Math Facts for Teens

Hi Heather,

My 12 year old daughter does the same thing!  I have her use The Quarter Mile Math software a few times per week to keep her facts strong.  We have the software in level 2 and that works for her as well as my 8 year old son.  Somehow a computer game doesn’t feel like work or an insult   I know it may seem pricey, but it gets used a lot in our house and has been “worth its weight in gold” so to speak.  You can check it out here:

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=757003&item_code=WW&netp_id=274696&event=ESRCN&view=covers

Heather

Heather,

Does your son consistently make the same mistakes or is it just an occasional slip-up? If he is consistently making the same mistakes he probably didn’t get enough practice when he learned the concept. Understanding the concept and mastering the concept are two very different things, which I learned the hard way with one of my sons. 

I don’t know of any quick ways to help him learn the facts. Mostly it will take some dedicated work on his part. Sometimes just a heart-to-heart talk about how it will help him in the long run to take time to learn the facts now is the best way to handle it. Plain and simple: If he doesn’t have the basics down, he will be lost in algebra and beyond.

Another idea if he really knows the facts but just makes mistakes is to make sure that he finds the error in his work on his own. This is an important step in learning math. Tell him which problems are wrong but don’t tell him what is wrong. Only direct him to the error if he can’t find it. By reviewing his own work looking for a mistake it will help him to see where he is making errors and make him more aware of it for future problems. Also, it helps if you have him explain the steps in the problem to you as he is looking for his error. This helps him to slow down and really think about how to solve the problem. Having him find his own errors and explain the problem to you will help you discern if he really doesn’t know the facts or if he is just making careless mistakes. And will help you to target what facts really need work.