DD6 is terrified of math fact drills

[Hazelt"nut"]

We are using saxon 2 for her (she is first grade) The content seems to fit very well. Most of what we are doing is review from last year. She is actually good in math. She comes to me out of the blue and says things like.."Mommy did you know that4 plus 4 plus4 is 12. Or did you know that 50 plus 50 plus50 plus 50 is 200. I take these comments to mean that to some degree her mind is a bit numbers minded. She knows her facts. We have done doubles, plus ones, zeros of course, double plus ones, sums of ten and plus 2's. She always gets them right..but when one of those dreaded drills comes out 25 in one minute...she freaks. She gets pitiful, scared, cries, we end up fighting..I tried folding the page and having her only do 15 but she hates being timed. I told her it was a skill she had to learn (the being timed part) and pressed on but the other day I couldn't get her to say : I am good at math. She started sobbing..real sobs..defeated sobs. These stinking drills are making her dislike math and so we have decided to drop the timing of the drills for now. We will still do flashcards and the sheets but just not timed. I decided the trade off for sticking to the timed drills was not worth it. I don't want her to think she is a math failure. Perhaps we could revisit later in the year or in 2nd grade.

What do you think?

 

Sheryl

[JudoMom]

I dropped timed drills, too. I just now started having ds9 & ds8 time themselves this year (they are in 6/5 & 5/4 respectively), but they time how long it takes them to finish a sheet instead of seeing how many they can get done in X amount of time. I don't time my ds6 (also in Saxon 2). I think at that age it's hard to do the problem, remember how to write the number, and get it on paper with the pressure of the clock.

[PeterPan]

My dd wilts at a large page of drills too, but she does just fine with the abeka drills, where they take a page and divide it into 4 quadrants, each with its own time. I like the abeka drills so much, I'd suggest buying them. They're so gentle and still do the trick. Or if you want to use your saxon drills, take a spiffy marker (purple, whatever) and divide it into much smaller sections, each with its own time. She can start in pencil, switch to red when the timer goes off (no pressure to finish, just keep going till you're done). Then put a sticker if she beat the time. I think some kids are just like that, where large amounts of something overwhelm them. My dd is now doing just as much drill as a whole large page of something, but she has no problems when it's divided up and just gets overwhelmed when it's all in one. To me, that's not a battle worth fighting, kwim? I wondered if it was because *I* was doing something wrong, but I truly think it's just personality. So divide it up, make it more fun, and live in peace. :)

[bkpan]

We are using saxon 2 for her (she is first grade) The content seems to fit very well. Most of what we are doing is review from last year. She is actually good in math. She comes to me out of the blue and says things like.."Mommy did you know that4 plus 4 plus4 is 12. Or did you know that 50 plus 50 plus50 plus 50 is 200. I take these comments to mean that to some degree her mind is a bit numbers minded. She knows her facts. We have done doubles, plus ones, zeros of course, double plus ones, sums of ten and plus 2's. She always gets them right..but when one of those dreaded drills comes out 25 in one minute...she freaks. She gets pitiful, scared, cries, we end up fighting..I tried folding the page and having her only do 15 but she hates being timed. I told her it was a skill she had to learn (the being timed part) and pressed on but the other day I couldn't get her to say : I am good at math. She started sobbing..real sobs..defeated sobs. These stinking drills are making her dislike math and so we have decided to drop the timing of the drills for now. We will still do flashcards and the sheets but just not timed. I decided the trade off for sticking to the timed drills was not worth it. I don't want her to think she is a math failure. Perhaps we could revisit later in the year or in 2nd grade.

What do you think?

 

Sheryl

 

Ahh, poor baby. Yes, I would definitely stop timing her. My dc seemed to get uptight about being timed when they were younger as well, so we stopped for quite a while. We recently started up again, but only because they wanted to - they have fun with it and compete with themselves and each other.

 

For me personally, I wouldn't care if my dc ever did timed drills. The point is for them to memorize the facts to facilitate their ability to do higher level math. I don't think they need to be "trained" to do it by some speed.

 

HTH

 

Kim

[Country Mouse]

I agree with dropping the timed drills if it is making her so upset.

If you want her to continue practicing her facts you could try a little electronic flashcard device such as Math Shark, Math Whiz or Flashmaster. It makes it more like a game.

[Tabrett]

My dd couldn't have a timer for anything. If I tried to use a timer to help her clean her room faster she would just stand frozen and stair and start to cry. This was her personality. It did not have anything to do with ability. Some kids think using a timer is a game and will work hard and fast. Timed drills are great if this is the way your child is motivated. Some kid's brains freeze at the thought of a timer. For them a timer hurts the learning process. Just drop the timer and tell her she has all the time she needs. That is why homeschooling is great. You CAN drop the timer. It's ok and better for your child's learning style to not use a timer. Getting the math facts correct is the important thing, not speed. In real life speed in math comes with a calculator.

[Kimber]

We did timed copywork, rather than drills, and I gave them enough time to get them all if they did it quickly. It worked well for my kids.

 

Good Luck,

Kimberly

[abbeyej]

Keep the drills, but STOP TIMING THEM. Yes, *someday* she'll need to learn to work under the pressure of a clock, but it doesn't need to be at age 6, and it doesn't need to be *combined* with the pressure of learning something new.

 

Just have her keep doing the drills, but tell her you will not be timing them. It's up to her to work quickly so that it's *over*, but you aren't going to be counting seconds. (If she tends to start staring out the window or contemplating the wood grain on her pencil, you might want to sit next to her and say things like, "Good, next! Great job, keep going! Okay, next!" etc...)

 

Yes, she has to learn the drills. They'll get faster as she practices. And some time when she's more confident, you may even say, "Hey, do you want to see how long this one takes you?" Then if she's faster than she used to be, praise the hard work that lead to her improvement. If she does the page in 1:30 or in :45, either one is great as long as it demonstrates an improvement. ... But the fact is, *you* will know if she's going faster with or without an official timer, and even if you never time her again, you'll know if it's coming more easily, if she's writing as quickly as she can, without pauses to think or calculate.

 

Learning to work quickly can come later. And when she isn't struggling to master a new skill at the same time.

[Debbie in OR]

Play Math War...way more fun and there is an element of quick recall but they have no idea they are being "drilled".

[Plaid Dad]

My dd also hates being timed. I decided that, at this young age, it's not crucial that she be able to spit out facts in a set amount of time. We play lots of math games as a stress-free way of drilling facts, and it has made a world of difference in her attitude about arithmetic.

[nmoira]

Without even trying, I know that my oldest would melt at the prospect of timed drills. She has perfectionist tendencies and it would cause her great anxiety.

[Vita Passiva]

We are just starting out with math for kindergarten, using Rod and Staff 1. In this program there are timed tests every other day, but only three rows of them, on a half sheet of paper. He started calling them math races and I tell him he's only trying to "beat" his score from the last time. He likes to even set the timer himself, so he pretty much views this as a game, not a drill or test. I just count the ones he got right, don't make a big deal of the ones he missed and the next time he can't wait to beat his score. Since he's so young, I just do this for fun as he enjoys them. We hang up his high score until he beats it.

 

This probably would only work for those of you with sports nuts kids who love to make everything into a game with scores. My boys do this for everything, even if it's winning against themselves. My three year old will finish his apple and shout, "yeah! I won!" I realize this might not be helpful for your dd, but maybe making it into a game could be helpful, rather than a drill that must be done.

 

Although I myself was and am much more like your dd, I don't like the pressure to accomplish or perform, so I can relate to her stress.

[TwinMominTX]

If you're interested in charting improvemenet, instead of timing her and making her stop at a certain amount of time, instead have her finish the drill sheet and record the time it takes.

 

My girls really enjoy seeing progress and therefore tolerate (and usually like) the timed drills.

[Hazelt"nut"]

Thanks everyone.

I appreciate the feed back and the timed aspect of the drills is now gone.!!! Good ridence! My daughter does have a perfectionistic personality. I guess I didn't get this at first..I was the same way as a kid but I also craved competition.

 

I am so thankful that I am a homeschooler and can stop the madness! If she was in school I'd have no control and she would keep on hating math. How sad that would be. I'm actually looking forward to teaching math tomorrow and seeing her smile!!!

 

Thanks gang for the encouragement.

Sheryl

[fractalgal]

We are using saxon 2 for her (she is first grade) The content seems to fit very well. Most of what we are doing is review from last year. She is actually good in math. She comes to me out of the blue and says things like.."Mommy did you know that4 plus 4 plus4 is 12. Or did you know that 50 plus 50 plus50 plus 50 is 200. I take these comments to mean that to some degree her mind is a bit numbers minded. She knows her facts. We have done doubles, plus ones, zeros of course, double plus ones, sums of ten and plus 2's. She always gets them right..but when one of those dreaded drills comes out 25 in one minute...she freaks. She gets pitiful, scared, cries, we end up fighting..I tried folding the page and having her only do 15 but she hates being timed. I told her it was a skill she had to learn (the being timed part) and pressed on but the other day I couldn't get her to say : I am good at math. She started sobbing..real sobs..defeated sobs. These stinking drills are making her dislike math and so we have decided to drop the timing of the drills for now. We will still do flashcards and the sheets but just not timed. I decided the trade off for sticking to the timed drills was not worth it. I don't want her to think she is a math failure. Perhaps we could revisit later in the year or in 2nd grade.

What do you think?

 

Sheryl

 

I would have her stop the timing, or double or even triple the time. I do not grade my kids on timing. My thought is that math is better done correctly than quickly.

The goal of the timing is to get the child to focus and tune out distractions. This is a nice goal, but not worth frustrating her over at this point. I'd come back to it later.

[lvbeingmom]

I dropped timed drills too. I still had her do the sheets, I just did not time them.

[EKS]

I'm using Saxon 3 with my little guy and the fact drills freak him out too. I give him the choice of having me write and being timed or not timed. I time how long it takes for him to finish the whole sheet so that he doesn't think he has a time limit that he isn't meeting each time.

[Pata]

We are using saxon 2 for her (she is first grade) The content seems to fit very well. Most of what we are doing is review from last year. She is actually good in math. She comes to me out of the blue and says things like.."Mommy did you know that4 plus 4 plus4 is 12. Or did you know that 50 plus 50 plus50 plus 50 is 200. I take these comments to mean that to some degree her mind is a bit numbers minded. She knows her facts. We have done doubles, plus ones, zeros of course, double plus ones, sums of ten and plus 2's. She always gets them right..but when one of those dreaded drills comes out 25 in one minute...she freaks. She gets pitiful, scared, cries, we end up fighting..I tried folding the page and having her only do 15 but she hates being timed. I told her it was a skill she had to learn (the being timed part) and pressed on but the other day I couldn't get her to say : I am good at math. She started sobbing..real sobs..defeated sobs. These stinking drills are making her dislike math and so we have decided to drop the timing of the drills for now. We will still do flashcards and the sheets but just not timed. I decided the trade off for sticking to the timed drills was not worth it. I don't want her to think she is a math failure. Perhaps we could revisit later in the year or in 2nd grade.

What do you think?

 

Sheryl

 

We dropped timing the drill sheets because my dd had the same reaction. Honestly, it didn't help, so we dropped the drill sheets all together. We now use the MUS drill page. You can choose what to focus on, making 10, double, +1, +2, +9 and so on. It has really helped my dd to get the drill practice she needs without the frustration of a big scary drill page.

[mumtoo3]

i have started writing the answers for her because its too much for her to think about and this seems to work really well :)