mamakelly Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 My 12 year old daughter and I were driving alone in the car tonight and she saw a 25% off sign. So she was trying to figure out how much 25% of $10 was and it took her forever to figure it out. Then I asked her what 25% of $3 was and that took her even longer :huh: Last week she kept missing simple multiplication facts. I've tried different curriculum, we've tried every way imaginable to memorize math facts (songs, dvd's, Borstein Cards, etc..) She has them sort of memorized, but they aren't fast recall for her. It's so frustrating. Can anyone commiserate? I have no idea how she is going to get through high school math (or if she really can get through it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Mine doesn't get arithmetic, but since she's seven I'm going to hold onto hope a while longer. She can do other maths, thankfully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TianXiaXueXiao Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I was the same as your daughter at that age. Math just didn't click. I did really well in freshman year algebra in high school. Then I could not grasp geometry at all the following year and honestly I don't remember any high school math courses after that. When I went to college, I started out in a remedial pre-algebra course and ended up being a tutor and getting through calculus 3 and differential equations with solid scores. I fell in love with math in college. I still hate figuring out percents and I will admit that I use my calculator to give my daughter her test scores. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Well I don't know what you're dealing with, but there are clinical words for the things you're describing. When we had my dd eval'd (right at that age, actually!), turned out she had a dramatically low processing speed compared to her IQ. Her word retrieval is very poor also. So no, math facts are never going to be fast for her. On the other hand, 7th grade puberty made her look like an utter idiot. By 14 she recovered and become omniscient. Now she's a very fine human being who works hard. So if it's just puberty, there's hope. :) Given the extent of your concerns, you could definitely consider evals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocassie Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 What really helps me is concrete application vs abstract. A lot of math is taught in the abstract (at least in my opinion.) It wasn't until I started baking and having to double or half a recipe that I really grasped fractions, especially multiplying and dividing. It was the actual doing and seeing the results that then allowed me to apply it in the abstract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 But is she a kid who would find that problem not too hard in a page of percent problems? That's how I was as a kid. I feel like that's a procedural thing. No one ever encouraged me to do mental math as a kid. So doing something like 25% seemed crazy without a piece of paper and doing a whole algorithm. Which, now, seems bizarre. I mean, half of half and it's like a fraction and it's... obvious. But no one had encouraged that connection directly and think about how to make things easy and which things could be made easier and so forth. I guess my first thing would be to try to do some mental math and learn some mental math tricks and see if that helps. I agree that it may not be math smarts but just processing - some kids are totally capable, they just run through stuff like that slower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Thanks for the ideas, I'm at a total loss with her. I emailed my homeschool facilitator, and we will be talking about testing etc...I've put it off far too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Ditto to what Elizabeth said about slow processing. My ds has this...big time, and early math was horrible, painful, tearful. I started using RightStart when he was half way through first grade, and although it was difficult for him at times, it is an excellent, excellent program. What I have seen with him is that his fluency and calculation are still not great...barely grade level on testing, but his conceptual understanding of mathematics is excellent. Sure enough, we are doing algebra this year and (so far-it is still September!) he has done very well and easily understands everything. As students like this progress into more conceptual math that relies less heavily on memorization, they may do better. For now, check out RS!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MrDarcy'sWife Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I can commiserate! I have a fifteen year old who is starting her third year of algebra.......and as I was tutoring her yesterday she looked flummoxed by long division! The thing is, she'll get things as we are doing them, but a couple weeks after we have moved on, it's like it falls out of her head in order to make room for something new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 I can commiserate! I have a fifteen year old who is starting her third year of algebra.......and as I was tutoring her yesterday she looked flummoxed by long division! The thing is, she'll get things as we are doing them, but a couple weeks after we have moved on, it's like it falls out of her head in order to make room for something new! Oh my gosh, YES! This is how I feel with her. It's like she" forgets" stuff and has to be reminded all the time. It's so frustrating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I recently had a conversation with a friend about our math struggles as kids. She managed to overcome hers and became a doctor; I barely passed Algebra 2 as a senior in high school despite being an honors student otherwise. She pointed out that now a school would definitely call for evaluations, and that likely there is an LD at play. I don't know why that never occurred to me. My 11yo has far outpaced what I'm capable of when it comes to math and math reasoning. Looking back, I wonder what different path I might have taken had that enormous failure not been hanging over my head. I say at 12, get her tested. I wish I'd been. ((Hugs )) to you and her. Is hard when you just can't make it make sense. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Macshadow Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Just don't get too upset. It must be very difficult for your daughter too. Hopefully it's just a phase and her mind is so distracted and wanders off. Maybe not all maths will be fog. Maybe it won't be bad at all. She may recover and prove everyone she's a top notch! I wish you both that exactly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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