What you do for carelessness??

[Homemama2]

My fifth grader is driving me batty. He has always been somewhat careless in his work, but this year it seems to be in every subject. Simple things that I KNOW he knows, he will miss.

 

For example in math today, he was doing two and three step word problems with decimals. He knew what to do and when to do it, but made a simple addition error (7+5). In another problem, once again he had the steps down, but made a simple subtraction error. Another problem, he was telling me the step that he was going to do next: "Ok Mom, now I need to subtract, " then he proceeded to add the numbers. Ahh!!! He ended up missing almost every problem and it was ALL careless errors.

 

This happens in his writing as well. He will spell a word two different ways in the same paragraph. I'll point it out and his response is "oops!" and he'll correct it. So if he CAN spell it right, why didn't he just think a little bit and write it correctly the first time?!

 

He almost never remembers end punctuation for a sentence, yet can always tell you the correct one.

 

I've tried making him correct every single error, assigning him extra work for carelessness, rewarding him by decreasing his workload for careful work, giving grades for each assignment.....nothing seems to work. I am at my wits end. Someone please give me some advice!! :willy_nilly:

[twinmami01]

Wow! I could have written this post. I'm all ears!

[redsquirrel]

wow, he's really got a case of 5th grader.

 

Ok, here is what I did. It might not be popular, but I did it.

 

I lined up chocolate chips in front of him, one for every math problem. I told him that for every one he got right he got a chip. For every careless mistake, I got a chip. I was very careful to tell him exactly what a careless error was. I didn't want him to morph it into "Mom punishes me for an honest math mistake." I told him that if he did stuff like subtract instead of add, forget to regroup, make a mistake because he couldn't read his own writing etc, then I got a chip. An honest mistake would be corrected and then he could have the chip.

 

It took about 3 weeks and he stopped making careless errors in math. The funniest part? He doesn't even care for sweets! It was just the principle of the matter that made him want to get every darn chip :laugh:

 

As for spelling or handwriting that even he cannot decipher, make him spell it/rewrite the sentence correctly three time in a row in a special notebook you keep for that purpose. On the top of each page write "It would have taken you less time to do it right the first time" Again, I use this ONLY for careless errors. If he doesn't know how to spell a word then we'll deal with that. But, to spell it wrong from plain laziness, or to write so poorly that it cannot be read, is not going be fun.

[Homemama2]

Hmm...I like that! The chocolate chip and notebook ideas just might work! Thank you!!

[Arcadia]

Does he proofread his writing before giving it to you? Proofreading is a good skill to have.

 

For math ask him to check his work before giving it to you. If you spot a careless mistake, than just give everything back to him to re-check.

 

It takes time for children to be proficient at spotting all their careless mistakes.

[thebacabunch]

GO old school and get a red pen for the writing. Nothing more depressing than a red ink covered paper that needs revisions. :laugh: I have used mandm's with math.

[Laura Corin]

Does he know how to check his work? I had assumed that 'checking' was something that didn't need teaching, but I learned that I had to take Calvin through the process, step by step. Once he had a procedure for it, he made many fewer mistakes.

 

Laura

[...................]

Less work, more checking.

 

My 5th grader had so much of that this year. However, it sort of faded away. In math, I taught him how to check all his work. Takes forever but definitely teaches carefulness. :)

[Punks in Ontario]

I'm constantly reminding my guys to check their work carefully. Careless spelling mistakes such as whene and lick instead of like are automatic ten times write out. I will also sometimes tally marks lost due to carelessness. This made an impact.

 

On a positive note I implemented a candy jar for any marks over 90%. This was to reduce careless errors as well as to encourage a less cavalier attitude to marks. With CLE there is a test or quiz weekly per subject. With an 80%, they moved on and didn't have to write the final test so they were always getting 80-85%. Since I started this, marks have gone up and ds10 is taking increasing responsibility for tidiness.

 

Sloppy work is an automatic recopy as well. This doesn't work quite so well since it's rather subjective.

 

I also remind them that if I can't read it, it's wrong. I won't take the time to decipher work. I will decipher spelling errors of trickier words.

[Homemama2]

Does he proofread his writing before giving it to you? Proofreading is a good skill to have.

 

For math ask him to check his work before giving it to you. If you spot a careless mistake, than just give everything back to him to re-check.

 

It takes time for children to be proficient at spotting all their careless mistakes.

 

 

Well, he SAYS he does, but clearly he doesn't. ;) I guess I should continue handing it back until it is all corrected, rather than doing the proofreading for him...

[Homemama2]

Does he know how to check his work? I had assumed that 'checking' was something that didn't need teaching, but I learned that I had to take Calvin through the process, step by step. Once he had a procedure for it, he made many fewer mistakes.

 

Laura

 

 

Actually, I never thought about that. I'll definitely check and make sure.

[RootAnn]

I just had a talk with eldest about this today. She has a case of the LazyBones. When the proper spelling of a word for history/science is right in front of her & she writes it incorrectly, I'm Very Unhappy. (Careless mistakes in math always have to be corrected, but since we work for a set amount of time vs. doing-a-lesson-per-day-plus-correcting-previous-days-mistakes, it just takes time out of her new assignment vs. making her have homework. Not sure if I want to change that or not.)

 

I'm very strongly considering instituting a policy that she has to look up all her misspelled words in the dictionary. I already make her recopy the stuff that is messy. :cursing:

[Joker]

I have this 5th grader.

 

For writing, we proofread and edit together. If we find careless mistakes, she always has to rewrite. She's become better at checking her own work because she doesn't want to do the rewrite. She's also learning a lot since we do it together. I see improvement.

 

Spelling just took time and the right program. When I started using MegaWords with my dd last year, it was like a flipped switch. She's much better with that now.

 

Math is still the hiccup here. I just have her redo all her mistakes, but I add on extra problems for careless mistakes. Somedays she does well with it, others not so much. She's a bit of a dreamer and seems to sometimes forget what she was doing and then finishes the problem, but with silly errors.

[Murrayshire]

This is the case of 5th graders? Oh, man....my 4th grader has a head start! I'm all ears here, too!! I'm so tired of feeling like such a NAG to my dd.

[jetzmama]

Not sure how encouraging this is, but this was my oldest. He is now an 8th grader and does not often make careless mistakes. Making him responsible for checking his own work was an important factor in this, but, sorry... for this kid, maturity was also a big factor. fwiw, getting a composition book with only graph paper in (from waL mart) has also helped with math.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Around 5th grade is when my kids started showing carelessness. They have the knowledge to basic math down as well as writing so they stop thinking the steps through and rush it. Careless errors abound from sloppy writing to mistakes in writing and math. After pointing out the careless work and giving them enough time to be more careful, I then make the corrections they need to do an after school thing. It now is something that is inhibiting their free time. I have also made them wake up a half hour or an hour earlier to deal with corrections. For a preteen/teen, messing with their sleep is big (at least for my boys). After a few weeks things get better, usually.