their minds.

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Maybe she is really bored! She was farther ahead but the BJU rep told me to go back and make sure things are cemented. She was already doing a ton of stuff and multiplication was easy for her. Maybe I'm holding her back for no reason or I went back way to far!! YIKES!

I think I better test her on more chapters and jump ahead if need be.

Man, I hate dealing with math!!!

Kristin :001_huh:

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It *sounds* like she's not ready to move any faster... So my inclination would be to demand an attitude adjustment. She doesn't have to love what she's doing, and you can have a good discussion with her about alternatives (moving more quickly if she's getting the answers right; allowing her to do a portion of the problems and move on if she doesn't miss any; taking a weekly break for a game day or a day working on Zaccaro's Challenge Math; or some other solution, *perhaps* even including considering a switch to another curriculum at the end of the semester), but she absolutely *can*not* treat you (her teacher and mother) with disrespect by whining, rudeness or ugly behavior over school work. Obviously, families choose to discipline for rudeness and disobedience in various ways. And it may be that all she needs in this case is a firm warning that her approach is unacceptable... I'll leave all that up to you.

 

But from what you describe, it doesn't *sound* like the material is either too difficult or too easy. You're seeing a need for improvement, so the extra work is probably necessary. She doesn't have to be thrilled about it, but you have put time and effort into choosing the best material you can for her and teaching her. She needs to respect that. If she can express her frustration to you in respectful terms (and tone), and accept your answer that you will consider her grievances (not repeated ad nauseam), then she can let you know how she feels. If it involves whining, eye-rolling, stomping, chair-kicking, glaring, etc. Well. No. Doesn't fly. ;)

 

I'd be firm. At least for now. Just because she doesn't *enjoy* the repetition of material doesn't mean it isn't the right thing for her.

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I've had this happen. Ds said he was bored. What he actually meant was that he was frustrated, didn't get it, didn't see how he was ever going to get it, and I was still making him work on his useless text. In his place, I would have been ripping out my hair. His response was to whine, tell me he was bored and generally fail to learn.

 

Our cure was to swap math curricula to something he could understand. The enjoyment followed when he began developing a sense of accomplishment.

 

All math curricula are not going to work on every child. You could be using the "best" curriculum, the one everybody raves about, the one with all the research backing it up. If your child does not make progress, I call it useless.

 

Have you tried different workbooks, Key to... books, etc? Having switched to a completely different format turned our entire day around. Math is now my son's favorite subject, even though he's working twice as long and doing twice as much work every day.

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Maybe she is really bored! She was farther ahead but the BJU rep told me to go back and make sure things are cemented. She was already doing a ton of stuff and multiplication was easy for her. Maybe I'm holding her back for no reason or I went back way to far!! YIKES!

I think I better test her on more chapters and jump ahead if need be.

Man, I hate dealing with math!!!

Kristin :001_huh:

I can't think of an explanation for it, other than... bigger numbers are more exciting, new things are more exciting and (I don't know if you know this song, but...) "if you don't know me by now, you will never ever ever know me." For some reason, once we've spent so long on one thing ds becomes a brick wall. The only way over or around is with 'new' information.

 

It's funny, because we homeschool so our dcs can have a more personally tailored education (in part, at least), but then we (meaning I ;) ) tend to try to make them fit boxes, iykwIm.

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