gingersmom Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 I am seriously at the end of my rope with my 12 year old son. We were on lesson 54 of Saxon Math 76 and he got 1/2 of the problems wrong. He tells me he did it really fast because he wanted to get it done. So we go back to Lesson 22. I'm figuring maybe he really doesn't get it (but I know thats not true). We watch the video. Discuss, discuss discuss. He gets 10 out of 30 wrong. :confused: We begin to go over it and I tell him I would think being its review and we then spent another 45 minutes going over it he would get 100%. He laughed. I think I blew the roof off my house. I'm not a yeller (my mom yelled, I don't yell). I made an exception today. Add to this my washing machine died before the rinse cycle so I have to drag a load of soaking wet laundry to the laundry mat. **I'm making him start over at lesson 1 as punishment. I think 10 lessons a day (300 problems) and hopefully we will see a little change in attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Mine got yelled at today, too. Between dd sneaking computers at night, ds whining about school, the house being a wreck, I just lost it. :( I've since apologized. We picked up the house a bit. Dd completed language arts, and ds did some math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 How about giving him ten problems a day and tell him is he gets any wrong he has to do the whole page. If he can get ten random problems correct he probably understands and the math is just 'busy' work. This should give him a reason to slow down and really focus on getting the problems done correctly. 30 problems is a lot. Sometimes less is more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 If he couldn't do 30, how will he do 300? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 :grouphug: I'm sorry. When my oldest was in middle school I seriously thought I would lose my mind. What you're doing would not have worked with my guy, but I hope it does for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 How about giving him ten problems a day and tell him is he gets any wrong he has to do the whole page. If he can get ten random problems correct he probably understands and the math is just 'busy' work. This should give him a reason to slow down and really focus on getting the problems done correctly. 30 problems is a lot. Sometimes less is more. This is what I am doing right now with DD. She doesn't have to do all the problems if she gets the ones I assign her correct. I do this with her because most of her mistakes are "careless", and if she has incentive she is more careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Mine decided today that he didn't need to show his work. BAM! 75% wrong, right off the bat. He's doing two extra pages, one of the lesson and the other review of the previous lessons to make sure that he understands why it's so important to show work and so that I know he has the formulas memorized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 This is my 11th year using Saxon. I'm just going to throw some things out there. 1. Some children do rush to get done. Some children dilly-dally and take forever. Some children just seem to enjoy getting under our skin. :lol: Sorry. :grouphug: 2. I have found that less is best with Saxon. I hand-pick problems I want the boys to do each day. I always give them ones they have trouble with. I always give them several word problems. I always give them the newest item. I alternate the easy ones -- the ones they don't have trouble with. It's work on my part, but they end up only doing about half the problems, and they try harder because it's more manageable. 3. I honestly think that going back to the beginning is not a good idea. It sounds like something I would say out of frustration and later realize was a mistake. I think sitting with him during his most recent lesson and having him do all the problems would be good. See if he struggles on any. Then, move to fewer problems, but for whatever problems he misses, he will have to not only correct it but also do another similar problem for practice. 4. Hang in there. Consistency and being there for corrections makes all the difference. Oh, and if it makes you feel any better, nearly every day I have a little dream of them going off to school. I keep plodding along. I love what I'm doing, but it's just plain work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted September 26, 2011 Author Share Posted September 26, 2011 So far so good. He has done 150 problems and been sweet as sugar. I'm so proud. :001_smile: I am thinking of it as math bootcamp. We are in our 5th year of doing Saxon math. He has seriously no trouble with 30 problems at a time. I'm trying to think of other ways to torture him. Maybe read the last 10 chapters of the book he is reading for English and not loving. Somehow losing tv/internet stopped working as an incentive to do your work. Looking forward to him turning 13 (he just turned 12 this month :tongue_smilie:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Oh, I remember those days. Hang in there Mama! I suppose I shall be encountering them again someday soon, probably sooner than I think! :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in KY Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 If he couldn't do 30, how will he do 300? :iagree::iagree: Dr. Fong, primary author of My Pals Are Here (Singapore math program), once said, "If a child thinks he can catch the bus, he will run for it." I have found that to be true. Less is often more. ymmv Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukale Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 :grouphug: 12 is such a hard age at our house too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketgirl Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Some days are just bad days & don't truly reflect what they know.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingHim77 Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Some days are just bad days & don't truly reflect what they know.... :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Some days are just bad days & don't truly reflect what they know.... We just did the CAT/5 for our annual testing, and I set out four days for it, leaving the 4th as the shortest and least challenging, but really, it was not a strain. Less than an hour a day. The fourth day he just stunk. Careless error after careless error. He fidgeted, his eyes wandered, he went quickly. It was so remarkably obvious he wasn't focusing. It was like there was another boy there. On another note, I am sometimes baffled about how quickly he forgets the steps in math. I then reflect at how much more he does at this age than I did at that age, and how quickly he picks it back up after we go over it again. So, I went to my problem generator and make up several sheets of mixed problems, moderate and more difficult, and have him do a +,-,x, and / problem every day. One of each, plus one of a distance or time or fraction question. It has helped my mood entirely. But if I catch purposeful disarray, a bit of rushed sarcasm, rather than an "off day", we stop for Mommy's Boring Lecture, where I trot out my mother's stern voice and remind him I'm Not Here For My Health, that Everyone Must Read and Write, that Someday He'll Need a Job and He Won't Want It To Be Menial, and that Childhood Doesn't Last Forever and He'll Be Happy Some Day He is Educated, but that I'll Never Ask For Thanks. And that We Are Not Here Just To Fill In The BLanks, But To Learn It; If Blanks Were Just Needing Filling, I Could Do It Much Faster Myself. I believe my speech so boring, he then cooperates to avoid a repeat, as I have done it more than once in a a day.. :) HTH, hope the sun shines tomorrow, and remember, these things, too, shall pass. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 If he couldn't do 30, how will he do 300? The first 10 lessons are basic math. Probably a 4th grader could do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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