Little mistakes in Math

[PhotoGal]

How do you handle it when you child makes little mistakes in Math? For example, sometimes ds will skip a problem in the middle of the page. Or make another error that doesn't really indicate a lack of understanding. So far I've been underlining the error and I bring the book to him and have him correct it. Is there something else I could be doing to help him be a little more careful in the first place?

[creekland]

I'd stick with what you are doing based upon his age (if it's correct in your signature). If it continues - meaning if he doesn't learn naturally to be more careful - then what works best is to have them do twice the amount they skipped or missed. If they skipped one problem, have them do that one and another (you make up). If it's small things he's missing (signs or something) make up 2 more examples for "practice." The human body naturally prefers less work, so will adapt to become more careful. Just don't phrase it as punishment. You don't want math to be a bad thing. That can turn anyone off quickly. Phrase it as practice for improvement and keep the tone of voice nice no matter what you are internally thinking.

 

If they are more major problems - lack of understanding - slow down by trying other worksheets, curricula for supplementing or problems you make up. You want foundational understanding there at all times. Math should always be a mastery subject since it builds upon itself. If you press on, often there are serious consequences later.

[Catherine]

He's 10 1\2 now. I don't have all the answers, but I will say that Concerta helped a great deal:001_smile: Creekland's idea or a variation of it helped too. It requires a lot of consistency, so I've mostly applied my strongest consistency with him to household tasks like chores. IOW, when he "forgets" to flush, for example, I ask him to clean the entire toilet. I don't necessarily connect these things, because then he sees it as punishment and gets angry. But when 9 years of asking and demonstrating was not enough to cement the idea that he needed to flush, every single time, I decided to handle it differently.

 

What I do notice is that him learning to be more careful and attentive to the rules in one area of his life carried over into other areas.

[OrdinaryTime]

My son often does this. I known it is not due to comprehension problems, but just inattention. I recently started a little program to help him be more careful and deliberate. For each page of math he completes with zero mistakes, he earns a point. Five points earn him a Math Pass, which he can redeem to take a day off math when he chooses. I've done this for copy work, too. The care and attitude towards his work has greatly improved!

[amo_mea_filiis.]

Mine is only 7, but when he misses a problem I just tell him that the page is not complete yet. Find the skipped problem, and bring it back to me. Same procedure for handwriting. It's working better with handwriting since missing a letter means he has to compare each and every letter on the page to find the missing one (compare example to his writing).

 

He's starting to take his time with everything and pay more attention to what he's doing.

 

I don't, and wouldn't underline missing problem.

[LucyStoner]

I majored in math in college and I make little computational errors from time to time. I just have him find and correct. I don't really make much of it because I frankly don't think it is that big of a deal. I have not noticed him skipping anything though. He will sometimes skip and do the rest of the assignment and then come back to a problem but I don't know that he has skipped a whole problem. If that was a habit, I would encourage him to be more careful. But errors are normal. I have a friend who got a nearly perfect score on his Math SAT. The only problem he missed? He indicated that a single cent was equal to a dollar. Given that he also aced the Math SAT IIs and Math AP exams, I personally chalk it up to random human error. People make mistakes and have to live with it.