Eeyore’s main studies are math, science, history and language arts. We do science and history together each day, reading from books and finding the answers to questions together. Language arts involves him reading on his own or out loud to me. He also does a writing assignment each day, spelling (usually), and phonics. For the most part he does this all on his own while I am nearby doing other things. Math is the same way. He has a workbook and he completes one worksheet, front and back, each day four days of the week. On the fifth day he goes back and corrects any mistakes he made on the last four worksheets.
Our days go pretty smooth working like this. I am able to spend time with him doing school and able to spend time cleaning while he does his own thing. In the afternoon we hang out and do what we want to do. At night his dad is home and we all spend time together.
The one problem? Math. That child is so smart and he gets what he is doing with math, but he just will not focus. He sits and stares off into space for a few minutes between each math problem. He starts talking to me about video games or toys or tattling on his sister for something she is doing in the other room. He drives me absolutely crazy with this. I know he is only seven years old and that its normal for him to get distracted, but MY WORD. After six months of school at home you would think he would realize that his math is going to get done no matter how long it takes him. His math will not magically disappear if he pretends it doesn’t exist. He will complete it each day if he has to sit at the table until his brain rots.
I have tried using a timer. We count out how many problems are in each section and then give him a certain amount of time for each problem. Five problems at five minutes a problem and I set the timer for twenty-five minutes. When the timer goes off he should be done. But, he’s usually not. I’ve tried telling him that he was one hour to complete his worksheet and then we are moving on to other work. When that hour is up I put his math up and don’t get it back out for him until we are completely done with everything else and then he has to finish during what would be his free time. It really doesn’t faze him. I have GROUNDED HIM for not getting it done in a timely manner.
I am so tired of math being a constant argument. He focuses just fine with his phonics workbook and gets it done quickly. I know the problem is not that he doesn’t understand what he is doing because if I sit next to him and watch him work he will get it done quickly. I’m just not willing to sit next to him every day and watch him do what he should be capable of doing on his own. He NEEDS to learn to do this on his own.
Any suggestions?
[tags]kids, children, parents, parenting, homeschooling, education, strategy, math, understanding, focus, strategies, plans, advice, progress, difficulty[/tags]
Photo graciously provided by scui3asteveo, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved
7 responses so far ↓
AmyL // Dec 21, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Karly,
What math program are you using?
Carl // Dec 22, 2007 at 6:10 am
A small suggestion that helps some with my kids:
Rather than aggregating the 5 problems and 5 minutes into a single 25 minute block, try smaller goals. Try setting the time for 5 minutes and make sure that at least one problem is done, and correct. If 2 are done and correct, he gets a prize, etc.
Kids have a hard time thinking too far in the future - 25 minutes may as well be tomorrow, it doesn’t mean anything.
Combine the short-term goal with some sort of award when they exceed expectations, and we do okay.
The downside is that you can’t focus on anything else for that 25 minutes - you’ve got to keep coming back and staying engaged. So remember, no matter how busy you are, if you just-a-minute his math work, then he will, too.
nan // Dec 22, 2007 at 10:06 am
Just what I was going to say! We have used an hourglass timer, from a game. Mostly they are around 2 or 3 minutes, but you can buy one-minute ones too. So you have one set time for each math sum or problem, and watching the sand running out got my son working fast. And he loved flipping it over!
Maybe he needs more challenging stuff? My middle boy loves to be given “problems”, as opposed to just 1+1= stuff.
If all else fails, you can sit with him and call out the sums for him. I do this if my dawdler has plenty of long sentences to write out. We have a cup of tea, and do it together. It’s not too bad, once you make it into a positive thing!
Cecily T // Dec 22, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Is he bored with the math? Are the worksheets not very fun? Are you using any tactile enhancements in your program?
As a math teacher, I find there are a few types of kids when it comes to ‘worksheet’ work, and really, most kids don’t care for the worksheets, even the studious ones who whip out the work just to get it done and get the ‘check plus’ or w/e on their sheet. I find that most kids are way more engaged when they are using math in the world. Have him count and draw piles of blocks, candies, etc. I have also found it a great activity to have kids write up worksheets for other kids. They’ll make the work much more difficult than I would have, in an attempt to stump each other.
As a parent, I guess I’d suggest just talking to him. Say, hey, we have problem; your math isn’t getting done. Any ideas?
I’d be glad to suggest activities if you tell me what type of math he’s working on.
nan // Dec 22, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Karly, I have some fun ideas on my blog, back in September, under “unschooling”. I am a dweeb, so I don’t know how to paste the link here, but you can go look. It’s about 4 posts, one after another. One idea: draw a big long numberline on the ground, and make a game out of adding and subtracting by hopping. You can introduce negative numbers this way, it is fun!
Ginger // Dec 23, 2007 at 9:35 pm
I was going to suggest something similar to Cecily — tactile math! Legos, Skittles (there’s even a Math Skittles book) checkers … going grocery shopping and adding up several items. My son loves and gets math, too (better than I did at his age) but he’s always asking how it applies to real life? Do I ever use algebra? Geometry? Square roots? Maybe making it applicable to your son’s “real world” would work? Let us know how it goes!
STL Mom // Jan 3, 2008 at 11:22 am
We pulled our 7-year-old daughter out of a Montessori elementary program in part because she was unable to structure her own time when working independently. They repeatedly took away her recess, we used consequences and rewards at home if she didn’t get her work done, and we finally realized that it wasn’t that she wouldn’t structure her time, it was that she couldn’t consistently do it. And the school wasn’t teaching her to do it, they were just letting her fail again and again.
Organizing and structuring your time is a skill, and some kids have a harder time learning this skill. Unfortunately, just because a child can do it in one area, like writing, doesn’t mean he can do it in another area, like math. And if the consequences aren’t working, then you may need to change the math activity or the way you present it.
One of my daughter’s teachers told me, “If every time you send her to her room to get something, she forgets what she’s doing and starts playing, then you need to go to her room with her and guide her. It’s no use saying that a 7-year-old SHOULD be able to go get her socks by herself if you know she isn’t going to do it.” Of course I resisted this thinking, “I can’t spend all day helping her find her socks!” but gradually I realized that if I set the bar too high for my daughter, she fails and gets discouraged. If I give her just enough help, she succeeds and is much more willing to try again and even try something more difficult. It is very difficult to grade an activity so it is just hard enough to challenge your child but not too hard, and there are so many aspects to every activity, including organization, attention, and self control.
Anyway, sorry to write a whole book but this is something we have struggled with so much in the last year. The good news is, we have seen much improvement. Good luck!
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