Starting up this week... math FAIL! LOL

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I'm starting back up slowly, as we have a new baby in the house.  I'm only doing math and reading this week, and big surprise, my kids forgot how to do math.  Completely. 

 

My son is in SM3 and I wrote 7000 - 3000 on the whiteboard.  His first guess was "a million?"  After pulling most of my hair out, I managed to get him to get the right answer.  And then we reviewed place value (ie, 10,000 does not mean a million!), basic facts (ie, 7-3 does not equal "Uhhhhh...."), and PLUS vs MINUS signs.  Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

So the poor kid is going back to daily XtraMath practice- he's not happy about that! 

 

And then my poor dd, who has forgotten which cuisinaire rod is which. 

 

I will never let them have more than a week off of math again!  Ever!  I KNEW better than this, but my end-of-pregnancy brain was like, "Just send them outside, it's ok.  Eat a piece of cheesecake while they can't see you.  Put on Magic School Bus and take a nap.  They won't forget ALL of EVERYTHING in just four weeks..."

 

 

[Tress]

:grouphug: I remember my surprise last year when the same thing happened to my then dd7 and dd5. It never happened with my oldest dd, so I was totally unprepared :lol:.

 

It will come back and probably sooner than you think.

 

And :party: congratulations with the baby!

[RootAnn]

I will never let them have more than a week off of math again!

:grouphug: It isn't this bad once they are older & have more math under their belts. When they are 10 or 12, you can let them have a week off (still maybe not three) without everything going out of their brain. And, as a bonus, when they are 12, they'll have brain burps from one day to the next where they will forget things they knew the day before - like 6+4 or what a 'fraction' even looks like.  :glare:

[alisoncooks]

We had a similar experience with reading. Took a 4 week break, and suddenly my child reading Frog & Toad was back to struggling with CVC words... :(

[konglish]

Thanks for sharing your cautionary tale.  I will lower my expectations for when we start back to school soon.  Also, thanks for admitting that you sneak cheesecake when your kids aren't looking.  I have been known to do that myself.  Daily.

[wallingjan]

Been there with the math. I tend to sneak chocolate chips.

[wallingjan]

Been there with the math. I tend to sneak chocolate chips.

[Nicholas_mom]

Every year we take a summer break.  Every September we take a 1 week or 2 to quickly go over what was taught last year.  No biggie, they start remembering much quicker then you think, especially as they get older.

[JessReplanted]

 

 

My son is in SM3 and I wrote 7000 - 3000 on the whiteboard.  His first guess was "a million?"  After pulling most of my hair out, I managed to get him to get the right answer.  And then we reviewed place value (ie, 10,000 does not mean a million!), basic facts (ie, 7-3 does not equal "Uhhhhh...."), and PLUS vs MINUS signs.  Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

So the poor kid is going back to daily XtraMath practice- he's not happy about that! 

 

 

FWIW, I have a son like this, and Singapore Math nearly killed him. We switched to CLE and the constant review has made a huge difference for him.

 

:grouphug:

[smudge]

HAHA! This was me when we started up 2 weeks ago. I knew I should have kept them going a page a day on the math! 

[mumto2]

Learned my lesson long ago also. Math happens in some form everyday at our house also.

 

:grouphug: dd still talks about how horrible it was to not remember her math when we took a month off when she was 7. The was problem for us was Singapore Math also....

[wintermom]

It will come back. Relax and don't worry.

[puddleduck]

I know all about this. Year-round homeschooling has solved this problem

[Critterfixer]

It's like skating. You have to take a few laps around the rink, holding the rail, then you get your balance again.

(For those old enough to remember when a trip to the town rink was a treat!)

 

I took a summer break with my ten year old boys, about six weeks. You would have thought that everything they ever learned drained out of their ears while they slept at night. But very patient review has them recalling what they "thought" they forgot. Turns out they didn't forget, they just shelved it and forgot where in the brain they put it.

 

 

While it is nice to have the option of continuing math all year, and it certainly would keep things fresh, I think there can be some value in learning how to remember when something isn't fresh in your mind more or less continuously. I am constantly going back to the books to refresh my memory when something I don't use every day comes up. I don't consider that information to be lost, or never learned--it just needs refreshing. Not only will it come back to your kids, but you have an opportunity to show them HOW you refresh your memory, how to be gentle with yourself for not having a computer for a brain, and how taking the time to review isn't wasted time. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Thanks for all the "Been there, done that" fellowship!  I pulled out SM2b and we're going through all the review sheets in the TB, with very good results.  :-D  It's also rebuilding his confidence that yes, indeed, he did once know how to do this stuff!  I figure we'll then zip through the 3a review pages and then be ready to pick back up where we let off!  I hate "wasting" this time, but figure it's a lesson for ME about needing to keep math fresh, at least until they are a bit older and have had more time to cement things in place.