Slow going

[LolaT]

I'm needing to vent. My DD8 is done with 3rd grade, but we continue to review during the summer. We did take a solid two weeks off and take days off when we have other activities planned like pool or playing with friends. In other words, yes, I'm giving her a break.

 

For the summer, I planned on having her finish her cursive workbook that was not completed during the reg. school year, work on Singapore Math Extra Practice workbook and catch up on SOTW vol 2 and Science for which we are way behind while also doing some art. I expected to spend no more than two hours each day.

 

She barely manages to get cursive and math done and it's taking about three or more hours! The quality of the work is poor (measuring against her previous work) and she is generally just slow. I don't know how else to describe it. It's driving me crazy. She has had problems focusing and with distractions in the past but this is just slow. I don't know what to do. She's currently on a rather high dose of Concerta, I don't really feel like asking for another increase. Beyond my current frustration, I'm really concerned she won't be able to keep up when we start a much more robust 4th grade curriculum in the fall. She also seems to have completely lost any interest in reading and there's nothing I can do to get her back into it.

 

Any ideas or experience with this?

[Lots of boys]

my ds (9) just finished up 3rd as well and he is a VERY slow worker. We just started our summer break. I am trying to review math all summer but am only doing about 10 minutes a day just to keep it fresh in his mind (he really struggles with math).

 

I don't really have any advice other than to maybe drop the history and science. I don't worry as much about those subjects with my kids. We plug away at them during the year but we just pick up where we left off the following year - we rarely think about htem over the summer break. For instance, we started SOTW two years ago and are on week 14 of SOTW2 - meh!, it doesn't bother me. History and Science are fun for my kids and I am not rushing them.

 

I also give more incentives during the summer for math review. I put questions up on a white board for them each morning and they get points for completing them anytime before bedtime that day. So it leaves it nice and flexible for them which they love (and are often motivated to finish them early in the day just because they aren't being forced to). Once they get a certain amount of points we take them out for ice-cream treats (it works out to every other week or so).

[Kanin]

I can identify with this! My 9 year old student is super slow when it comes to doing work, and can barely pay attention for a few minutes. I can't figure out if I just need to make the work more fun, or if he just needs to suck it up and pay attention. I'm thinking it's probably on me...

[PeterPan]

I know nothing about Concerta, but could she be in a fog as a side effect?

 

That's a lot of work to do for summer anything. I'd throw it all away and spend the summer doing Sam Campbell read alouds and science hikes. The Sam Campbell books are funny. My dd enjoyed them at that age. Maybe at the end of the summer something will interest her if you spend time exploring that way, just real stuff that's interesting. Curriculum isn't interesting.

[LolaT]

I know nothing about Concerta, but could she be in a fog as a side effect?

 

That's a lot of work to do for summer anything. I'd throw it all away and spend the summer doing Sam Campbell read alouds and science hikes. The Sam Campbell books are funny. My dd enjoyed them at that age. Maybe at the end of the summer something will interest her if you spend time exploring that way, just real stuff that's interesting. Curriculum isn't interesting.

 

Concerta is the only med that doesn't put her in a fog. In fact, when she got on this initially, that's when her reading really took off. I do notice she doesn't appear as "quick" or "sharp" as before but I don't have reason to attribute that to the meds at this point.

 

The thing is she really likes SOTW (with exception of writing the narrations), we just never get to it. She likes science too for the most part because it involves labs, hands on stuff and little writing. She loves to do art. It's the "easy", for review stuff that she's not getting done. I bit the bullet the other day and sat with her for 3 solid hours going over a Singapore Math exercise she had not completed successfully before. I just don't have the endurance to that everyday. There has been improvement since then though. So I'm hoping to capitalize on the momentum.

 

Thanks for the book suggestion though! We do a lot of outdoor stuff, some nature hikes, kayaking, biking on trails. I'm looking into these right now. She does like books that are in a series. Maybe this will spark her interest again. She's currently reading "The Secret Benedict Society". I asked her if she wasn't enjoying it. She said she liked it fine but that she mostly liked fiction, fantasy, adventure books (Secrets of Droon.) We'll see, maybe this will expand her reading horizons!

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

[PeterPan]

Ooo, my dd loved the Mysterious Benedict Society! Later she'll probably enjoy the Hobbit and LotR. :)

 

You know on the math, you might just set a timer and stop when it goes off. 3 hours isn't good. Or consider going a different way for your quick review time. Teaching Textbooks would be FABULOUS for that. I know people slam it, but my dd's computation scores SHOT UP with it. Super short lessons, interactive, humor, narrative, bits of history. It really works for my dd. And it's ok to balance like that, doing Singapore during the school year and TT during the summer. Nothing says her review/speed up material has to be Singapore.

 

We're going to get back into a regular school schedule in another week or two. In the summer I always try to keep it short, around 1.5 hours. You know this (preaching to the choir here), but short sessions. Set a timer, work together, stop when it goes off, no matter what. And on the fog, is she verbal enough to tell you? Have you thought about pursuing neurofeedback or Interactive Metronome instead? You can do a hack version of IM yourself with a metronome app. I got a book by Guffanti that mentioned an alternative to neurofeedback, and I still haven't looked it up. Neurofeedback is SUPPOSED to be as effective as meds. Might give you some options.