Dd STILL having difficulty w/ math

Lindsey,

One thing that I recall in getting over a math fact hump is the reinforcing of a math fact family by writing it out (the whole fact family every day). For instance have your dd write those particular facts in different ways like on paper, shaving cream, chalkboard, go out on the driveway and write it there too with chalk. Be creative, but try to keep those facts as review until its “over learned” and retained. Even after solidly learning, have it written on a flashcard and review once a week. I have learned the important use of flashcards review, not just math but with other subjects as well.

HTH!

I’m a big fan of the “better late than early” educational model.  Some kids just get their math facts quickly, some get them quickly when they’re older. It’s the same with reading (and potty training and sleeping through the night, etc.)  I can’t tell you how many brick walls I’ve run into before finally figuring that out.   Sometimes if you just put it aside for a few weeks and try again, it will suddenly be easy for her. 

After putting it aside for a bit, there are some things I would try….  Manipulatives, of course, but there is also a book by Peggy Kaye called Games for Math.  She has loads of fun ideas for K-3rd grade.  

What about taking those specific facts and making up stories with a little picture? Similar to Times Tales. It seems backward to add a story but it may help. Make stories that matter to her. Let me try making one up to show you:

Two birds were on a branch and four more came to sit. Now there were six.

The key to it really is the picture though – you would draw a branch in the shape of a “6” for all these birds to land on. Then your birds can be birds or numbers with wings and beaks (two shaped like 2’s, four shaped like 4’s). Under the picture goes the caption 2+4=6.

Then you can build on this story for the subtraction. The ‘#2’ birds flew home for a nap. How many are left? Just the 4’s. 6-2=4.

Okay, seems silly, but sometimes silly with a visual and story helps.

Lindsey Right brain thinks this way

• Recognizing faces
• Expressing emotions
• Music
• Reading emotions
• Color
• Images
• Intuition
• Creativity

Left brained

• Language
• Logic
• Critical thinking
• Numbers
• Reasoning

HTH!

She may really benefit from math games rather than flash cards.  Right Start sells just the Math games book and cards separately from the program itself.  I know some moms who use it as a supplement.  My own kids LOVE the games, and they hardly even know they’re doing math.  🙂  Just a suggestion in addition to the others you’ve gotten.

And now for something completely different…

We don’t write down most math. While my older dd does Life of Fred, mostly we do math mentally and verbally. We do math in the car, in the bathtub, in line at the store. We do play lots of games, too. Take Ten is a favorite right now. My dds are 8 and 5; dh and I are more concerned with their practical ability and mastery than we are with rote memorization. We simply want them to “get it”. DH is an engineer – he “gets’ math. He thinks “math”. I don’t, not at all, not even a little bit. I’m still doing long division by ‘air-writing’ a problem (hey, that’s the original cloud) to figure things out. Embarrassing and pathetic, I know. Also, I have forgotten many of my multiplication facts and have no logical way to figure it out. I end up having to ask someone or to look up the times table.

I know the standardized testing this year is going to be an issue for my third grader, but I’m confident that eventually, out in the real world, (and also hopefully in high school) she’ll “get” math at a much deeper, logical level than the kiddos who end up being taught to the test or, like me, simply memorizing.

That said, maybe your daughter just needs to know why she’s doing math? Do you guys transfer what your doing in lessons to more practical applications? Another idea that popped up when I read your original question Lindsey was, “Is your dd really good at language arts? Is she coasting through whatever else you’re doing, subject-wise? Is it only math that she struggles with?” I ended up figuring this out way too late to benefit from it myself, but I am doing much better with my oldest dd8: I was a natural speller, never studied for history, wrote essays for fun in my spare time, etc. But when it came to math, while I could do the work, I had to slow down and concentrate and really work at it. It wasn’t easy for me. It wasn’t too difficult for me either, but it wasn’t a piece of cake like everything else, so I just disregarded it. Doesn’t help that in my day, my teachers said it was fine for me to not apply myself in math since I was a girl and “girls don’t need math”. !!!??? Anyway, I’ve simply told my dd8 that she doesn’t have a choice. Sometimes we just have to do something, even if it’s hard. HTH!