walkermamaof4 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 My 5th grader has math struggles. She does several hours of math with me by her side every day and has for a couple of years. We've tried everything I know. Her cognitive skills just aren't there for thinking through applications and word problems. She can memorize facts and even how to solve a problem, but forgets the how to's unless repeated non-stop daily. We moved last year to MM and worked through grades 3 and 4, but she still really struggles with the word problems from them. I have her reviewing them daily. Today I had her repeat grade 3's test word problems. She can't do this: 8. A family is driving 300 miles from their hometown to Grandma's place. 10 miles before the half-way point they stopped to have lunch. How many miles do they still have to go? We do bar diagrams but she couldn't even understand enough to draw it. I had to drag her through every thought process. What would you do at this point? If it helps - she did R&S years 1-4 when I realized she really didn't get the application. We moved to MUS, started at the beginning so as not to miss anything, did every year till she just couldn't advance. Moved to BJU year 4. Finished it. Still stuck. Moved to MM and did years 3, 4, and now on 5A but still not getting the application. Any advance - Pleeeeease. I am desperate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Does she struggle as much with computation as she does with word problems? They are two different things. You may want to search for some of the threads re: word problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 If my student struggled with this word problem, I would walk him/her through it step by step. What's the first step? Find half of 300. What's the second step? Subtract 10 miles to find where they are now. What's the third step? Subtract the amount they have traveled from the total and that's your answer. Word problems are my DD's bete noire and as a result it's something I really stress in her math work. She is working through the Singapore Challenging Word Problems series, the word problems in Singapore Intensive Practice, the ones in the MM "blue" worktexts I have, and the Kumon Word Problems series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 If my student struggled with this word problem, I would walk him/her through it step by step. What's the first step? Find half of 300. What's the second step? Subtract 10 miles to find where they are now. What's the third step? Subtract the amount they have traveled from the total and that's your answer. :iagree: And then I would give her the identical problem with different numbers and have her figure it out using the same steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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