Concerned and need advice. DD8 isn't progressing with XtraMath.

[MiniBlondes]

I am past the point of frustration and now I've moved on to concern. I need some advice.

My daughters began doing daily XtraMath drills at the beginning of the year. For anyone who is unfamiliar, XtraMath starts with addition, moves on to subtraction, and ends with multiplication. Each level must be mastered before the student can advance. It works like digital flashcards, allowing a few second for the student to type the answer. We did it daily for about 6 weeks and at some point we stopped. About 3 months ago we picked it back up and we've been doing it daily ever since. DD10 has since graduated up to the multiplication section and is currently at a 70-something there. DD8 has not progressed any higher than a 68 on the addition facts. It's like she gets to 68 and then drops several points. I don't get it. I've printed out the facts that she's struggling with the most and I call them out to her at other times. She gets the answer right but it takes her longer than the 3-5 seconds that XtraMath allows. The reason is because she has not memorized the answers. When I ask her what is 8+6, I watch her count it in her head. I'm okay with it taking her longer to answer but isn't the whole point of this to memorize the facts so that she doesn't HAVE to count them out? 

The biggest issue here is that I've fallen behind in teaching her multiplication facts. She can multiply and gets all of her multiplication correct on her Horizons work, but she doesn't know the facts by heart. I've fallen behind on this because I kept expecting her to pass XtraMath 'any day now' and that XtraMath would take care of the drills for me.

My daughter is heavily driven by rewards so I've been considering some sort of rewards system but I haven't been able to come up with anything. Should I scrap XtraMath altogether for her? If so, what should I do instead? She hates flash cards in general, so if I scrap XtraMath, I should really just do away with the flash cards altogether as well. But what should I do in place of them? I'm concerned about her not knowing her multiplication tables as well.


ETA: My signature says that she's in 3rd grade but that's rising 3rd. She's in 2nd grade and just turned 8 in April (if any of that matters).

[songsparrow]

First, as to your question asking about rewards: I generally try to avoid the use of rewards in schoolwork. However, if I were using them, I would use them to reward completing work that the child dreads doing, not to reward correct answers. So in this case, if your daughter were resisting doing XtraMath at all, but you felt it was important and beneficial to her and could not be reproduced in another way, I might allow her to get a sticker for completing her XtraMath work without complaint for the day. But the sticker would not be dependent on earning a certain score.

 

Second, I've mentioned this in other threads and it may be the minority opinion, but I do not believe that memorization of math facts is necessary to moving on to other math. I think that for some kids, the pressure to memorize the facts can be counter-productive. I believe that math facts can be memorized over time, through use. I would recommend giving your daughter an addition facts chart and a multiplication facts chart and allow her to refer to them freely as needed, and move on.

[Ellie]

I would not be concerned that a child who just turned 8 a month ago doesn't know her multiplication facts. I'd be tossing out that Xtra Math in a New York minute.

 

ITA with songsparrow: give your dd addition and multiplications charts to refer to and move on.

 

And I'm sure you know this, but having difficulty in one small area is no reason for putting a child in school. :-)

[MiniBlondes]

Second, I've mentioned this in other threads and it may be the minority opinion, but I do not believe that memorization of math facts is necessary to moving on to other math. I think that for some kids, the pressure to memorize the facts can be counter-productive. I believe that math facts can be memorized over time, through use. I would recommend giving your daughter an addition facts chart and a multiplication facts chart and allow her to refer to them freely as needed, and move on.

 

 

 

Thank you, thank you for saying this. I needed to hear someone else say this, I think. I never memorized my math facts but my life was a crazy one, in and out of foster homes and bouncing all over the place. So school was never a priority to me. As an adult, I know my Math facts. I somehow just learned them along the way. I keep trying to tell myself that she can do the same but at the same time, I had this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I was wrong and in order for her to progress, she HAD to have this.

 

So thank you for saying that. You have no idea how bad I needed to hear someone else say it.

[MiniBlondes]

I would not be concerned that a child who just turned 8 a month ago doesn't know her multiplication facts. I'd be tossing out that Xtra Math in a New York minute.

 

ITA with songsparrow: give your dd addition and multiplications charts to refer to and move on.

 

And I'm sure you know this, but having difficulty in one small area is no reason for putting a child in school. :-)

 

 

Thank you, Ellie! And yes, I know. It was just one of those frustrating moments. It wasn't even about her, it was about my fear that I was failing her.

[Plateau Mama]

My son, who is a whiz at math, struggled with his math facts. We started xtramath this fall. He was 10.5. He did fine on addition but took forever on subtraction. I was frustrated but we plugged along and he finally passed it. Multiplication didn't take him quite as long and now he's on division.

 

I think 8 is young to have them all memorized. As long as he understands the concept of multiplication keep plugging along. IMO I think at least thru 3rd grade understanding the concept is more important than mastery. Still strive for mastery but I won't hold team back if they have a solid understanding.