Math help--for a terrible memorizer!

[dietmom]

I'm going to be starting a homeschool curriculum for my daughter this summer focusing on improving her math skills. She has really fallen through the cracks at school--and doesn't seem to be able to get her math facts down despite lots of drill. She could even have it one day and forget it the next. Specifically subtraction and division are her weak points. But we really need to learn them this summer. Her teacher was hesitant to move her on to the next grade. Her main issue is when she is timed--which is just as much mental as it is about knowing the facts, I realize. Any ideas? Things that have helped your kids?

[edeemarie]

If you want her to work on timed drills you could use www.xtramath.com. If you want to just work on knowing mental math and facts better i would suggest Right Start math games.

[The Way of My People]

I'm a big believer in good, old-fashioned flash cards. If you start with a small deck (slowly adding more facts as she masters some), keep the emotion out of it, and do it for a few minutes every day, it's a relatively painless way to master math facts. This assumes your daughter understands the processes behind the math facts and just needs to work on memorization/speed.

 

I second the recommendation for www.xtramath.com. You can change the settings to allow your daughter 6 seconds (instead the of the default 3) to answer. It's stressful for kids who don't like to be timed, but getting her used to thinking quickly is important.

[dietmom]

thanks for the ideas! I like the kitchen table idea--she is very much hands on---and I think that's why the facts don't appeal to her and don't stay in her mind. She is able to memorize things she wants to-LOL!

[Alessandra]

One way that works for us is for me to do an aural drill. I can figure out whether to make the problems easier or harder, depending on child's response. I can do difficult ones, like 7 x 8, and repeat in a row, or insert between every other problem. I can do tables or random jumps. Dc actually find it sort of fun, and I like that we can do math in the car, or when I am cooking dinner, etc.

 

We have also had success with xtra math -- start with the 6-second option, not the 3-second option. And TimezAttack is a wonderful, fun computer game for learning times tables. Quizlet also has flash cards of multiplication facts -- can be used on computer or tablet.