maryode Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 I'm a little bit at a loss for what to do... My 6th grader is very bright, but she strongly dislikes math, and has for several years--basically, ever since she started to have to work at it. She was doing MM for a couple years (mainly because it's both rigorous and mostly self-teaching). This year I switched her to The Good and the Beautiful Math 6 since she'd liked their language arts and I thought she'd enjoy the games/pictures, plus it still seems pretty rigorous. She likes it better, doesn't want to switch curricula, and has a slightly better attitude, but still gets suuuuper distracted if I don't sit with her and point to each problem to make her do them. Even then, it takes forever. The lessons are supposed to take 45-60 minutes, including the video, but for us it's a good day if she gets done in less than an hour and a half. Except for minor calculation mistakes, she understands the material and I feel like it's pretty much the right level--pushing her, but at a reasonable rate. If math ever gets too easy, she scorns it and doesn't necessarily finish that much sooner because she gets even more distracted. I tried taking her down a level and she was super annoyed. I tried to give her more "living" math, and she rolled her eyes and called it out--it's still math, just disguised. So I don't think the problem is that she can't do the math--it's more that she's unmotivated, works slowly, and gets distracted. I've tried putting her in a boring place (facing the wall, in a corner) and keeping it really quiet, but, as she says, "my brain still distracts me!" She's good-natured and wants to succeed, but has trouble mucking through the problems. Sometimes I let her do a few verbally, but that only works for a few types of problems. Breaking it up into two sessions doesn't seem to help because it takes her a while to "get into it." She usually prefers just to push through and finish. I even told her to alternate math problems with writing, but that also didn't work. Giving her a deadline just stresses her out and she gets emotional and loses confidence. According to an online test (I know), she doesn't have ADHD, but is much more likely gifted (which is reflected in other areas of her life), so I don't think anything like ADHD is the problem. My question is, am I off in thinking that a 6th grader can complete a math lesson in 60 minutes, or is 6th-grade math that hard for everyone? Is anyone else doing TGATB 6? is it even possible for a 12-year-old to complete it in 45 minutes if they're not a motivated math whiz? If it should be doable, do I just schedule 1 1/2 to 2 hours for math every day?? Or shorten the lessons? Or make her go into the summer, which would feel like punishment to both of us? 🙂 Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 Personally, I'd just schedule it for longer and eat the time. If she ever complains about how long it takes, you can point out that she can decide to do it faster. Could she maybe not do all the problems as well? Would that suffice for her to learn everything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nm. Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 There’s a ton of fluff in tgatb. Nice if your kid likes that subject, but if they already dislike it & it just stretches out their day it might not be worth it. DS who is in 6th does 2 pages a day of math mammoth year round with some breaks. If you have the pdf of math mammoth already, I would try a week of 2 pages a day and see if she enjoys her free time more than the cutesy stuff in TGATB. Year round isn’t 365 either, it’s maybe 200 days of math vs 180. & utilize all the math mammoth videos. You could probably get by with 2/day during school year and then just 1/day over the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 Is it possible that she finds it mind numbingly tedious? If so, how about moving her along to prealgebra so that she can get to something more interesting (namely, algebra)? When my son was in this boat, we found that Derek Owens prealgebra course was just the thing. It is a great big review of arithmetic where just about every chapter extends the material into algebra. My son and I would watch the videos just enough to see if he knew whatever was being presented already. If he did, we stopped watching and I had him do the example problems (that would normally be solved in the video) out loud with me writing. Then he did the practice problems (as well as the quizzes and tests) on his own. When he did the practice problems he called out the answers to me from across the room. This helped to keep him on track, and if he started to space out, I would say something like "what's going on over there?" My son liked that we zoomed through what he already knew, that there was some algebra, and than Mr. Owens did the grading rather than mom. There is also, I believe, a self grading option that is less expensive, but for us, the motivation that the outside grading provided was worth every penny. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not_a_Number Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 12 hours ago, EKS said: There is also, I believe, a self grading option that is less expensive, but for us, the motivation that the outside grading provided was worth every penny. Yeah, some kids do MUCH better with an outside grader... my kids are like that, too. We're currently finding workarounds, but it's an uphill battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seemesew Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 23 hours ago, maryode said: I'm a little bit at a loss for what to do... My 6th grader is very bright, but she strongly dislikes math, and has for several years--basically, ever since she started to have to work at it. She was doing MM for a couple years (mainly because it's both rigorous and mostly self-teaching). This year I switched her to The Good and the Beautiful Math 6 since she'd liked their language arts and I thought she'd enjoy the games/pictures, plus it still seems pretty rigorous. She likes it better, doesn't want to switch curricula, and has a slightly better attitude, but still gets suuuuper distracted if I don't sit with her and point to each problem to make her do them. Even then, it takes forever. The lessons are supposed to take 45-60 minutes, including the video, but for us it's a good day if she gets done in less than an hour and a half. Except for minor calculation mistakes, she understands the material and I feel like it's pretty much the right level--pushing her, but at a reasonable rate. If math ever gets too easy, she scorns it and doesn't necessarily finish that much sooner because she gets even more distracted. I tried taking her down a level and she was super annoyed. I tried to give her more "living" math, and she rolled her eyes and called it out--it's still math, just disguised. So I don't think the problem is that she can't do the math--it's more that she's unmotivated, works slowly, and gets distracted. I've tried putting her in a boring place (facing the wall, in a corner) and keeping it really quiet, but, as she says, "my brain still distracts me!" She's good-natured and wants to succeed, but has trouble mucking through the problems. Sometimes I let her do a few verbally, but that only works for a few types of problems. Breaking it up into two sessions doesn't seem to help because it takes her a while to "get into it." She usually prefers just to push through and finish. I even told her to alternate math problems with writing, but that also didn't work. Giving her a deadline just stresses her out and she gets emotional and loses confidence. According to an online test (I know), she doesn't have ADHD, but is much more likely gifted (which is reflected in other areas of her life), so I don't think anything like ADHD is the problem. My question is, am I off in thinking that a 6th grader can complete a math lesson in 60 minutes, or is 6th-grade math that hard for everyone? Is anyone else doing TGATB 6? is it even possible for a 12-year-old to complete it in 45 minutes if they're not a motivated math whiz? If it should be doable, do I just schedule 1 1/2 to 2 hours for math every day?? Or shorten the lessons? Or make her go into the summer, which would feel like punishment to both of us? 🙂 Any thoughts? We had a similar problem with level 3 math and I found that if I covered up what my son was working on with sticky notes so he can only see what he is currently working on it goes much faster. Also, this supplement is working wonders! I know my son isn't adhd but focus was an issue for school and this supplement has made a 100% improvement for him! I didn't think it was working until I let it run out and oh boy then I saw how much it was helping. Its not mlm just something I found. https://ontasknaturally.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 I feel like 6th/7th grade just takes forever. It's a distractible age. If the time isn't killing her I'd just let it be, safe in tht knowledge that she will get over this developmental hump sometime next year 😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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