How to cure my ds from making stupid mistakes...

[Liberty]

My 13yods is one of the most intelligent and responsible kids you could ever meet. And he has the tremendous gift (not inherited from me) of being able to do math in his head (not like Rainman--just normal everyday logical things that would baffle my non-math mind, such as figuring out 35% off an item while at the store, etc...)

 

Anyway, his desire is to become an engineer, so even though he earned an A in Pre-Algebra last year (he's in ps), I arranged for him to see an Algebra tutor this summer to get him ahead of the game for next year (also 8th grade Algebra can actually be counted toward his high school credits if he does well).

 

The problem is that, according to his tutor, my ds keeps making very stupid mistakes. I believe her. I noticed this last year in 7th grade where the policy was to allow the students to re-do papers until they got the problems correct--sometimes my ds had to re-do papers 2-3 times before getting them all correct. (Then, when he would have a test, he'd get a bad grade. Because the class only had 2 tests and because he was good about re-doing all the papers until they were right, he ended up with a good grade in the end.)

 

The mistakes he makes are ones that even he notices once the tutor goes over them with him. This tutor says such mistake-making is common for my ds' age, but how does one train this tendency out of a child? I don't want him making mistakes in 8th grade Algebra and messing up his chances of making it count toward his high school credit. Even when I tell him to go back and check for mistakes (which he sits down and does), this happens.

 

What is the remedy?

[Remudamom]

I think time helps with this, that's the only thing I've found. Just keep reminding him.

[JFSinIL]

Is he working on graph paper? That is what helped my kids do the equations neatly enough to lessen mistakes. Otherwise, just having to redo work or get poor grades will, in time, help make him more attuned to mistakes. Helps if the poor grades also result in loss of privileges, etc.

 

Also note how engineering mistakes can cause loss of property and life. It is not enough to be good at math - one does have to sweat the small stuff. Now is not too soon to develop that habit!

[Liz Mc in SC]

This is just me personally, I'd take a deep breath and adjust what I want to what he's able to do at the moment. The tutor is right, it's probably an age thing. How is he at following thru with general requests? Mine, he'll say yes, get up and then say "what did you ask me?" This is not to say that he's not responsible, ds keeps his room organized, stays on top of chore, etc. I do believe it's just a frustrating age thing......

 

My son too excels in Math. The one thing that I had to stay on top of was his being bored and not challenged. If he was bored, his mind wandered, if it was challenging he was irratated because it didn't just come to him. I think it's more frustrating for me, knowing he can do the work but continues to make minor mistakes -- I just take a deep breath and give him that encouraging speech of "you know how to do this." and beleive that it will come together for him.

 

I guess too, I'd have to ask myself how bad it would be if the math didn't count toward high school. Will it prevent him from achieving his goals? Is this something that I am pushing before he's ready -- even though he has the talent to do it, but not the focus. Then I'd take another deep breath....

 

Good luck!

[Tap]

Here are the three things we did that seemed to help:

 

Have you taught him to reverse solve all problems?

 

I taught ds from a young age to check his work after he did a problem to make sure it is correct. This drastically reduced the amount of mistakes, because he figures out there is an error, and goes back to fix it right then.

 

You may want to also start running some timed math drills with basic facts. Have him do multiplication, division, subtraction, and addition 3 minute drills daily, along with mixed problem sets to really cement those facts. Basic math facts errors are easy to mix up, even if he seems to know them well. If you do the math facts practice, make sure to have an incentive for getting a higher amount correct. We have done things like a 100% on a drill page gets the student a mini candy bar or something else just to show they accomplished it. You can also have him make a chart to watch his time/accuracy improve.

 

We do math at home, so this may not work for you. We have a rule that if a kid gets an 80% or less on any assignment, they have to repeat the entire lesson, not just the ones they missed. This offers a little more practice, which they must 'obviously' need and a little incentive to get the problems correct the first time.

Hope he finds his brain soon!

 

ETA: Have you asked the tutor what kind of errors your son is making? Here are a few problem/solutions...... Basic facts errors (do drill sheets), alignment errors (graph paper helps here), forgets the steps (do more practice with reverse solving), forgets positve/negative signs (have him lightly circle negative signs to make sure he acknowledges they are there), copying problems (make sure he double checks the problem bit by bit as he copies it- have him count characters and make sure he has the same amount)( also reverse solve the problem on the other side of the paper so he has to copy the problem again from the book-not the problem he wrote).

[Mx5]

My 13yods is one of the most intelligent and responsible kids you could ever meet. And he has the tremendous gift (not inherited from me) of being able to do math in his head (not like Rainman--just normal everyday logical things that would baffle my non-math mind, such as figuring out 35% off an item while at the store, etc...)

 

Anyway, his desire is to become an engineer, so even though he earned an A in Pre-Algebra last year (he's in ps), I arranged for him to see an Algebra tutor this summer to get him ahead of the game for next year (also 8th grade Algebra can actually be counted toward his high school credits if he does well).

 

The problem is that, according to his tutor, my ds keeps making very stupid mistakes. I believe her. I noticed this last year in 7th grade where the policy was to allow the students to re-do papers until they got the problems correct--sometimes my ds had to re-do papers 2-3 times before getting them all correct. (Then, when he would have a test, he'd get a bad grade. Because the class only had 2 tests and because he was good about re-doing all the papers until they were right, he ended up with a good grade in the end.)

 

The mistakes he makes are ones that even he notices once the tutor goes over them with him. This tutor says such mistake-making is common for my ds' age, but how does one train this tendency out of a child? I don't want him making mistakes in 8th grade Algebra and messing up his chances of making it count toward his high school credit. Even when I tell him to go back and check for mistakes (which he sits down and does), this happens.

 

What is the remedy?

 

Your son is undergoing massive changes in his physiology right now. His testosterone is surging, his brain is actually destroying and rebuilding certain structures. Frontline had a great special on this a few years ago.

 

Bottom line? Your tutor is correct. It's not a training issue on your part. Your son is growing up, and part of that process includes a season, from about 12-22, where he'll seem like he's from another planet... or that he left his brain somewhere else. All you can really do is be patient with him, help him spot his errors, and whatever you do don't freak out about his college future right now. That's too much pressure on him and you, and your family too, as how mom conducts herself determines how the "tone" of the home goes in most cases. You are not a failure as a mom if your son forgets things. He's not a failure, either. He cannot be expected to remember as an adult, although he's probably looking more and more like an adult as the months go by. To expect him to act like an adult would be like expecting a 2 year old to be able to knit. Be patient, don't take his mistakes personally, help him walk through these years. Believe me, he'll make many more mistakes, and not just in math, but he won't be an adolescent forever.