moonlight Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 my ds (7) is struggling with double and triple digit multiplication help. he gets his columns mixed up. he writes the numbers all over the place. he jumps from units to hundreds. when i sit with him and we do it together, he gets it and does the next few problems correctly and then starts making mistakes again. math has always come very easily to him, so i know he does NOT like this! does anyone know of any way i can make this easier for him? i took out graph paper to help with the columns. any trips or tricks i can teach him? online practice? any advice? we do math u see gamma and i am going to stop and make sure he masters this before we move on... thanks seema Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 There's the possibility that he just isn't ready for it. He is only 7. It's fine to keep going when they are running away with math, but I wouldn't upset a 7 yo over multi-digit multiplication. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlight Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 true...he's been doing mus gamma for a while and is now on ch 25. it's the first time he has encountered anything that requires some effort on his part...a little bit of a struggle...i get the feeling he is ready, but is maybe not used to putting the effort into it. up until chapter 24, he would sit down and in one sitting do the whole entire chapter... i'd like to try some different methods and if it doesn't come to him, then we can move on and study something else in math and then come back to this... seema Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 true...he's been doing mus gamma for a while and is now on ch 25. it's the first time he has encountered anything that requires some effort on his part...a little bit of a struggle...i get the feeling he is ready, but is maybe not used to putting the effort into it. up until chapter 24, he would sit down and in one sitting do the whole entire chapter... i'd like to try some different methods and if it doesn't come to him, then we can move on and study something else in math and then come back to this... seema That's the pattern mine follow: they fly through chapter upon chapter until they hit something they aren't ready for. We then back off for a while, do something else, and then go back to it days or weeks later (depending on how big the jump was.) Another thing you might try is to have him do corresponding pages in a more traditional text than MUS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 (edited) There's the possibility that he just isn't ready for it. He is only 7. It's fine to keep going when they are running away with math, but I wouldn't upset a 7 yo over multi-digit multiplication. :iagree: Multiple digit multiplication and long division are the most difficult concepts to master in elementary math, imo. FWIW, I have a degree in math, ds has my math genes, and we used MUS from K through Algebra. We camped for weeks at multiple digit multiplication and long division. In addition to using graph paper, I would write the row "headings" to the left. I'll try to show it here (the dots are my attempt to get the numbers to line up right): ....44 x...23 ====== ...11.<--- carry-in ....22<----1s ...880<----10s ====== ..1012 This is not perfect because I can't show more than one carry-in per spot here. Anyway, the "hints" on the right served to remind him of the purpose of the row. Also, work A LOT with the blocks. Make sure that he can SEE how the blocks translate into the numbers (the intermediate numbers and the final number) in each problem. Hope that makes sense. You will be amazed when you return to multiple digit multiplication when you are working with decimal points and how easy it will be that time around. Edited January 15, 2011 by Sue in St Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 a couple sample pages from MM that may or may not be helpful to you: http://www.mathmammoth.com/preview/Multiplication_2_Multiply_Columns_Standard_Way.pdf http://www.mathmammoth.com/preview/Multiplication_2_Multiplying_3digit_by_2digit_Number.pdf There is also instruction on multiplying in parts, which negates the need to carry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 (edited) I used grid paper and used a different color pencil for the ones, tens and hundreds. I did many examples and had him do them verbally and I did the writing. Kiddo's columns drifted and frustrated him. I got the grid paper at Office Despot....I'll google for it, but the BACK is a much larger grid that he can write in. They are called Pacon Mathnotes Edited January 15, 2011 by kalanamak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy in Indy Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Turn a piece of lined paper on its side and write the numbers in the lines. That way it's obvious where to write down the number in the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anneofalamo Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Turn a piece of lined paper on its side and write the numbers in the lines. That way it's obvious where to write down the number in the answer. :iagree::iagree: my 11 and 12 year old kids still have to do this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trying my best Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 :iagree: Multiple digit multiplication and long division are the most difficult concepts to master in elementary math, imo. FWIW, I have a degree in math, ds has my math genes, and we used MUS from K through Algebra. We camped for weeks at multiple digit multiplication and long division. In addition to using graph paper, I would write the row "headings" to the left. I'll try to show it here (the dots are my attempt to get the numbers to line up right): ....44 x...23 ====== ...11.<--- carry-in ....22<----1s ...880<----10s ====== ..1012 This is not perfect because I can't show more than one carry-in per spot here. Anyway, the "hints" on the right served to remind him of the purpose of the row. Also, work A LOT with the blocks. Make sure that he can SEE how the blocks translate into the numbers (the intermediate numbers and the final number) in each problem. Hope that makes sense. You will be amazed when you return to multiple digit multiplication when you are working with decimal points and how easy it will be that time around. Write it on the paper and take a pic of it and post it :) I am lost what you just wrote but eager to learn :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 We didn't start multiplication until age 8. With single digits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 My 9 yro just started this last week in Singapore. She got it right away and was sweeping my hand away from the paper so she could solve the problems herself... :glare: OK, so I think what helped was the way Singapore explained it (certainly not MY teaching - LOL). I'm going to get her textbook and see if I can't get some ideas for you... OK, this might be clear as mud... Singapore starts off explaining (with pictures and circles, of course!) how multiplying ones, tens and hundreds are related. Then, it breaks a multi-digit multiplication problem down into place values and divides the place values into boxes. I'm just not explaining this clearly. I don't know if it's me, the coffee or Singapore. I wish I could show you the pictures. Do you have a homeschool store that sells Singapore Math? The next time you're in the store, you could flip through 3A/3B and see the charts/pictures of how they begin explaining multiplication with multiple digits. This is why we hang onto Singapore (we also do CLE - we do two math programs). Singapore just "really" draws stuff out so the kids can visualize it. I'm not sure if I helped you or if I sound like a lunatic. :tongue_smilie: Could you google "how does Singapore explain multi-digit multiplication"? Maybe there's a blog out there that has something posted about it. Good luck with math. And, FWIW, my 7 yro is still learning his addition/subtraction math facts, so if you have to stop at this point and tread water for a while, it's OK. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 (edited) Write it on the paper and take a pic of it and post it :) I am lost what you just wrote but eager to learn :) I am proud that it only took me a few minutes to make the pictures come out of the camera and go into my computer! I've never linked a picture here before, but here goes. Hmm. The insert image button needs an http address and I don't have one. Next, I try attachment. Okay, I've attached the picture. Does it work? Yee Ha! It does! Let me explain that when I would give this to ds, the only numbers besides the 54x23 that were filled out was the zero in the column under the 4 and 3, so that he would remember that a zero goes there. Does this help? Also, I don't think we ever used graph paper. The boxes would have been way too small for him. Turning a page sideways and drawing the lines for him was more helpful. Edited January 15, 2011 by Sue in St Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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