Is this an indication that we should wait a year for algebra?

[songsparrow]

I have been doing Algebra with my 13yo 8th grader last year and this year using Jacobs' Elementary Algebra.  It is not my goal to push her through math at an accelerated schedule; my goal is to keep her appropriately engaged and challenged and I thought it was appropriate for her to begin algebra last year.  My intention was to move through the book at half speed, covering it in two years.

 

Last year my goal was to make it to the midpoint of the book, but we didn't quite make it there.  Reviewing her grades from last year, she was generally scoring As and Bs.  Where she scored lower was usually due to sloppy work.  This year, I planned to move a little more quickly, with the goal being to complete the book by the end of the year.  But over the past month, we've been struggling.  I did slow down the pace to take the time to review and reinforce some concepts (which seemed reasonable after a summer break).  

 

Today she took her first chapter quiz and only scored 73%.  The thing is, she seems to get the algebra concepts.  She sets up the equations properly and understands how to work with them.

 

But where she's struggling is with thoroughness and accuracy in her work.  In almost every problem that she missed, it was because she dropped a negative somewhere along the line.  To address this, I've been struggling to get her to show her work (and she is improving).  I also can’t get her to understand how important checks are - that she should *never* get a question wrong due to faulty arithmetic because the check will tell her whether she got it right or wrong.  She’s sloppy with her checks and so doesn’t catch her wrong answers.

 

She also is working more slowly than I expected, so homework takes much longer than I budgeted, and the time it took her to do the quiz took much longer than I expected.  

 

So at this point, I'm wondering if it's appropriate to continue with algebra and assume that these skills will improve over the course of the year as we continue to work on them?  Or should I switch to other things for this year and let her re-take algebra again next year in 9th grade?  If she were struggling with the algebra concepts themselves, it would be an easy decision for me to decide to wait another year.  But are these other sorts of issues - attention to detail, accuracy, speed of work - maturation issues for which it would be beneficial to delay a year?  

[madteaparty]

I don't know, because we're not in Algebra proper yet but my DS(10) has similar issues. Correctly sets up an equation and then makes an error on arithmetic or reversing a sign or something like that. We are forging ahead but also taking the time to drill elementary arithmetic a bit.

I was taught to re-write the equation after each step and am struggling to teach DS this as well (he would rather skip a couple of steps and do the simplifying in his head)

[Ali in OR]

I would continue to move forward but also continue to work on these skills. If she were younger, like a 6th grader doing algebra, it might be more appropriate to wait, but at 8th grade and with no major difficulty with the algebra concepts, I thinks it's fine to keep moving and plan on finishing algebra this year. In our state, algebra in 8th is becoming the standard, not the accelerated path. The skills will come with practice. My dd had many many errors of this sort the first few months of doing algebra. And in my former life as a high school math teacher, I can tell you that problems with dropping negatives or not handling them correctly are probably the most common error I saw. With my dd, every test I wrote for her continued to have more of those problems (along with the current material) until her skills were automatic. You can write out "warm-up" problems on a white board for her to practice these skills daily. Are the homework assignments too long? Better to have fewer problems done completely and correctly than 20 or 30 that were raced through or not thought out thoroughly.

 

ETA: Learning to show your work in a clear, systematic way is one of the most important things you can do in the middle school years. It is essential for the math that is coming, and it's an important life skill--you need to be able to explain your thinking in a way others can follow. Coming from Singapore Primary Math, my dd has excellent mental math skills and can do a lot in her head. It took a long time to get her to show her steps (like probably most of 7th grade--she was doing a lot better by 8th grade). Now she's in a public school class and is being praised for showing her work while other kids are marked down for having a homework paper that looks like an answer key--no work, just answers!

[JanetC]

Also, sometimes the way past problems is to make mistakes and learn from them, not to simply "wait to grow out of them." Managing negative signs and showing your work are abstract skills that require practice.

[songsparrow]

OK, so it sounds like she's a pretty typical algebra student and we just need to not panic and keep soldiering on.  We can do that!  Thanks!!!

[kiana]

I would echo the others about not considering this a sign of unreadiness for algebra. I see the same problem with my university students all the time.

 

Honestly, I think sometimes this gets worse if you just wait -- because then it's even easier and engages less of the student's brain, so they become more careless.

 

Have you considered using a different color pencil for addition and subtraction operations? I have heard of some students having success with this.

[hornblower]

Also, are you using graph paper for working out problems (all probs, not just graphing ones)? It really helps both my kids to see the work more clearly & line things up neatly.
 

[robsiew]

I agree with the advice you've been given... to keep on keepin on!  My 13 (almost 14 y/o) ds did MUS Algebra last year as his pre-algebra and is doing Jacob's Algebra this year too.  The algebra is not hard, but like your dd he makes a lot of minor mistakes.  I have noticed less mistakes this year than last year so I think we're heading in the right direction.  I am struggling with him in showing work too.

 

Could you make a reminder card that would have the steps you suggest she take to check her work on it?  (ie.  Show work, check your negative signs, check to see your arithmetic is correct, etc.) Then she has the reminders right in front of her.  If she chooses not to follow it you can chalk it up to laziness and consequences fall where they may.  Then you are confident she has a tool to help her remember to check EVERYTHING.

[Elisabet1]

I used Keys to Algebra along side Jacob's. We moved slowly too. The flipping negative numbers is very common. And Keys to has an entire book devoted to that.

[OneStepAtATime]

I agree keep moving but maybe have her create a checklist with you of things she needs to go back and look at when she misses a problem.  Have her correct her own daily work.  In other words, give her the answers to check her own daily work and have her use the checklist to keep the steps straight for where to look for the possible error.  Then review with her afterwards.  Deemphasize grades completely so she sees that there is no gain to cheating (not that she would cheat but some kids feel so much pressure to get the right answer they may "cheat" instead of just accepting that the goal is to learn the process and the concepts to mastery).  

 

And you very well might look at using the Key to series alongside Jacobs.  Love those workbooks.  Really easy to do, no TM needed.  Maybe even go back and do the fractions/percents books and THEN do the Algebra books, just to be absolutely certain all the steps are solid for those.  Hands on Equations might be going back too far but it might also help, too.  Something to look at anyway...

 

Good luck, OP.