I’m really having trouble with my third one. Her brothers went fine but I understand that each individual is different. She takes her time to grasp any concept anyways but she is in grade five and it is really sad to see her counting her fingers or write down the sums only to add/subtract 9+4 types. Is it even normal?
I’ve taught my boys and applied same methods with her but it’s not helping so far. I’ve looked around on internet but so far haven’t come across any strategy which I already haven’t practiced.
I’ll really appreciate any help.
You can make flash cards of sums like 9+4 etc and keep practicing it.
Also, the main thing to remember while adding or subtracting such sums...let's say 9+4=? She'd find it easier if she does it this way in her mind (8+4=12)(12+1=13). So tell her to round 9 to the even number 8, and after adding 8 and 4, add 1.
or if it's subtraction sum....9-5=?
tell her to round 9 to even number 10,, then take away 5 (she'll be left with 5) then take away the 1 she added in the beginning. (5-1=4)
@Pisiform : mental math = doing math "in your head" @Afia: one of the newly minted nurses at my hospital told me ... she used to have a lot of trouble doing quick math in her head and actually went to a seminar where they first reinforced her knowledge of basic math concepts and then helped her improve her visual spatial working memory through specific exercises/games. now this was an adult .... but there may be similar programs for kids? somthing to look into.
Thank you all for your input.
Hareem I've tried flash cards and keep trying other ways too....but I guess she needs way more practice than I'd expect.
Southie...it's not just 9+4.... I used that as an example. I meant to say that she is too slow at very basic mathematical operations.
Ehle.. I'm not aware of any such programme here in Pakistan. I did get her enrolled in ALOHA which was a mental maths teaching programme for six months but that ended within four weeks for some odd reasons.
I haven't given up and as a parent I just can't give up so I'll keep trying everything I know and would keep exploring any new ways, inshaAllah!
I was never good at math . the mental one you talk about. I still add on my fingers, and I can't multiple without a paper and pen unless its up to the 12 multiple
Go to Mathcafe.com They help practice basic math facts. I still do a lot of math on my fingers, I lived! And also passed math courses. Jokes aside, I think in Pakistan they don't reinforce mental math aside from multiplication tables. One thing that made me grasp math facts better was when my son brought home math facts practice sheets. These could help. They go like this in the beginning starting from level A to Z. 1+1, 1+2, 3+1 etc, then progress slowly till z focusing on 2 math facts per level while revising the old ones learnt for example, 2+5 (also 5+2) and 6+3 (also 3+6) all the way till Z. A practice level at level S may look like 2+4, 3+6, 7+8, 4+2, etc. 40 sums in total written vertically with room left for an answer below. There will be actually 40 sums written on one side and then 40 more on the other side. First the child will practice one side of the paper and then attempt to do at least 20 problems in one minute. If the child is unable to do the sums in a minute, try again and again. Check to see which sums the child is having a problem for and then make her do it 6-7 times on a separate sheet before attempting again, e.g if she gets 9+4 wrong write out 9+4 =, 4+9 = 7-8 times for her so that she learns it.
Once she is done with level z, move on to subtraction and then division and multiplication the same way. Check out mathfactcafe.com for more understanding.
I was never good at math . the mental one you talk about. I still add on my fingers, and I can't multiple without a paper and pen unless its up to the 12 multiple
And you are a doctor, so you did turn out very well academically! So don't worry OP, there's hope !
i dont know how you feel about online education and games but here are a few resources that intrigued me and you might find helpful too.
ok i hear you. im always trying to look up/learn about fun/effective ways to teach my toddler without making it a chore and fa ew things ive bookmarked for myself to be used when she is older. I’ll hold off on sharing links for younger kiddies since your child is older.
khan academy : I learned of this man after he was featured on time magazines 100 most influential people and watched his CNN and PBS interviews. i was really intrigued with his mission/philosopy. His academy is online. its not for profit and free. i have seen/browsed his website and thought it was great! plan to introduce my child(ren) to this when they are old enough.
couple of the above are recommended by my neurology colleagues for pts as part of rehab/treatment for various neurological ailments … but that doesn’t preclude them from being used for educational purposes as well!
imho, nothing helps with arithmetic as practice and more practice to have the nature of numbers ingrained in. the quick tricks and such are only useful after this part is mastered.
i'm relatively slow with adding and subtracting numbers in my head, for some of us putting pencil to paper unlocks a lot of thinking power.
There was this guy on ary morning show (with the host nida) once (I don't know if its related to khan academy or not, I caught a very short segment) and he had his class of students also come along. They did really difficult multiplications, additions subtraction really fast. As in no one was writing anything down, and the teacher was just throwing out random numbers with the functions in the middle and all of them would have the correct answer as soon as he finished the last number. Like u couldn't even punch into a calculator that fast. You would probably just have hardly enough time to write down what he was saying (and they were not even writing) . So they were adding subtracting as he said the number. Anyway they were young kids, probably 5th grade and younger. And ofcourse he didn't explain the trick but he said its not difficult and kids can learn it easily. You would have to look it up or ask around but they have an academy somewhere (show's in khi so I'm assuming khi). And apparently ur set for life (basic math wise) if u take their course. After watching it I wished I could take it. I wish I had more substantial information for u but this is all I remember, it was the end of that segment.
Btw they teach these math tricks to everyone in China. And those ppl r just amazing at math. They're really fast with these calculations, and they don't even use a calculator. I wish they'd incorporate this into curriculums worldwide. I mean if there's an easy way then why not!
it is really sad to see her counting her fingers or write down the sums only to add/subtract 9+4 types. Is it even normal?
What is wrong with this approach Afia? The problem is with our mental programing of how kids should learn certain things, not with her. I am actually very happy that your daughter's concept is clear about how to add (whether using fingers to count or use a paper and pencil). Once the concept is clear, she can add 9+4 or 98255+34229. Please dont force her to jump to mental math. There is no pride in that (or usefulness of that in real life). Let her do things right, than do do them quick.
Ehle, I'll look into the links you provided. Thanks a lot. :)
Sasha, I know what you are talking about. :) that's what I mentioned earlier, ALOHA maths coaching programme. I got my kids enrolled there but sadly it just abruptly ended within a few weeks fir some odd reasons. Ever since, I haven't found anything like that.
TLK, there's nothing wrong with that but it's more time consuming. She tends to leave her tests incomplete and the reason is, she took too long to do basic countings.
Khan Academy is amazing! Our school district touts it heavily as a learning resource and all
3 of my boys use it.
Also, on a side note, with both my 4th graders and my 6th grader, I've seen that they are directed to "show their work"....their math teachers want to see how they've worked the problems and and provided with ample space on the test sheet or extra scratch paper. The system is a little different here I guess because on test or quiz days, the child is allowed to pretty much take all the time they need to finish.
Memorizing of the multiplication tables was stressed but we achieved that through flash cards and some math apps.
