4th grader hates math! Help!

[jeffcolemanfamily]

My son is almost 10 {in a few weeks} and he is hating math. We pull out our math curriculum and he groans, complains, and gets through it as fast as he can. Doesn't enjoy it. Doesn't even like figuring out the problems and often gets things wrong. He is having trouble memorizing his multiplication facts and he often has to count on his fingers for simple addition!

 

Here's what he has done:

 

Kindergarten: Singapore Earlybird A and B

1st grade: Started out with Saxon, he loved it, Mommy hated it! :001_smile: {maybe I should have stuck with it?}

2nd - 4th grade: Math U See. At first he loved it. But the past two books, Beta and Gamma have been a huge struggle for him. He refuses to use the blocks because they are "for babies" as he likes to say.

 

Yet, I tutor an Essentials class for 4th-6th graders and he is in my class at Classical Conversations and he LOVES playing Board Slam... all mental math.

He is much slower than some of the other kids in the class, but he seems to love it.

 

I am trying to figure out what to do with him math-wise. Do I need to start over somewhere with him so he will stop counting on his fingers and be able to memorize his multiplication tables better? Do I stick with what I'm doing and just make him plow through it?

 

His older sister did the same thing as him...

 

Singapore Earlybird for Kindergarten

1st-5th Math U See

She just switched to Saxon and loves it. She's a book, paper, and pen kind of girl though so it appeals to her and she loves the DIVE CDs better than the Math U See lessons. She is more left brained. He is more right brained.

 

What do I do with him?! Help!!

[jeffcolemanfamily]

{bump} anyone? :001_smile:

[mindygz]

We have our own math issues here, so I don't know that I have a lot of "tried and true" experiences. My 4th grade daughter is also really right brained/artistic and struggles with math. We are starting Teaching Textbooks on Monday, and I'm hoping that is a good fit. For the addition and multiplication, maybe get some computer games? We have been doing Timez Attack and just tried out MathRider (I haven't decided whether to purchase it yet). If he likes those, they will encourage getting the facts down more quickly.

 

I wish I could be of more help. Good luck!

[jeffcolemanfamily]

Oh Mindy this is a great idea!! My son would be on the computer all day if I let him! :001_smile:

 

Where can I find these games? And do you know how much this costs?

 

Thanks so much!

[smilesonly]

I've BTDT!:glare:

 

My 4th gr. ds, also 10yo started out with MUS(blocks were too babyish), then Singapore(pages were too babyish), then CLE(moved too fast) and hit the wall eventually reaching math anxiety. It was baad.;) I stopped ALL formal math for several months and used books about numbers and math from the library. We also did some activities out of Family Math and used his golf and baseball as (sneaky) ways to move him forward.

 

When he turned 10 this summer I put the choices of Singapore, CLE, Math Mammoth, Saxon, and Rod & Staff in front of him-not on the computer screen-I mean RIGHT in front of him. He chose Rod & Staff.:001_huh: His learning style is also more right-brain, highly visual. Let me tell you, I about hit the floor when he chose R&S!:lol: But, it is what we use and we use it as it was intended-classroom style with posters and heavy use of the white board. He is doing very well and never complains and is gaining confidence. I will say that I think for him, maturity was a huge issue. He is learning his facts very quickly and understands conceptually what he is learning.

 

You will get lots of opinions here, but I say change with a LOT of thought and stick with what you choose.;)

 

Good luck!!

[jeffcolemanfamily]

Wow. Thank you. That is very helpful. I would love to put curriculum in front of him and tell him to pick like that. Did you seriously purchase all of them and do that? Wow. That would be so helpful to show him the choices like that before next summer... {when the homeschool convention comes around and he can look at all of them like that}.

 

hmmmm lots to think about! Thank you.

[veggiegal]

Has your son explained to you what exactly he dislikes about math? Does he hate the number of problems? Does he think "when do we ever use this in the real world?" Does he hate the pressure to calculate quickly? Does he hate the amount of writing? Is he simply confused and feels like "math makes no sense"? Is math "never fun anymore"? Depending on what the underlying issues are, I'd try different things.

 

If there are formats in which he enjoys doing math--games, computers, math readers (I highly recommend the Sir Cumference series for this age group), whatever--I'd try emphasizing those for a while. If he needs to see what use math is in the real world, help him to see it: bake, build, budget an allowance, let him help plan the next family trip, whatever. The goal here is to help him see he doesn't "hate math"--though he may hate the particular curriculum, or drill. Is he keen on problem-solving? (Lots of kids who are slower at basic math fact drill enjoy word problems more than drill, IME as a math teacher and tutor). My own son (also grade 4) is a bit like this: ask him what 15-7 is and he's in a panic, but he'll spontaneously say things like "So in chapter book we're reading, Mom, there's 15 chapters and we've read 7. 8 more to go!"

 

My son also prefers solving a riddle or puzzle when getting in his math drill. A page of drill elicits groans, but a page where he solves a 'secret code' or puzzle and he's off to the races. Balance Math and More from the Critical Thinking Company is one of his favourites, and I got lots of code riddle type puzzles in the recent Scholastic sale.

 

Some kids also enjoy making up their own word problems, using dinosaurs or baseball or whatever their passion is. The idea again is to get him to have fun with math, play with it, and know that it is far, far more than pages of math fact drill.

 

Good luck!

[smilesonly]

Wow. Thank you. That is very helpful. I would love to put curriculum in front of him and tell him to pick like that. Did you seriously purchase all of them and do that? Wow. That would be so helpful to show him the choices like that before next summer... {when the homeschool convention comes around and he can look at all of them like that}.

 

hmmmm lots to think about! Thank you.

 

I didn't purchase all of them-no.:lol:

 

I bought Singapore (and had some left over from dd), already had CLE and bought Rod &Staff- I downloaded the addition portion of MM -no big $$ losses there.:D I borrowed a friend's Saxon 3 and 5/4.

 

My reasons for doing that were due to how visual my ds is. I LOVE the page layout of CLE and personally found the R&S so boring to look at. But, he said the R&S was easier on his eyes and just said he knew he would like it.:lol:

 

BTW-I just posted to the other thread about the mom's 8yodd's problem with math.

 

geez...i'm feeling like the anti-bill who rides the spy car.:lol::auto:

[jeffcolemanfamily]

Thanks this is so helpful. No, my son has not told me what he does or doesn't like about math. Its just the one subject he complains about and groans and cries and says he's terrible at. Yet, he loves when we do mental math games and even begs to do them at our class on Fridays! So I don't know if it is really math per-se that he doesn't like. I think he likes it, he just is frustrated because he is having trouble memorizing the facts and plugging them in quickly. I don't think he likes the Math U See set up anymore and when he saw his sister's Saxon 6/5 books, he asked if he could try that. I am hesitant to spend the $$ on something new, worried that it will be the same old thing again... complaining, and grumbling and not wanting to do his work. Hmmmm So many decisions to make.

 

Thanks everyone!