Time to Worry?

[scubamama]

I have a 4th gr boy. He turned 10 in Feb.

We are using Saxon 5/4. I'm not unhappy with the curr. I think the spiral review is really good for him.

However....every day he gets about 7 wrong b/c he either:

 

Copies the problem wrong ( I don't want him to write in the book - I need it for his sisters)

 

Does the math wrong (5+4= 8)

 

or just does it wrong for an unknown reason.

 

We go over them together and work out the issues.

 

Every day I say "Make sure you copy correctly, check each problem by re-doing them, don't forget your labels..."

 

Every day he smacks himself dramatically in the head and says "I forgot!"

He knows the math (4+5=9)

 

He needs to score at least an 80% to have computer time. And every day he fails b/c of generally careless mistakes and then cries.

 

I isolate him in a separate room from his noisy sibs. and go back to chaeck on him about every 5 minutes.

 

Is this normal? Am I expecting just too much? What else can i do?

He's a good kid. I want him to succeed and be proud of himself and have the computer time he wants and also the satisfaction of doing it right.

 

At my wit's end,

 

Michele in So Cal

[scubamama]

:lurk5:

[plain jane]

I hope you get some good advice because I have the same issue with my 10yo 5th grader who is working through 6/5. :willy_nilly:

 

She scores 100% on the tests but consistently gets 5-6 wrong on the daily lessons, for the same reasons you listed. Careless mistakes, writes down the original problem wrong, adds when should have subtracted, oh the list goes on but none of it is lack of understanding. Sigh

 

In fact, she can get an entire lesson all correct but then get the last 5 incorrect. :glare: It's almost like she's doing it on purpose. :rolleyes:

 

I tried to stop the careless mistakes by having her do the corrections in her spare time, having her do less problems per day, more problems per day ;). Nothing. Just a consistent 5 wrong every. single. day.

 

Oh sure, some days she'd change it up and get 6 wrong. :glare: but usually it was the standard 5.

 

It drives me insane. But, she takes the tests every 5 lessons and scores 100% (sometimes 95%) so as long as she does her corrections on her daily work we move on. It's frustrating so I'm :bigear: for what others have to say.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Try isolating one problem per page only and with graph paper.

 

We had to work that method for about four months, there was just plain too much going on in one workbook for her to focus on. Also, for us, horizontal problems caused a lot of problems.

 

I made sure to graph them, one per page and in vertical order.

 

Just try it and see if there's a difference.

[Alice]

I could be way off base but one thought I had was that maybe he's bored. How many problems does he get? I have a son who makes a lot of careless mistakes but is overall good at math. His mother was the same way. :) For him (and me) the careless mistakes tend to happen more as the problems get easier or when there is a lot of repetition. Maybe giving him less overall problems but emphasizing perfection and instead of showing him what he did wrong, just circle the ones wrong and have him go back and correct. I think that would be counter-productive if he didn't understand the math but maybe if it is purely careless it would be incentive for him to be more careful.

 

Another thought would be to treat math sort of like SWB describes doing dictation. Sit right with him as he does it and correct him when he makes a mistake. "Do you think that problem is right?" "Look again at what you've written." That would be only a temporary solution but maybe would help him get in the habit if taking it slow and being more careful.

[scubamama]

I asked a fellow hs mom who used to teach elementary...her son is a 3rd gr and is extremely bright. He is doing the same math book as my son without any issues.

She says that he should be able to complete the work in less time and with much less wrong. That kids in a classroom do that work. They aren't isolated in a perfectly quiet area.

Is there something wrong with this expectation or something else? I get that my kid is probably looking out the window or playing with his pencil part of the time.

Any ideas?

[MomatHWTK]

Honestly, could be general lack of focus, could be ADHD, could be something else. The next step would be to consider an evaluation of some sort. My oldest does have issues, so I can't advise as to what is normal for that age. Hopefully someone else will be able to give you some idea of how their child performs under similar circumstances.

[Deniseibase]

My DD was the same way last year, she is doing much better this year now that she has, ahem, become a woman if you know what I mean. Puberty just makes their brains fall out for awhile. I just made her re-write, in full, any problem that she missed until she had it right. If he's been doing reasonably well in math up until this year, and he seems to be UNDERSTANDING the math concepts overall, and is just making 'silly mistakes', I would just consider it 'puberty brain' and resign yourself to it for a few years. Now if he has had problems like this all along, that is a different story and then yes, you need to look at other options. But if it's new this year, I wouldn't fret.

[shann]

I could be way off base but one thought I had was that maybe he's bored. How many problems does he get? I have a son who makes a lot of careless mistakes but is overall good at math. His mother was the same way. :) For him (and me) the careless mistakes tend to happen more as the problems get easier or when there is a lot of repetition. Maybe giving him less overall problems but emphasizing perfection and instead of showing him what he did wrong, just circle the ones wrong and have him go back and correct. I think that would be counter-productive if he didn't understand the math but maybe if it is purely careless it would be incentive for him to be more careful.

 

 

My Dd is the same way. I think that when the problems are boring, repetitive, and not challenging, she just allows her brain to shut off. Vs a more difficult problem will fully engage her and get her brain firing on all cylinders.

Maybe challenging him with something fresh will get him off and running again?

[Hunter]

The Robinson Curriculum yahoo group is THE place to ask about any Saxon problems.

 

Isolating never worked with my son. The only thing that worked was to sit down with a pile of skittles on the table and race him one problem at a time to get the CORRECT answer. The winner ate a skittle in front of the loser.

 

Suddenly it was amazing how quickly and accurately he could complete a lesson!

[Ummto4]

My son's also not good in doing things quickly and correctly.

 

However, I notice, he gets more wrong if he's asked to do same sort of problems repeatedly, e.g. 6 long division in a row. He performs much better when he gets 6 different word problems -- although all need long division.

 

And yes, he often does the problems carelessly (i.e. not writing numbers clearly - his 0 looks like 6, 9 looks like 4, etc, lining up incorrectly, etc).

 

And yes, regardless whether it's a word problem or pure calculation-type of problem, he cannot do it fast (like, Kumon fast ...:)). I'm okay with the speed though -- but I know that it could be a problem during standardized test.

Edited March 15, 2012 by mom2moon2

[scubamama]

Thank you for these great ideas....I really appreciate them!

[Trilliums]

 

Another thought would be to treat math sort of like SWB describes doing dictation. Sit right with him as he does it and correct him when he makes a mistake. "Do you think that problem is right?" "Look again at what you've written." That would be only a temporary solution but maybe would help him get in the habit if taking it slow and being more careful.

 

This worked pretty well with my son who was having similar results with prealgebra. I wonder for him though if it has something to do with being a more social learner. He doesn't like going off by himself and doing his work. He prefers to have some interaction with the family. Another person posted about the skittles...I can see that helping for Ds also, but I still wonder if part of it is having that personal interaction.

 

And on a totally unrelated note: a big wow for my iPad auto correct. Instead of "he prefers" it had substituted "herpes"! Glad I quickly re-read it!