Deece in MN Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) My ds was doing math and when he finished I had him go over his work and he was to fix his wrong answers. He had a problem that he got wrong and after trying to work it out just couldn't get it. I looked at the problem and I honestly do not understand how he doesn't "get it". It was probably the easiest problem on the page. My question is how do I help him when I don't understand his confusion? Do I just show him how to do the problem and move on? I ask him what he didn't get and he can't seem to explain it beyond the fact that he was confused or just didn't "get it". This happens somewhat regularly in math. We were using Life of Fred Beginning Algebra and I was realizing that he needs a bit more review because he would forget how to do things from previous lessons. So, I purchased Teaching Co. high school Algebra 1 for something extra and Singapore's New Math Counts for extra review. Any thoughts on what I should do? Sometimes I think he over thinks things or thinks the problems "should be" hard and so makes them harder than they are to solve (these are my thoughts, he hasn't said this). Does that make sense? It is hard for me because math is something I get and so I look at problems and think they are easy and it shouldn't be an issue to figure it out. It seems like some of the easiest ones are the ones he struggles with. Sorry to keep rattling on. Any thoughts are appreciated! ETA: My ds is 14, 9th grade and about 1/2 way through Algebra 1. Edited January 4, 2009 by Deece in MN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I would walk him through it step by step. Did he show his work? I can often go through my ds's work and figure out where he messed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I would go over the solution step by step as well. My ds today didn't understand a problem - about making a quilt and how much fabric would be needed. He was confused because he thought quilts were made of yarn. Sadly he is 12 and my mother just gave him a quilt. Sometimes what they don't understand is so simple. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in AL Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I have used a book (or internet explanation) that was different from the book my ds used, and different from the way I tried to explain the problem. I found that different explanations often help. FWIW, I never did figure out why my ds didn't "get" the problem, either, but once he did understand it, with the help of a different text, it "stuck". Good luck! (the other) Heather in Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deece in MN Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 I would walk him through it step by step. Did he show his work? I can often go through my ds's work and figure out where he messed up. I would go over the solution step by step as well. My ds today didn't understand a problem - about making a quilt and how much fabric would be needed. He was confused because he thought quilts were made of yarn. Sadly he is 12 and my mother just gave him a quilt. Sometimes what they don't understand is so simple. Good Luck Thanks for the replies. I did end up going over it with him step by step. I looked at his work and it made no sense. He did not do anything with the numbers that was anywhere close to figuring out the answer. He just did not "get" the problem. The funny thing is, it is random. One time he will do a certain type of problem just fine and 4 problems later another of that type will be presented and it is like he has never done them before, this will be in the same lesson not days or weeks apart! Here is the problem he had trouble with: If 5cm on a map represents 2km, how many cm represent 1800m? The lesson was on ratios. They wanted him to set it up as a ratio like x:5= 1800:2000. Then you have x/5=1800/2000 which reduces to x/5=9/10, multiply both sides by 5 and you have x=45/10 which ends up being x=4.5cm. I also showed him that he could have figured out what 1cm on a map equals (400m) and then divide 1800 by that amount to get the # of cm. Once I walked him through it he was like "duh!", but on his own he was no where near the answer. His first answer was 1.8km. I told him they weren't asking how many km = 1800m, they were asking for the map scale equivalent. Anyway, I guess I will continue to walk him through the problems he has trouble with and hopefully he will catch on at some point. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee in MI Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 (edited) If it's the easiest problem on the page, it may just be a brain bubble. The cure for a brain bubble is to walk away from math for a little while. The next day it may make complete sense to him :) If that doesn't work, you may also want to keep a second algebra book to pull off of the shelf for a different explanation. And, actually, wikipedia has some pretty good math explanations. Dee p. s. Now that I've seen the problem, I'd also add that he should draw a picture whenever possible, especially on story problems. Edited January 5, 2009 by Dee in MI added p.s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deece in MN Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 I have used a book (or internet explanation) that was different from the book my ds used, and different from the way I tried to explain the problem. I found that different explanations often help. FWIW, I never did figure out why my ds didn't "get" the problem, either, but once he did understand it, with the help of a different text, it "stuck". Good luck! (the other) Heather in Al If it's the easiest problem on the page, it may just be a brain bubble. The cure for a brain bubble is to walk away from math for a little while. The next day it may make complete sense to him :) If that doesn't work, you may also want to keep a second algebra book to pull off of the shelf for a different explanation. And, actually, wikipedia has some pretty good math explanations. Dee p. s. Now that I've seen the problem, I'd also add that he should draw a picture whenever possible, especially on story problems. Ok, I guess since I had a couple extra resources I didn't think about another source. Would a more traditional textbook for reference be good since most of what we are using might be considered non-traditional? If so, any suggestions? I have been encouraging him to draw pictures or whatever he needs to do to help him understand the problem. I also have been telling both my dc that once they get an answer to check it with the problem. I tell them they should see if their result is a reasonable answer to the proposed question and if it is not then they probably made a mistake somewhere and need to go back and check. My dd came up with an answer of 40 remainder 80 a few days ago (don't ask me how she got that!) and I said, "Does that sound right? Look at the question you are being asked and see if your answer makes sense." She quickly realized that it made no sense at all. They both come up with answers and don't really pay attention to them and if they make sense in relation to the question being asked, so I am working on making them compare their answer to the question. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion. I will look for an inexpensive text for another reference point if we need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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