Rose in BC Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 (edited) My son is very capable, and prefers, to work out his math solutions in his head. However, as the math has advanced he's making errors in his calculations and because I didn't enforce showing his work I'm not sure where the errors are. And now he's in Grade 7 and it's much, much more difficult to train him to write everything down. So, that's my if I had to do it over again. Edited January 29, 2009 by Rose in BC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I am so there. You'd think being a math major I would have been a cranky nag about this from the beginning but no..... It never occured to me that they wouldn't automatically see the wisdom of this when the problems got harder. Of course they don't and they fight me every step of the way. BIG mistake on my part. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose in BC Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 I am so there. You'd think being a math major I would have been a cranky nag about this from the beginning but no..... It never occured to me that they wouldn't automatically see the wisdom of this when the problems got harder. Of course they don't and they fight me every step of the way. BIG mistake on my part. Heather I know I will have to work very hard to change this and I know I have to do it now in order to have any success. Uh, the trials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoraida Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 My 13 year old son is using Saxon 87. I don't know how he does it but he can work every problem in his head and get almost 95% correct. Next year he will begin Algebra and I really want him to show his work. So just recently I started requiring him to show the new work on all the new concepts he is learning. The previous concepts I let him put down just the answers. At first he complained but now he doesn't because he says he is getting his math done quicker by writing out the problems instead of thinking out the problems. Blessings Zoraida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I guess that is a good reminder to fix out situation. I am homeschooling a friend's boy, and he has a learning disorder and was pulled out of ps. From even before I started homeschooling, I would praise to the skies his math ability when doing homework (I was caring for him afterschool)- because it was the only area he was up to grade level. He has taken it to taking pride over doing calculations in his head- because I would express amazement that he could (too make him feel good). Now I am noticing he sometimes makes mistakes because he hasn't written it down. I have handled it by working through it myself on paper, so he can see how to do it and why to write it down..but he still doesn't. I guess I need to insist. I am just worried about crushing his pride in that one area he shines. thanks for the reminder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thanks for the warning! I have a first grader that likes to do it all in his head and I'm in the beginning of the journey. I realized today that I had a descision to make about the writing it all down part. I needed to hear your experience. I'm sorry you are changing your path....but I am grateful for your post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawn of ns Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I am so there. You'd think being a math major I would have been a cranky nag about this from the beginning but no..... It never occured to me that they wouldn't automatically see the wisdom of this when the problems got harder. Of course they don't and they fight me every step of the way. BIG mistake on my part. Heather I sometimes wonder if having a mom homeschooling you in math that couldn't even get a grade 12 math credit is a bonus. I've insisted on my daughter showing her work so I could follow her reasoning because I wasn't sure of mine at times. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 This has been a problem for my kids, too. Ds13 is in Algebra this year, and learned quickly that he can get partial credit for problems. This has been somewhat motivating for him, since he needs every point he can get on tests. Ds11 has a bad habit of working things out and then erasing them. I've forced him to do his math in pen for the last few weeks and I find that works better. He can cross things out (lightly) and re-work the problem. But at least I can see what he's done and help him figure out where he's gone wrong when there's an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolash Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My son is very capable, and prefers, to work out his math solutions in his head. However, as the math has advanced he's making errors in his calculations and because I didn't enforce showing his work I'm not sure where the errors are. And now he's in Grade 7 and it's much, much more difficult to train him to right everything down. So, that's my if I had to do it over again. Thank you for this post! My ds9 also does a lot of mental calculations and really gets annoyed with me when I make him "show me the work" even if he gets the answer right. I was pretty sure I was doing the right thing.. now I'm staying the course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaof2andtwins Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I am with you on this one also. My almost 15 yo has done this all his school career. It has really come up to bite him in Algebra 1. Jennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeanestMomInMidwest Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My dh & I were just discussing this. Ds8 does the math in his head. I say, if he's getting it right, he must be doing it right, so let him be. Dh says, he needs to show his work now because later when math is harder he'll need a trail to follow. I argued against dh....which I shouldn't because dh did minor in math and is very math minded. So, I guess tomorrow, I'll have to eat crow. And we'll have to present the united "show your work" front to ds. I thought dh was just being a slave-driver. :( I guess thank you for this thread....but admitting I'm wrong is never easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose in BC Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Re-training an 8 yr old will probably be easier than re-training a 12 yr old! lol! Sometimes I wished there was a wider age span between my kids so that at least my younger one would benefit from my learning curve. As it sits, all three pretty much do the same grade so they're all guinea pigs!!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runamuk Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My daughter (9yo) wants to do the problems in her head and gets upset when I have her work them out. I've been wondering if maybe I'm being too controlling about the issue, but your post makes it clear that it will only help her later on if she gets into the habit now. Thanks for the timely post. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisharog Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Same problem. I am going to bookmark this thread and show it to ds10 to let him see that I am not a crazy nag but that there are long term problems if he continues to work in this fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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