kristinannie Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 My son is extremely gifted in math. Doing worksheets to learn math facts is literally killing him. He knows most of his math facts, but doesn't have them memorized so he can do them immediately. He gets about 90% right after thinking for a few seconds. His face lights up when I ask him, "What do you have to add to 49 to get 100?" or at dinner a couple of days ago when we were talk about our 22 month old son. I told him that there are 12 months in a year so how many more months until Dominic is 2? Anyway, these are what excites him. Is it essential to memorize math facts or will he pick this up over time? We do play Sum Swamp and RS math games and he loves those! He is really enjoying MEP and Miquon and tolerating SM. Anyway, I would love some advice from BTDT moms with gifted children. I want him to love math since he is so good at it, but I don't want him to miss something important either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 This is the 5 y.o.? I wouldn't worry about it at this stage. Now if we were talking about an older child, I do think there comes a point where he/she just has to buckle down and finish memorizing the facts. DH had to step in to play "bad cop" with oldest DD and suspend her screen privileges until she finished memorizing the multiplication tables. She had dickered around for literally months but all of a sudden got super-motivated in order to earn back the screen privileges. She had them all down within a week :rolleyes: For the addition & subtraction facts with a bright, non-LD child, I'd say age 7 would be when I'd resort to this kind of "mean mom" suspension of privileges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I agree with the others. Skip the worksheets and keep playing games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 More games. We do all our fact practice/"drill" through games. It's coming slowly but it is coming, and she LIKES it. Math Bingo is her favorite (even more than Math Rider and other math games). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 He'll probably pick them up. Multiplication uses addition, so he'll still be practicing his facts when you move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I think kids can go quite a long way in math still needing to compute their facts instead of knowing them instantly. I let my daughter build math problems with C-rods for a long time, rather than drilling her for instant recall, and I think it strengthened her number sense amazingly. And yes, games are so preferable to worksheets, especially with younger kids. We often play a game in which I stand at the top of the stairs with a treat, and my daughter starts at the bottom. For each math question she gets right, she moves up one step. Each wrong answer moves her down a step. When she reaches me at the top, she gets the treat. I also remember drawing a bunch of math problems on the sidewalk in chalk and challenging her to get from one end to the other stepping only on problems that sum to 6, then returning only on problems that sum to 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 I think kids can go quite a long way in math still needing to compute their facts instead of knowing them instantly. I let my daughter build math problems with C-rods for a long time, rather than drilling her for instant recall, and I think it strengthened her number sense amazingly. And yes, games are so preferable to worksheets, especially with younger kids. We often play a game in which I stand at the top of the stairs with a treat, and my daughter starts at the bottom. For each math question she gets right, she moves up one step. Each wrong answer moves her down a step. When she reaches me at the top, she gets the treat. I also remember drawing a bunch of math problems on the sidewalk in chalk and challenging her to get from one end to the other stepping only on problems that sum to 6, then returning only on problems that sum to 7. I love those game ideas! This has really put my mind at ease. DS5 is so ready to move onto something else and it kills him to do every.single.problem in SM. At the same time, doesn't get 100% right so it is harder to skip things. I will keep doing the games and just move on to something else. Thanks, ladies!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 The facts will come eventually. I'd expect a 7-8 year old to know them fairly quickly. The repetition needed for fact practice is boring to kids who are gifted in math. Their conceptual math ability is usually much higher than their computational ability. Keep raising the bar as needed, and the facts will eventually come. Don't sweat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) My ds(8) loves graphing his progress. Watching the time go down is a very good incentive for him. Both of my boys have had lots of trouble memorizing their tables. The older was 9.5 by the time he finished the job even though he excels in conceptual math. I definitely don't think memorizing the tables needs to stop a child's progress in math during the years they learn them, but yes, IMHO a child does have to put in the time with the flashcards be they online, on paper, or in a game format. Ruth in NZ Edited February 21, 2012 by lewelma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 (edited) .. I would love some advice from BTDT moms ... okay, this is silly I'm sure, but what's BTDT? am I or amn't I, I'm wondering and can't stop ... sorry if it's right there in the OP and I can't find it [sheepish smilie]! Edited February 22, 2012 by serendipitous journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 okay, this is silly I'm sure, but what's BTDT? am I or amn't I, I'm wondering and can't stop ... sorry if it's right there in the OP and I can't find it [sheepish smilie]! BTDT is "Been There Done That." My five year old is doing SM as well. After finishing 1A, I was having her go deeper with Miquon and MEP, but she wanted to keep going in 1B. When she gets really frustrated, she's willing to pull out the c-rods; however, she usually wants to think about the answer on her own. Even with her moving forward without the facts memorized, her recall is coming along. I have added in a daily worksheet with only 10 problems per page. The number of problems is small enough that it's completed quickly without drama. DD's working on the 5-fact family right now and I plan on adding in other families as her memorization comes along. Maria, who designed MM, has a great on teaching addition facts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 We haven't done one thing of drill with our facts. If Abby can't recall, she will figure it another way ("7 and 7 is 14, so 8 and 8 is two bigger...16!") or pull out her rods. I'd really encourage MEP because it keeps those numbers low but still stretches the child in other ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissKNG Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 My big girl is only 5.5 so I don't "drill" math facts with her. I make up "math assignments" - I staple about 3 of pages of fun math fact sheets together and give her the week to work on them in her own time. Though they have to be done by Friday, there's no "drill" pressure and she can work on as much or as little as she wants at a time. It's working for her and I like the low pressure. There was a time when I was sooo concerned that she didn't have her facts down cold and I didn't want to move her on. Well, we did move on and haven't had a single problem and she recently started Singapore 3a. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 My big girl is only 5.5 so I don't "drill" math facts with her. I make up "math assignments" - I staple about 3 of pages of fun math fact sheets together and give her the week to work on them in her own time. Though they have to be done by Friday, there's no "drill" pressure and she can work on as much or as little as she wants at a time. It's working for her and I like the low pressure. There was a time when I was sooo concerned that she didn't have her facts down cold and I didn't want to move her on. Well, we did move on and haven't had a single problem and she recently started Singapore 3a. That is a great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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