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DS says Math is no fun
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Well my oldest will be 11 in January. He is in 5th grade, but doing Teaching textbooks grade 4. He should finish soon. He has always struggled with Math, although I belive that most of his struggle is the fact that he has ADHD. If I sit with him to do a lesson so that I can re-direct him, he almost always gets 100%. If I am not there his scores are more high C’s-B’s. He makes simple mistakes because he goes too fast.
So this morning he is in tears because he sees me doing Right Start with his younger siblings and is crying because he says his math is not fun like his brother and sister.
Any advice? I really like Teaching Textbooks for him and definately want him to finish with it, and I am not at all sure I can do a whole nother hands-on math lesson with another child, I don’t even have time to finish some of our scheduled work during the day now.
I would love advice please. He struggles with multiplication, but I have recently gotten math wrap ups for him and he seems to be enjoying that.
Well, I can understand where he is coming from! RS is fun, and I suspect teaching textbooks isn’t. Of course, he is comparing his 4th grade math with his younger siblings math (which I assume to be level A or B….) – and Level D or so of RS wouldn’t be as fun as level A or B
Do you ever play the RS math games with him?
I’m a die-hard Math-U-See fan and have used it successfully with both children since the beginning. It is hands-on, but both of mine do most of it independently, asking questions if they get stuck. I understand wanting to finish a curriculum that you’ve already invested time and money into, but to me it’s more worth it to find something that works for my child, even if it’s not the most convenient thing for me. MUS is convenient for me, though; and both kids love it.
If your ds already has all his addition and subtraction facts memorized, you could start him in MUS Gamma, which is multiplication. And the great thing about MUS is that you can use the Teacher’s Manual, DVDs, and blocks year after year, and only have to buy new student kits.
My advice: if it’s not enjoyable to your son, he’s probably not going to really learn anything. Better to find something that fits than to waste your time and money on something that doesn’t.
Blessings,
Lindsey
Well, we have already tried many things including MUS. Neither myself or ds liked it. He loved the teaching textbooks when he first got it. He has a very negative personality and whenever something is hard, instead of sticking with it he wants to switch curriculum. Because of his ADHD, he isn’t able to do as much independant work as one would think. He just gets too distracted.
I have tried the Rightstart games with him and he seems to like them ok.
If it were up to him he would be happy doing nothing all day but holding his leopard gecko lizards and playing computer games.
Can you incorporate his interest in the Math lesson? I don’t know what level Math your son is doing right now, nor do I know the TT curriculum. But there are tons of math computer games or apps out. They may work great for him for practising his math skills. Or doing gecko lizard math. For example, if you need to feed your gecko 3 crickets a day, how many crickets do we need to catch this week? I understand this is nothing you can built all your math lessons on, but you can certainly change things up and make math more fun:).
Have you checked out MEP? Here’s the link:
http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm
It can look confusing at first. But they have a yahoo group and there’s a lot of materials on the site. There are lesson plan books for each level as well as practice books. The curriculum is free but you have to factor in the cost of printing out the material.
I would just do all math games with him. You can just about learn everything by games and memorizing. Maybe you could try New Path. They have the games on the computer.
Blessings!
I may be the only one that feels this way, and that is ok. 🙂 But I have to say that older children need to learn that not everything is fun and we must put forth effort to that challenge anyway. Keeping the lessons short and age appropriate is a must and will help a child get through if they know an end is coming soon. Now, I’m NOT saying this for younger kids, but starting around 5th grade or so, a child should learn to handle a “not so fun” lesson, as long as the child is kept to a reasonable time limit and has been thoroughly taught the material.
My son went through Saxon, Teaching Textbooks, and finally then to Math U See. My favorite by far is Math U See because it is solid! But honestly, my son has never enjoyed any math curriculum. He simply must do it, period! We do enjoy math games, but those are for supplementing, not exactly “everyday school”.
To me, the meaning of Charlotte Mason’s motto “I ought” comes into major play when it comes to these things for older kids. I have seen many homeschooled graduate kids who float around doing only what they want because that is what their parents (well intentioned I am sure) allowed them to do at home. If they didn’t like something or it wasn’t their “thing”, they could switch to something else. In real life, there are things that must be followed through no matter how boring or hard it is, and this lesson needs to start earlier than 18 years old in my opinion.
Don’t mean to get on my soap box, but this has been a real issue for many friends of mine.
Agreeing with simple home. I have always tried hard to have my kids “love school.” I’ve spent a lot of money in trying to make them happy. Then I realized that no matter what they do or what I buy for them, they are NOT going to love school like I want them to. They are not going to think everything is fun. So now, if it’s working and they are learning, they have to stick with it. My jumping around isn’t teaching them to follow through, and it’s not easy on my checking account.
I do feel for you, though, Sahmamma. I know it’s frustrating, and with a learning challenge it can be even harder (I have one who is challenged, though not by the same thing). Teaching him to stick with it will be valuable someday, I do believe.
Could you break up the T.T. lessons at all? Say, half the problems in the morning, half in the afternoon? Still getting a lesson completed that day, but giving him a break in between? When lessons get a little long at my house I have my kids get up and run around the house ten times. Yes, they will leave their math at my command if I see them losing focus, and go run laps around according to their ages. They usually come back refreshed and ready to hit the books again. It gives my one ds a much needed movement break. Or for each problem he does, have him do some exercises. Like 1) do one push up when he’s done with the problem. 2) do 2 jumping jacks, etc. Maybe that would be too distracting for him. I’m just throwing out ideas that my kids would like. Be creative. You know you’re son the best. What would motivate him to get through something that isn’t fun? Maybe you could discuss that with him?
Best wishes.
I agree with Simple Home about not everything being fun. We need to do our duties cheerfully, even if they aren’t always “fun”.
My 10YO is doing TT, too. He is towards the tail-end of TT7 but I only ask him to do 1/2 lesson/day because a full lesson could take almost an hour. I think that’s quite a bit too long for a kid his age to focus each day.
My son also loves TT..started it this yr! yay so glad he is liking it…and yes one lesson can take a while!
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