Do you require "perfection" of a math skill before moving on? Example...

[battlemaiden]

One of my sons is doing Math-U-See. He is on lesson 27 (fraction stuff). He seems to get the concepts but makes repeated mistakes on the lessons and tests. He has received solid Bs on his past three tests. We go over the mistakes and he corrects all his missed problems. The problem is when I give him a repeat test he will often make the same mistake or another sloppy mistake (he is famous for not showing all his work because he "just knew the answer" :rolleyes:).

 

Would you drill, drill, drill until perfection? I know he can do better work, but he seems deflated by my repeated drill on the same topic.

 

My gut tells me to insist on mastery and not move on until he gets it entirely correct. But I know some of you have hindsight on this topic that I don't. Am I going to ruin him on math for all time by insisting on perfection?

 

Thanks for your insight.

 

Jo

[Alana in Canada]

I struggle with this too.

However, problems do not go away until they are fixed. In everything--not just math!:eek:

[Gretchen in NJ]

When I was teaching Math Facts, I would require mastery before I would move on to the next set of facts. With other areas, I try to get an understanding if my child understands the area and has just made a math fact mistake or is clueless about the area. In other words, I ask myself, "Does the child understand the process of solving the problem?"

 

Sometimes you can understand the process of solving an equation, but make a math fact mistake. This is why you need to show your work.

 

My children will tell you that I am a stickler for showing all of their work. If no work is shown, I mark it as wrong and they have to correct it. Once, I know that they understand the process, I might not be so hard nose about it.

 

I hope this was helpful.

Gretchen in NJ

[Cami in UT]

I'm using a different program than you but my 2nd ds has the same issues. What I do is when I correct his math I circle any incorrect problems with a colored pencil, so he can easily see which problems are incorrect. Then he has to go back over them and find his mistake, showing all work. If he still gets it incorrect (which doesn't happen very often) I work it out with him on a white board, showing all my work. He then needs to rework it on his paper. He hasn't yet missed the problem again. (crossing my fingers;)) On tests when my boys get a problem wrong, I circle with the colored pencil again. They then rework the problem. If it is reworked correct then they get half credit for the problem. I have found that they usually really do know what they are doing and just made a little mistake. HTH

[Mrs Mungo]

We do something similar to Cami.

 

I go over my kids' math work. If they made a couple of mistakes due to sloppy work but still received an A, I don't worry about it. If they missed a *lot* due to sloppy work they re-do it. If they missed a certain type of problem because they didn't understand it then we go over working that type of problem on the white board then they re-do the section.

[battlemaiden]

Sooooooooo....

 

If he understands the concepts but is simply making sloppy mistakes, or simple math mistakes, then I should simply have him re-do his work but I may still move on to the next lesson?

 

I really am wanting him to make 100% on EVERYTHING. Math is one of those subjects that I feel there should be no wiggle room. But perhaps the day in and day out process of working through his mistakes and showing all his work- which I have begun to insist upon or it's wrong even if the answer is correct- will work itself out.

 

Any further thoughts?

 

Jo

[PeterPan]

I wouldn't move on to a harder skill with the fractions, but it sounds like he could use a break to do something ELSE for a while and come back. Fractions are a really big shift in thinking and blow the mind for a while. I'd go spend some time on money, time, geometry, or something different and come back in a few weeks, REPEAT those fractions lessons, and see if he does better this time. You don't want to move on without understanding, but sometimes you need a break. Even mastery programs like BJU diversify, introducing something, doing something else for a while, then coming back to it.

[Tammyla]

100% on every test would be an unattainable goal for most of us. I'd move on if he understands the concept.

 

That said, for hurried, sloppy mistakes...Add this to your grading requirements....Show your work or it's half off even if you get it right:eek:. I'm not sure what age your ds is, but for my older ones who understand grade point averages, it works without the nagging. If you don't issue grades, try marking them in a highlighter and require a do-over.;)

[Mrs Mungo]

Sooooooooo....

 

If he understands the concepts but is simply making sloppy mistakes, or simple math mistakes, then I should simply have him re-do his work but I may still move on to the next lesson?

 

That's what I do. I can usually tell the difference between "I am lazy and not taking the time to think about my answer" and "I have no idea what I'm doing." If it's the former they re-do the work and we move forward, if it's the latter we spend some time going over it until they get it. I do *insist* they show their work so I can see where and how they went wrong. But that's just me, I'm not saying you're doing it wrong by doing it differently.

[pianoplayer]

In general, I agree with the cautions about going forward if your child's understanding of fractions is incomplete. I would expect a child who is doing B-level work in fractions to struggle with algebra.

 

In addition to the helpful suggestions already given, I wonder if it might help to share with your child real-life examples of the consequences of inaccuracies and careless errors in arithmetic calculations--e.g., the calculations for constructing a bridge were almost right, and so the bridge develops a structural problem, or the technician at NASA who forgot to translate a a metric number into our English system and the explorer crashes into the surface of the planet (a great example of a careless error rather than an error in understanding).

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I have the children do their assignments and then check them. Then my DDs sit with me one and one and correct their mistakes while explaining to me how they worked the problem. Based on their explanations, I can usually tell if the issue is careless work or a lack of understanding. Every once in a while one of my DDs has a day where the work is just extremely sloppy because they are not in the mood to do math. I remind them that they are supposed to do their best work and have them fix their work during free time. They also both know that if I don't think they understand the concept that we will back up and work through it again. Those two consequences are generally enough to motivate them to focus with their best effort the first time.

 

HTH

[BizyPenguin]

continue to do something with fractions every day until he "gets it". Fractions may not click for him for another year. You wouldn't want to hold him back from learning other concepts just because he doesn't understand fractions. My ds is really stuck on rounding numbers to the 10s and 100s, but we use CLE math and while they do introduce a new concept each day, the bulk of each daily lesson consists of "We Remember" "Mental Math" and "Skill Builder" sections which reviews previously taught material for extra practice and mastery. That's why I LOVE CLE. All the best!

[Sweetpeach]

Two things I do: (and I didn't read all of the responses so this might be a repeat.)

 

First, as the Teacher-Mom, I assess whether the mistakes occurred due to (a) sloppy, hurried work or (b) a genuine, not understanding the information.

 

For (a), I'll make him copy the entire sheet on his own free time. It sounds harsh, but just the threat of having to spend an extra hour copying is enough external motivation to keep him neat, tidy, checking his work etc. Neither have had to do it yet - they've internally motivated themselves to avoid my external consequences.

 

For extra-fabulous penmanship (the flip-side), I might add fifty cents to their allowance, make a special, unplanned trip to a park/McD's for an ice-cream, rent a special movie for Friday night. I make it worth their while when they spend the extra time doing a bang-up job.

 

For (b), that's my issue, not his -- so I have to come at the material from a different perspective, make/find different manipulatives, find better/different teaching words. My sil is a ps math teacher, and she's a firm believer of good math words to connect the concept with understanding. Division is always called sharing. Fractions - part of a whole.

 

If the problem is mostly (a), I would move along. If the problem is mostly (b), then I would hit the brakes and rethink my teaching strategy.

 

I have a lovely unit study on fractions that I think I picked up here -- I'll find it and post, if you'd like.

 

It might be something to play with in the evenings. We found the Cuisenaire rods and books made fractions a breeze!

 

 

 

Tricia

[Plaid Dad]

I do require mastery, yes. Even at our beginning level of math, I've found that if I don't, it will come back to bite us on down the road. My dd finds having to backtrack discouraging, so I would rather sit tight and review than move on without mastery.