Curious? When do YOU consider the topic mastered?

[SFM]

So, we have been plugging away at Singapore 3A and my son seems to be clicking with mathematics now, we do add in IP at the end of each unit. That being said there are times that he still misses a few of the simple computations etc. For instance, he will get all the numbers correct except for 4 X 9 (at the end of the multiple digit multiplication problem.)

 

BACK to the question. Is the topic mastered if say he did practice 3E and 3F and only missed 4 questions altogether?

 

So, when do you officially say your child has mastered something? Do you just watch your child (duh?) and see if you can tell they KNOW the material and just spaced, etc? Thoughts?

 

Thanks.

:bigear:

[ErinE]

I don't consider a few computational errors lack of mastery. You said he missed 4 problems; was it 4 out of 10? If this were the case, I would spend a little more time on the subject. However, 4 out of 30, I'd make him rework the problems correctly and going forward, I would monitor his work more closely to be sure he isn't making little mistakes.

 

If it's careless work, I'd focus on correcting the problem and not on concepts. My ds has this problem if I'm not viligent. He tends to rush through the work, particularly multi-step problems. If over a several lessons I see errors, I put learning new ideas on hold and spend a few lessons focusing on doing problems correctly and checking work before submitting it to me. Part of mathematics is doing the work cleanly. It doesn't matter how much a child has mastered if he or she is still getting the wrong answer because of mistakes.