JessReplanted Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 My son is using Singapore for math (2nd grade). Is there an age when world problems suddenly make sense to a child? I'm going to lose my freaking mind! :banghead: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Sorry. The only way I've seen word problems "make sense" is by continuing to plug away at them. Then, one day, the problems that were difficult before become easy. But it's only tons & tons of practice. Meanwhile, my son is reading books today since I can't teach him anything. Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawana Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 My son is using Singapore for math (2nd grade). Is there an age when world problems suddenly make sense to a child? I'm going to lose my freaking mind! :banghead: :grouphug: It's tough, isn't it. In my experience, it can take lots of repetition, and then some more. Ds either gets a math concept intuitively, with very little explanation, or it has it be beaten into his head over. and. over. and. over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 My son is using Singapore for math (2nd grade). Is there an age when world problems suddenly make sense to a child? I'm going to lose my freaking mind! :banghead: It might help to use Singapore math's Challenging Word Problems from the previous year as practice. Since your son is doing PM2, get CWP1 for practice. Next year, when ds is doing PM3, use the CWP 2 for practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Although not at all the SM way of doing word problems, one resource that I've found that has really helped with working through world problems is Critical Thinking Co's Math Detective. We had a lot of positive results after going through that book. There are older levels as well and it can be purchased through RR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 It might help to use Singapore math's Challenging Word Problems from the previous year as practice. Since your son is doing PM2, get CWP1 for practice. Next year, when ds is doing PM3, use the CWP 2 for practice. I wish I had realized just how challenging those word problems were going to be - I bought the second grade book and they are way too difficult for him to do on his own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmulcahy Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 My daughter consistently asks for assistance with word problems. I have started asking her to read it slowly again and sometimes she gets it sometimes she does not. I honestly think she puts up a mental block when she sees the word problem on the page. She just assumes she cannot do it and she ask for help. I have tried getting her to look for the key words...altogether, difference, more, less, etc but she blanks most of the time. I have no advice other than keep encouraging her and foster independence. It has not worked here completely but I think we are making progress. Best of luck to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I wish I had realized just how challenging those word problems were going to be - I bought the second grade book and they are way too difficult for him to do on his own. I think many people do them WITH their children. My dd is also in Sinagpore 2 and I have several of the extra books lying around. She can usually do the book word problems by herself. She can do CWP 1 problems by herself. The CWP 2 problems, I often work through with her. Sit near. Let her read and try to figure out first. Offer guidance. Talk through them with her. I don't do them for her or talk at her. I listen to her ideas and let her try things. But, I think it's like stretching out muscles. They ARE challenging, but doing these works their brain and makes other problems easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiCO Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 My son is using Singapore for math (2nd grade). Is there an age when world problems suddenly make sense to a child? I'm going to lose my freaking mind! My dd had issues with word problems also. We made up our own word problems as we drove around town for practice, with math that was easy. "Look, there are 5 horses in that field- oh, here come 3 more! How many are there now?" It helped a lot when she started making up her own problems. I would also put smaller numbers into the word problems in the book for practice. It wasn't the math that was the problem for her, it was the words- she was letting herself get confused. So I would put the easier numbers into the word problem, she would do the problem, then she would do the problem with the harder numbers. When she saw that she new what to do for the math part, she relaxed a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I try a few things that sometimes help. I will have dd close her eyes and try to picture it as I read it. I will ask her "What do we know for sure?", "What do we want to know?", " Is there anything that we can eliminate?", and " How can we find out what we want to know?" Sometimes having her read it out loud helps. I feel your pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I wish I had realized just how challenging those word problems were going to be - I bought the second grade book and they are way too difficult for him to do on his own. A great many (maybe even most?) people use the CWPs a year or half a year behind. We are doing CWP 2 along with PM 2A/B but it isn't totally "independent" work either. I will help work examples or clarify semantic problems as needed. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 One other suggestion is not to give your child the answer right away. We've taken three days on some problems. I let my son try the problem and when he's just stuck, we put it away. We pull it out the next day, sometimes starting from where we left off, sometimes starting from scratch. If that doesn't get us anywhere, put it aside again. I don't want him to get used to me giving him the answer to a problem. I want him to have the experience struggling, failing, and then working through it. On Thursday, he was doing some fairly challenging problems and he said, "This is really tricky but it's fun. I have a real sense of accomplishment for figuring it out!" Of course, on Friday we had to put the book away entirely as he got stuck on a problem, couldn't see what was going on, refused to draw the bar model, etc. But I resisted just showing him, "See... here's how it works!" It's tough to let him struggle, but I really believe that part of the ability to do word problems comes from going through the struggle - take breaks, return to the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 One other suggestion is not to give your child the answer right away. We've taken three days on some problems. I let my son try the problem and when he's just stuck, we put it away. We pull it out the next day, sometimes starting from where we left off, sometimes starting from scratch. If that doesn't get us anywhere, put it aside again. I don't want him to get used to me giving him the answer to a problem. I want him to have the experience struggling, failing, and then working through it. .... I think there is a lot of wisdom in your approach, Dana. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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