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Math Facts are making me crazy


winoelle
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Okay, once again I need some help with math issues. My dd11 cannot seem to memorize her math facts and it has us really stalled in our progress. I have tried flash cards, speed drills, worksheets, card games, iPad games, Khan Academy, and she is doing xtramath right now but it results in serious tears every day as she can't beat the teacher. We used CLE for 1 1/2 to get us closer to grade level, after trying to use Singapore for way too long. She asked to switch to Teaching Textbooks after Christmas and despite misgivings I agreed. I don't like Teaching Textbooks, but that is a whole different issue. Despite the fact that most of what she is doing in Teaching Textbooks 5 is currently review of what was covered previously in CLE 3, it takes her forever to get through and she gets stuck on problems that she just needs to know her math facts for and it would be easy. For addition and subtraction she uses her fingers. If I say not to, she hides them under the table and still tries to do it. For multiplication facts, she just breaks down in tears. Any ideas? I will try anything at this point. She loves science, and excels at it, all her goals currently lead me to believe she will end up wanting to be in a science field, so I have to find a way to get her to be able to do math. She is good at problem solving, it truly is just the math fact memorization that is holding her back at this point. TIA

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For addition and subtraction she uses her fingers. If I say not to, she hides them under the table and still tries to do it.

 

I would be a lot more worried about your daughter still using her fingers for addition and subtraction than about multiplication amd division. It is really hard to do multiplication if she is not fluent with addition. Division problems needs math facts to be able to be done faster. Have you ask her why she prefers to use her finger?

 

If your daughter needs the visual aspect of using her fingers, get her to draw instead. In a test situation, using fingers won't be allowed as it is quite easy to "finger" the answer to another test taker. Drawing is definately allowed and blank scrap paper are abundant in a test scenario.

 

For problems involving multiplication and division, I had let my younger used the multiplcation table chart as long as he shows the working.

 

For Xtramath, I had to type for my kids in order for them to beat the teacher. They yell out the answer and I type. I also switch the volume down to mute as the sound is too distracting for my kids.

 

 

 

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My guess is that she is trying to figure them out... when she simply needs to memorize them!! Figuring out fact after fact would bring me to tears as well. Obviously if she's using her fingers still, then she's trying to figure them out. So, I would stop ALL FORMAL MATH, and work on only "memorizing" math facts for the next couple months. Now, you can do that with good old flash cards or with a computer program like xtra math or Sterling math facts (you can customize MUCH easier with Sterling to allow a bit more time if need be). Start out VERY small, and just with addition. Have her memorize just the 0's and the1's when she is given the fact and can respond pretty much immediately, add in the 2's (and continue to review what she has mastered daily as well). Keep adding in one fact family at a time. Have her MEMORIZE them. So, let's say you hold up 4+6... if she doesn't respond in about 5 seconds time, then you flip the card over and let her see the answer. At the same time say, "4+6=10," Then, flip the card back over to where the answer isn't showing and ask her the exact same fact again. This time she should get it, because she was just shown the answer. Obviously some kids are better at memorizing than others, but we can all do it with a little effort. The process I just described is done automatically with Sterling math facts (my recommendation), but you can certainly do it yourself as well with regular flash cards. ALso, offer incentives. If she completes a certain amount right within a certain time she "earns" something. Money is effective. My dd (who does 150 facts for review each day) earns a dollar if she get's 100% on the set. She earns 50 cents for 1 or 2 wrong, and a quarter if she misses 3 or 4.

 

While it's true that she needs to understand the "why" behind the math facts. At this point she certainly does, they just need to be memorized!

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Just an observation, but it seems like everything you are using is visual. Have you tried any auditory methods, like addition or multiplication songs? My DD is a bit younger than yours, but she still uses the skip counting songs from MUS when she gets stuck. MUS has addition songs too.

 

My kids are both very auditory and very verbal, so for them, they remember what they hear and SAY, not what they see.

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:grouphug: I have no advice, but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone. I have been going through something similar with my daughter also. We are using CLE now and it has helped her a lot, but she has still not memorized her math facts after doing everything you have listed. My daughter also becomes frustrated with Xtramath. I have to type in the answers in order for her to beat the teacher. I am going to just keep trying. I wish you the best of luck.

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A different approach: Don't teach memorization at all. Memory really isn't that reliable when it comes to math, as you have discovered. So instead of fighting human nature, work with it -- teach your daughter how to think things through when her memory fails her. By which I mean, teach her some more efficient methods than just counting.

 

I have a blog post series on teaching math that describes several ways to figure out answers when memory fails. You might find it helpful, especially the posts on addition and subtraction, since you probably want to solidify these before worrying too much about multiplication. And the best thing about these kinds of logical-math skills is that they apply to numbers way beyond the "basic math facts", too.

 

And here's a great place to practice math while doing something kind at the same time.

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My guess is that she is trying to figure them out... when she simply needs to memorize them!! Figuring out fact after fact would bring me to tears as well. Obviously if she's using her fingers still, then she's trying to figure them out. So, I would stop ALL FORMAL MATH, and work on only "memorizing" math facts for the next couple months. Now, you can do that with good old flash cards or with a computer program like xtra math or Sterling math facts (you can customize MUCH easier with Sterling to allow a bit more time if need be). Start out VERY small, and just with addition. Have her memorize just the 0's and the1's when she is given the fact and can respond pretty much immediately, add in the 2's (and continue to review what she has mastered daily as well). Keep adding in one fact family at a time. Have her MEMORIZE them. So, let's say you hold up 4+6... if she doesn't respond in about 5 seconds time, then you flip the card over and let her see the answer. At the same time say, "4+6=10," Then, flip the card back over to where the answer isn't showing and ask her the exact same fact again. This time she should get it, because she was just shown the answer. Obviously some kids are better at memorizing than others, but we can all do it with a little effort. The process I just described is done automatically with Sterling math facts (my recommendation), but you can certainly do it yourself as well with regular flash cards. ALso, offer incentives. If she completes a certain amount right within a certain time she "earns" something. Money is effective. My dd (who does 150 facts for review each day) earns a dollar if she get's 100% on the set. She earns 50 cents for 1 or 2 wrong, and a quarter if she misses 3 or 4.

 

While it's true that she needs to understand the "why" behind the math facts. At this point she certainly does, they just need to be memorized!

 

 

 

I agree with this. This is definitely what I would do. My two sons both finished MM 1st grade. I knew they did not have their add and subtract facts memorized and I also saw them struggle with some of the concepts in MM so we are doing CLE 1st grade now. We are doing two lessons per day so we are already more than half way through and they are really get their math facts down solid now. They are really understanding it all so much better now. CLE covers things in a different order also so they are learning things they had not learned in MM 1st, such as adding and subtracting double digit numbers. Sorry, I'm getting a bit off topic here but it is nice to see them finally really memorizing the math facts well. Good luck. I hope you find a solution that will work for your daughter.

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