Repetition

[kiwik]

I bought a copy (for 50c) of a unit from currclick called chocolate maths halves and fourths (I liked the free assessment).

 

My question is, does an average child really require 23 pages on such a basic subject as this. I get the paper folding exercises to show symmetrical folding and different ways of dividing into quarters and fourths. But 23 pages. (did include the cut out shapes to be fair).

 

Is this normal? If so i think i should be worried.

[2smartones]

I haven't seen what you're talking about, but yeah... sounds about right. If an average child spends a week learning something, especially if you have two kids, perhaps, you could do 3-4 of these each day to teach & reinforce?

 

It would be overkill for us, yes.

[dbmamaz]

it totally depends on the kid. But sometimes I err on giving my kids too LITTLE repetition, and I remember that sometimes doing repetitive problems helped me develop a deeper understanding of them. If its enjoyable, my son wont fight some repetition, esp on tough things. but for my younger one, processes are complex, not concepts - esp long division

[Chrysalis Academy]

I think it's a constant dance, figuring out how much repetition is necessary. I have begun including my dd in that decision - putting the responsibility for how much repetition she needs in her lap - so that she learns that doing math is not about finishing the lesson, but about learning the material. Whatever it takes.

 

It's been really interesting. She was working on LOF Fractions, and did great until the last 4 chapters - at that point, she was able to articulate that she had gotten too many operations, too quickly, without enough repetition, so she was having trouble keeping them straight (adding/subtracting vs. multiplying/dividing fractions, and reducing/cancelling procedures). We put it aside for a time, because I knew we'd be covering Fractions throughly in MM5.

 

We'll we're now flying through the MM fraction chapters. I cut down the first fraction chapter, so we are literally doing around 20% of the problems. And it's great! It's exactly enough repetition, without being too much.

 

What I've learned from this is that she did learn a ton from LOF - but needed more practice. Alllllll the practice in MM would have been overkill. Finding the sweet spot relies on me paying attention, on a daily basis, to how each lesson is going, but even more than that, it relies on dd taking responsibility, ownership of her learning, and becoming capable of articulating what she needs in terms of practice - because she wants to master the concept, not just get through the material.

 

This is a new thing, and it's been a year of training to get to this point, but it's very exciting. I feel like dd is really poised to take off in math, and I'm rethinking my resistance to acceleration, now that I can see she has developed more self-awareness and more responsibility. I can start to relax and trust that she'll do the work she needs to learn the material. However much repetition that takes - very little for some things, more for others no doubt. Mastery is the goal, and it takes however much repetition it takes.

 

After I re-read this, I realized: this is exactly what I've been going for in my quest to slow down - by slowing down, and working on the process of persistent problem solving, and self-awareness, rather than worrying about getting through material on a particular schedule or being "behind" kids of the same age, we are paradoxically going faster, with better mastery . . . how very cool.