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Help please, need advise..
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Parents,
I do need help but let me back up a bit so you can understand more.
I have a 10, 83/4, 63/4 and a 41/2 year old who I am teaching this year (a 2yr old who is just somewhere, everywhere & prego). This is our 3rd year home schooling and LOVING it. This year we switched to CM and it is really been not only an eye opener but a relief. Last year I found this sight and just starting reading, asking and printing everything I needed to know. Praise the Lord for this sight and those who keep it going {{{hugs}}}}.
This year we started 2 weeks ago. I started on a great note.. ok guys (all boys) we are going to do things different this year. We are going to do more stuff but for short periods of time. If we are loving it we can stick with it and learn more or as in a previous forum we’ll skip through the stuff you get and move on. YEPPIE went out all around. Mom’s happy w/ school and boys are happy. That’s a great start right??
Now I will tell you this my 10yr old and (skip one) my 63/4 yr old are fast learners, get everything (even when fustrated) and move fast (so far). That puts my 2nd born right in the middle of 2 “smart” kids (as he calls them). Now lets get to the point…
Math.. yep did I say the magic word. People either get it or they don’t. My hubby and I are very good in math in different ways. I didn’t expect all my boys to get it, but I never thought that I would constantly be going backward with “1” child. Just when I think he has it .. 1 of 2 things happens 1: He does and we move on or 2: Monday comes and he’s lost it.
We are doing Math U See and loving the program. This child Darby is a visual learner in all the senses so it works for him. But for some reason ?? he just can’t grasp a leason and retain it. We redid the 1st book (not primer the next one) 2 times in 1st and 2nd grade. Now in 3rd he and the one younger are in the same book, but Darby is being left behind and Tierney is fast and going. I will point out my kids DO NOT make fun of him, they never have God bless them. But he knows and feels “stupid” he calls himself thtis offen (tears in my eyes just thinking about it). I know he is not. We will spend 2 or 3 times a day for 10 – 20 min working on the same thing in math and he still don’t get it after 2 weeks.
So this is my plea for HELP or just a kind word of wisdom. What do I do I’m loosing my mind here being “patient” and I don’t know what else to do. At times I just want to skip it and move on but you can’t in math.. one thing teaches the next thing and so forth. Even though he can add it’s still at times a struggle. He knows how to add and if you give him a problem he’ll figure it out, put he still needs to talk it out like they teach him (ex. 8=7=? 8 wants to be a 10 so it takes 2 from the 7 and that makes 5 so it’s 15 “I say that in my sleep “). He can not rattle off the facts and subtracting is even more hard.
He does great in everything else, reading “good”, spelling “slow but for me not a biggy”, literature “good”, narration “getting better” (remember 1st year on that one).
Sorry so long.. but what do you suggest? I want him to feel good about what he’s doing I praise all the right answers, high fives, great job ect. But he just don’t get it…???
Any advise will be greatly appreciated. I will be gone for Labor day so bless you all and your travels or stayings and thanks for anything you put here. I will read Monday night for sure.
Misty
Misty,
Let me encourage you to keep going. Your son is still young and sometimes it takes a while for the facts to sink in. He sounds as if he has the concepts down but doesn’t really know the facts without having to think about them.
I, too, have a son who struggled with math for several years before he finally “got” it. It took many days of going over the same facts, but eventually he knew the basics enough to move on. We used flash cards and the math wrap-ups to give him more practice on the facts. He couldn’t move on with his math lessons until he knew the basic facts. He didn’t have to know them lightning fast, just well enough that he didn’t have to think about them for a long time. This is one of the beauties of homeschooling. Moving at the child’s pace, not the pace of the class or the teacher’s agenda. 🙂
You are correct that math concepts build on each other so it is very important not to just let him go ahead. It will only confuse him more. I have always stressed with my kids that if they know their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts backwards and forwards they will have a much easier time with the more advanced mathematics. Better to spend the extra time learning them than wish you had when you really need them.
So, hang in there. Sometimes boys in particular just need some extra time learning the facts.
Oh Misty! Big Hug, first.
I can really relate to what you’re talking about. Not to discourage you with this, but I have 2 children just like this. Be encouraged, though, God will never leave you nor forsake you. He MADE these children just as they are, He just wants us to be faithful to do as He’s called us. To keep on, keeping on.
I have been in tears numerous times over this issue. I constantly have to remind myself, as we repeat a math lesson AGAIN, that God is sovereign. He’s got these kids in the palm of His hand. I need to constantly died to my pride as I realize that these children are just not going to be “good at math” and that not every adult I know is a good speller or math ace. Or even competent at math. They do manage to function in the world. 🙂 This is not to say that your children won’t ever overcome this issue. My children are older, which is why I say this, and still haven’t improved overall. It’s still very hard for them.
As for the practical, we just keep redoing it. Sometimes I use supplemental worksheets to practice material. Sometimes we play math games (with dice, cards or maybe bingo cards) that help with whatever concept is being forgotten. Computer games can help to. Try to go over the “problem areas” with as many different “things” as possible. I’ve even taken my youngest daughter out on the driveway and with sidewalk chalk written multiplication problems in a “hopscotch” type design and played that. Numerous math functions can be played this way. If you’d like more game ideas, I have a ton. Private message me. Games don’t make the kids feel “dumb” either but does help to strengthen their skills. 😀
Hang in their, sister. God makes us all different. Each with different strengths and weaknesses. Pray for wisdom when you get frustrated and God will answer. Hope this helps some.
Blessings,
Cindy
Hi Misty,
I have a friend that has dyslexia (is that how you spell it?). Through the ministrations of her mother, she came to see her disability as a gift from God. I’ve thought about that a lot because I, too, have a daughter that is zipping past her sister like lightening in a couple of subjects. And, by the way, we need to resist the temptation to keep the younger one back. I don’t know if you’ve faced that, but I did early on.
Over the years we have talked about it periodically to say, ‘What do you suppose God is doing here?’ It is a great opportunity to teach our children that God makes everyone with different gifts and no one person has them all. My ‘slow’ child is the one you could give a bottle cap to and she would come back with a work of art. So, when these things come up, I try to work on the child’s heart, to help them grow in the Lord and rejoice with how He made them. Then we give them big pushes in areas of giftedness and small nudges in areas of need (I know I’ve said that enough times here that people are getting tired of seeing it!)
As for the curriculum, some children feel it keenly when we do a book over again. I try to keep moving while reinforcing what is not understood. That can be a big challenge in math, as you said. One thing that helped us last year was Sonya’s Business Math. This was for my son and he really enjoyed the Pet Shop. It was a way of going back for solidifying the facts but still had the newness of going forward, if that makes sense.
Blessings,
Cindy
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