timed math facts

[athomeontheprairie]

My dd8 really struggles with math, especially mental math (frankly I did to. While I have completed advanced calculus, mental math is something I've never been good at.)

So here's my question: how quickly should she be able to do basic math facts? How go I successfully encourage her to do them faster? 6 minutes for 40 problems is TOO long for me, and it slows down all other math problems when you have a to really stop and think about how much 10-7 or 5+4. How do we move pay this and add done speed to these facts? We've tried practice, flash carda, games, signs. I am at a loss at how to proceed.

Thanks!

[athomeontheprairie]

How do we move forward and add some speed to these facts? (darn auto-correct! )

[Jess4879]

We have this problem here too. We started using Math Reflex and have had good results so far. :)

[Plateau Mama]

Xtramath.com. You can choose a target of 4, 3 or 1.5 seconds. 3 seconds is considered mastered by most.

[Persephone]

The research that I have read on mastering math facts indicate that it is best to:

1.  Achieve 40 facts a minute in a "See/Say" format (problems written on a sheet, or flashcards laid out on the table).  If writing the answers, then 60 digits/minute  - note that answers often have more than one digit.

2.  Start with very few facts and get those to the mastery goal, then add in just one or two more, and get them to mastery goal.  Eventually, start pulling out very well mastered facts for less frequent review.

When students are introduced to too many facts at a time, and then they correctly respond at a slow rate (or worse, give wrong answers), it is really hard for them to master any, and it is really hard to add in new facts.  Often the new ones end up "messing" up the supposedly learned previous facts.  

 

It may seem crazy to get a few up to 40/minute when you feel like you should be adding more, but it helps the child's brain to store them in long-term memory, plus the boost to self-esteem is remarkable.    

 

Does this approach work?  I have used it with about 4 students, and it made a huge difference in not only their retention of the facts, but in their view of themselves as math students.  I did not insist on this rate with addition facts with my dd, but after learning about it, I used this approach on multiplication facts.  Three years later, she still thinks multiplication facts are "easier" than addition, and she is indeed more fluent with them.  

 

Of course between timings there needs to be instruction and focused practice on any new challenging facts.  Introduce a new fact by using a previously mastered fact, e.g. "5x5 = 30, so what does 5x6  - which is one more five - equal?"

 

(BTW, it is extremely difficult to shuffle through flashcards at the pace of 40/min.  I provide practice with flashcards in my hand, shuffling through them, but I assess by putting the flashcards down on the table and pointing at each one with a pen as the student responds with the answers.)

 

 

 

[Tanikit]

I used the free version of www.sumdog.com with my DD - it definitely increased her speed and had more than enough repetition. The competitive aspect of it helps a lot too as long as your child is not prone to panic if he can't think fast enough.

[Walking-Iris]

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Math-Timed-Tests/dp/1561896764/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375273269&sr=8-2&keywords=math+timed+tests

 

You could try giving her a facts sheet each day or on a weekly schedule.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Math-Skills-Made-Fun-Around/dp/0439453380/ref=pd_sim_b_6

 

My oldest ds worked through this graph facts book when he was cementing his facts. The plotting of the answers on the graph helped with....well plotting things on a graph, as well as visual tracking. 

 

Also IMO hands on manipulatives, such as c-rods etc are handy to continue to use and keep available. Repeated work with visual hands on tools help kids gain fluency in mental math. 

 

I wouldn't worry about speed, or how long a lesson is taking necessarily, until you were confident the concepts were understood. 

 

If a child is struggling to understand math, it would be pointless imho to try to expect them to do it mentally and timed. 

[Mom2TheTeam]

The research that I have read on mastering math facts indicate that it is best to:

1.  Achieve 40 facts a minute in a "See/Say" format (problems written on a sheet, or flashcards laid out on the table).  If writing the answers, then 60 digits/minute  - note that answers often have more than one digit.

2.  Start with very few facts and get those to the mastery goal, then add in just one or two more, and get them to mastery goal.  Eventually, start pulling out very well mastered facts for less frequent review.

When students are introduced to too many facts at a time, and then they correctly respond at a slow rate (or worse, give wrong answers), it is really hard for them to master any, and it is really hard to add in new facts.  Often the new ones end up "messing" up the supposedly learned previous facts.  

 

It may seem crazy to get a few up to 40/minute when you feel like you should be adding more, but it helps the child's brain to store them in long-term memory, plus the boost to self-esteem is remarkable.    

 

Does this approach work?  I have used it with about 4 students, and it made a huge difference in not only their retention of the facts, but in their view of themselves as math students.  I did not insist on this rate with addition facts with my dd, but after learning about it, I used this approach on multiplication facts.  Three years later, she still thinks multiplication facts are "easier" than addition, and she is indeed more fluent with them.  

 

Of course between timings there needs to be instruction and focused practice on any new challenging facts.  Introduce a new fact by using a previously mastered fact, e.g. "5x5 = 30, so what does 5x6  - which is one more five - equal?"

 

(BTW, it is extremely difficult to shuffle through flashcards at the pace of 40/min.  I provide practice with flashcards in my hand, shuffling through them, but I assess by putting the flashcards down on the table and pointing at each one with a pen as the student responds with the answers.)

 

This sounds great!  We tried xtramath.com and my son hated it after a few days.  :(  We haven't drilled much since then because I was unsure of how to approach it.  So, I appreciate the above explanation.  We are still working on addition and subtraction.  Actually, he knows his addition just because he does, but he needs work on the subtraction.

 

Questions for you:

 

How many do you start with at a time?  If you are supposed to start very few, which makes total sense to me, how do you do 40/minute?  Repeat?  Do 20/30 seconds? 

 

As you are adding more, is your goal to do 40 at a time, then as you take the mastered ones out you add in new but keep the number you are working on at 40?

 

I'm probably not making sense or missing the obvious.  Sorry, I'm still somewhat new to HS'ing and struggle with how to teach math even though I'm not bad at it.  *sigh* 

 

Thanks!

[Steven]

I have this problem with my daughter, too. Flash cards do not work for us because she falls apart as soon as she knows that I am timing her. But following Tanikit's suggestion, I looked up www.sumdog.com. My daughter loves it--she has spent the last two days playing the games. The only problem was that I only just now figured out how to set the program to give her specific kinds of problems (after logging in, click on the green box labeled "Math" on the left handside of the screen, and you can specify topics). We tried Xtramath, too, but she complained that it was just like electronic flash cards and refused to play it. At least for now, SumDog is the big hit at our house. 

[tabinfl]

Check out Reflex Math (online)! I used Math Blaster long ago, but I don't know if it even runs on today's PCs.

[Mommee & Baba]

I was going to come and suggest xtramath.org as well. I see another poster already said it. My girls both struggled in mastering their facts without really having to figure it out....so this whole summer they've been doing xtramath.org and the improvement is HUGE!