TXBeth Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 DD has started doing Xtra math for fact practice, and it is stressing her out. She HATES the "race the teacher" game, because it takes her smiley faces down to zero if she makes one mistake, negating all the good work she did before that. It's especially frustrating because usually her mistake is just a typo - she actually knew the right answer but was so rushed and stressed that she pressed the wrong key. I think she also gets a little dizzy from looking back and forth from the screen to the keyboard. So today I tried something different. I had her call out the answers and I typed them. She was much less stressed and did a great job. It also kept her from using the keyboard to "count up" from one number to the next. Are there any downsides to this that I am not seeing? She's only 6, so I'm not concerned about building skill with typing on a number pad yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 We tried that website for about a week. My son hated it like he had never hated anything before. I mean, he would just panic when I suggested he log in and work on it. :D I told him he didn't have to do it anymore. It's not worth being upset over it. I think younger kids are not that fast on a keyboard and it can be very frustrating. Not only are they trying to remember the math fact, but they have to search for the keys on the keyboard. If it erases their work, I can just imagine how a 6 or 7 yro would feel. FWIW, we try to minimize the computer learning. We were looking at another popular computer learning website (not going to give away their name)...computer learning seems to use a different part of the brain than if the kids were reading and writing the answers on paper. I can't quite put my finger on it...:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXBeth Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 ::BUMP:: Any other opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwin Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 We did it this way until my son decided he wanted to do it himself. His score got knocked down a bit because he was still figuring out the typing thing, but now he's doing great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnomeyNewt Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 My DD did Xtra Math on the computer for awhile. Thankfully she hasn't figured out that race the teacher count in the corner yet -- because I know she would feel the same way as your DD. I wanted to see what it was like on our tablet with a touch screen and it works great (they have a little number pad that will display on the screen -- you could probably open it up on the computer too if clicking numbers is easier for your DD. It's a little icon on the bottom right hand corner). What I noticed when testing it out, is that she is just slow at typing the numbers in general even on the tablet. I decided to say the problem out loud while she looks at it and I type the number in for her. So we are using it more like onscreen flash cards. I even have covered the answer part on the bottom with a post it note (it gives the answer away after a few seconds) which forces her to come up with the answer herself. It's free and well it's free! I personally do not like flash cards, but found that doing it on a tablet I am not so annoyed by the concept and it does seem to help with retaining math facts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grover Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 We did it precisely for the keyboard skills - he doesn't so much need the math drill. He initially got upset about the timer and penalty for typos, but we talked about why I wanted him to do it (learning to find the number keys quickly and accurately) and he got over it. He was over the moon when he mastered the addition and got his little certificate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 My 8 year old groans about xtramath, but it only takes a few minutes so I make him do it. He went through addition in a few weeks, but he has been getting 80's in subtraction for four months now. I'm about to just switch him manually to multiplication since that's where he needs to be working. I think it's possible he needs additional subtraction practice, I just don't think the xtramath method is working for him. My dd6, however, goes into stress-panic-freak-out mode when I try to get her to do xtramath. It seems ridiculous that they don't give first graders any more time than older kids. I went back to flash cards with her for now. We'll try xtramath again in a year or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 I use it for my 9 year old, but my 6 year old needs something less stressful. He uses MathRider. My 9 year old couldn't have handled it at 6, either. Even at 9, it took him a few weeks to get used to Race the Teacher, and I still wouldn't say he LIKES it. But his speed has improved tremendously on his facts, so he does it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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