Math Help

I am a math teacher and I write math textbooks. Admittedly, I know very little about math in the early grades, but I know a thing or two about teaching and learning mathematics. Here are my thoughts, for what they are worth.

1. Learning styles and the way individuals think about numbers and number concepts vary greatly.

2. I think it's GOOD that she is counting on her fingers. It will serve her well later to deeply understand what adding and subtracting are. This is the sort of deep understanding that is actually sabotaged by generalizing or memorizing facts too early. The facts are just a shortcut and she will develop her own shortcuts as time goes on.

3. Far more worrisome to me is that it sounds like she may have been receiving the implicit message that how she thinks about and learns math is not okay, that she should be doing it some other way. This is how math phobia is born. Why would I want to spend time on something that makes me feel less smart?

I think you are right to think FUN. I would stop trying to "teach" her math and look for ways to help her enjoy numbers.(I say no more workbooks or flash cards.) Sing little silly songs about counting. Help her recognize quantities and groups of quantities in groups of things she sees as you are out and about or home playing or cooking or reading. Listen to how she thinks about numbers and where she sees them. Encourage her to explain her thinking and let her know that you are impressed with her ability to think about numbers.

As you can see, I have an opinion or two about this. :) Best of luck to you and your little learner.

4 moms found this helpful

As a middle school math teacher I will tell you: There is nothing wrong with her counting on her fingers. The reason for memorizing facts is that it is much faster to simply recall the fact than to work it out every time, but the fact that she is using her fingers is something I see as a positive. It means that she UNDERSTANDS THE CONCEPTS of addition and subtraction (she knows adding means putting together and subtraction means taking away). With repetition she will start to simply remember having done a problem before and won't need to count it out... she's already starting to do this since she remembers having done the problem on a previous page (again, a good sign).

My advise would be to continue giving her lots of chances to count, to add and to subtract. You can use worksheets (but keep them short so she doesn't start hating math), but also find chances to use math in her world like count the forks, count the spoons. How many utensils is that together? How many more forks than spoons? They also sell addition and subtraction bingo sets in the Target dollar bins from time to time, you could pick them up.

Good luck. She's got years of math instruction ahead of her, so remember that while it's important that she master these skills, it is equally important that she feel confident and open to learning new mathematical ideas in the future.

Hope this helps,
T.

2 moms found this helpful

Our 1st graders build bugs of various sizes out of unifix cubes (blocks that snap together) and figure out how many to make 10. They build fact families for 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. Most of the focus is on 10.

They also build a number line and make a fact family rainbow-Draw an arch from 0 to 10, 1 to 9, 2 to 8, etc.

We tried Kumon for about 5 mo. It helped. It's not fun.

Having a real reason to learn them helps. Because you want her to isn't enough.

Play games where she has to add/sub, but try to control the work, like everything is under 5. Play with answers being under 5. Then increase to a new digit. You can make dice (wooden ones-write the digits on it) for the games.

Stephanie

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Hi C.,

I'm a first grade teacher and this is what I would do.

A) Find out whether or not she can count on / back. That is for 3 + 4 = 7, does she have to start with 1, 2, 3, then 4, 5, 6, 7. Or can she pick a number and then count on, like 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

B) If she cannot pick a number and count on, then you have to help her with this skill.
- First, use a hundreds chart http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/worksheets/hundredchart.pdf and have her pick out a number and tell you the number that comes next and before.
- Then move to not using the hundreds chart, tell you the number that comes next and before.

C) After she can identify numbers that come before and after, you may need to explicitly teach her how to count on / count back - sounds like she already might do this with fingers - if so, then you just need to help her connect how to use a different tool instead of her fingers to count on.
- 4 + 6 = ? - start with the bigger number and count up the smaller number, e.g. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 - answer is 10
- 10 - 3 = ? - start with the big number and count back the smaller number, e.g. 10, 9, 8, 7 - answer is 10

D) numberline - http://www.abcteach.com/free/n/numberline_0to20.pdf
- count back / on using numberline

E) manipulatives - use physical objects to count on/back

F) Touchmath - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8533258507743960134; http://www.touchmath.com

G) Teach her "rules" for math facts, e.g. + 1 will be the next number, or + 2 will be like skip counting

H) Online games
http://www.funbrain.com/
http://www.gamequarium.com/junior.html
http://www.coolmath4kids.com/
http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/mathasmd.html
http://www.aplusmath.com/Games/index.html
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm

2 moms found this helpful

I have a minor in math and have worked in public schools for several years.
The fact that she looks at previous pages to help her find answers is actually a good sign. It's a strategy. A lot of kids don't even think to do that. Believe it or not, some kids actually make up random numbers and fill them in, thinking they can get away with having all the answers wrong, as long as they fill out the paper and turn it in!
Some kids are late bloomers in math ( I was too) and she may catch up in her own time. They start introducing algebra at very young ages now, and some kids can do it, but many are developmentally unready...I wish they wouldn't make it so hard, it ruins some students' confidence.
Anyway, I just wanted you to know that sometimes you just need to wait for kids to "get it", and help kids develop logical strategies to help them get by until they do. Looking for similar problems is one. Understanding basic mathematical properties is one (2+3 is the same as 3+2)and families (if 2+3=5, then 5-3=2 and 5-2=3). Knowing the doubles facts, and the +1 facts will help find "neighbor" facts (3+3=6, so 3+4=7). Understanding More and Less is important, to help estimate if you know some facts but not others (if 4+4=8 and 5+6=11, then 4+5 and 4+6 should be more than 8 and less than 11).
Hope this helps!

2 moms found this helpful

You've gotten such good advice, I don't have much to add. One of the strategies I found successful for my girls was to skip count. We didn't try to do math. Instead we just practiced numbers. We started by counting forward as high as we could go. Then we counted backwards. Next we skip counted, 2,4,6,8,10 etc as high as we could go. As my kids got older we would skip count by 5's and then 4's and lastly by 3's. We would practice in the car. What this did for both my girls was to help them really understand numbers. My oldest learns by doing, and flash cards didn't work for her either. What did work was putting flour or sand in a cookie tray and writing math facts ( we practiced spelling the same way)She learned her fact families quickly this way ( 2+3=5, is the same as 3+2=5) I'm happy to say both my girls, now aged 12 and 9 love math. It took a lot of "tricks" when my kids were younger, but it was worth it. Let me know if you need more ideas, I'm happy to help. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Kids at this age are very visual. Try a bunch of blocks, or grapes, or anything else that she can put her hands on. "I have 4 blocks, if I take 2 away, how many are left?" Especially if you make a game of it she will learn faster. "We had 4 people in the car, Daddy had to go to work, how many people are left?" Numbers are just "things", make them real to her. =)

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I work in 2 first grade classrooms part time, and not only do kids this age still use their fingers to count, many use number lines and hundreds charts, or a combination of all three. Very few have all their facts memorized (and I work in a very high performing district.)
I would not try to "teach" over the summer, rather bring it into your everyday life. It's so easy at this age! Play any games with counting, card games (take out the face cards) and especially games with dice. Count by twos, fives, tens and threes. You can do this in the car, make it a song or a chant. Play number guessing games "...I'm thinking of an odd number between 7 and 22..."
I would print out a copy of a hundreds chart and a number line (easy to find online) so she has the tools to help her when she needs it.
Other skills that are really important at this age are counting money and telling time. They are expected to know these facts in 2nd grade but 1st grade teachers just aren't given enough time to really teach these more complex concepts. It's really up to the parents to practice, practice, practice! Just make it FUN :)

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Songs, chants or rhymes might help her memorize the facts. And math games are always good. Using pictures or real objects to count to reinforce concepts could also help, even if you feel like this is territory that's been covered. Maybe turning daily activities into counting opportunities (sorting laundry: one sock, two socks, etc.). If finger counting is comfortable, it may be because she is a kinesthetic learner who needs tactile reinforcement of the numbers. So having foam or plastic number shapes for her to trace may also be helpful. Written numbers may just be too abstract for her just yet.

If she's behind her peers, it may mean that it just hasn't clicked for her yet. Kids' understanding develops at different rates (as do other skills- not every kid reads or walks at the same age). Don't try to force it on her and don't get too frustrated, that'll probably just give her a bunch of negative feelings about math in the future. Her second grade teacher will be able to help her too, so don't sweat it too much this summer. I taught third grade last year and had kids who counted on their fingers occasionally who still did fine in math.

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Use something she likes ie cooking Lets make a snack if we each get a piece of celery that is 1 +1=2 Lets add some peanut butter and raisins. I like 6 raisins and you have 7 raisins.all together we have 13 raisens. Do it throughout her day. It will start to click. make her do some of the work so that it is not one sided. You can do how many cups to fill a container of water, how many are left, money every time you go shopping, play a game where you have toys on the floor and she studies them and then you take a couple out, she has to figure out how many are missing and the which ones. hope this helps.

1 mom found this helpful

Math in workbooks and on flashcards is an abstract concept, one which children are not always developmentally ready for prior to age 9. In her age group, she will need to have things to make these concepts more concrete. As previously mentioned, using objects such as grapes. I have had children use all kinds of things depending on what might motivate them. There are some cute books using M&Ms that can give you some ideas. Also, there are lots of websites that can help you to present number sense and concepts of addition and subtraction in a very concrete way--See Montessori Methods, home schooling, etc.

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Hi C.,
You might try giving her physical objects to work with. M&M's or raisens, chocolate chips... whatever, and have her do the equasions. She will have fun with the subtracting part, which could help de-stress her feelings towards math. There are all kinds of Math Manipulatives you could purchase and work together on. It will make more sense to her when she can actually work with the numbers rather than just their representative signatures. Keep an upbeat attitude. Play dice games, pretty soon she will "see" 5 or 6, she won't have to count them to know what they represent. After a bit have her write the numbers, she will know what they are.
Google Math games for children. Have fun.

Computer games usually help (Reader Rabbit has a bunch of different subjects & age appropriate ones). If you can afford something like SCORE, they have a very good program. Best of luck! C.

Greetings C.: My husband was a math teacher for many years. He always had a good laugh when he saw a college student that was getting good grades using their fingers to count. In some countries he learned that was how children were taught. Don't worry the child will be just fine. I can say that with 5 children and several Grandchildren we have seen many do this. Your little one will catch on soon enough, please do not take away the joy of learning from her. We were so sad when we found our 4th grader using only a calculator in their class instead of their mind.
You might try teaching her counting in sign language so that she sees that for some hand counting is the way to do things. We have one son that had Aspberger's Syndrome, because of it he is not always able to communicate verbally so he has learned ASL Sign and when the words won't come to him in English they always do in Sign. it is also very popular right now to do this.
To prepare your little one for her next year in math start her on learning cylinders andtubes, cubes, squares etc. She will be amazed when she sees that the Nestle's quick container has a shape with a name and be ahead for school.
Have Fun learning the the things about Math with you little one and make it fun and not somethingto fear. Nana G

Hi C.: I'm in the same boat with my son who just finished 1st grade. Would you let me know what you find out?

Thanks so much!

My Daughter's school sent me these earlier in the year. Good luck!

For those of you who would like a website to practice math facts with your child:

Multiplication Website Links:
http://www.freerice.com/index.php?&t=399255101745&amp...

http://multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm

Other Math:
http://www.freerice.com/index.php?&t=21435776398&...

http://afterschoolers.com/ has some fun games and worksheets to print out. I googled and got to this site a couple of years ago, then found out later one of my high school friends (she was using her married name) is the administrator. We hadn't seen each other in 20+ years (she moved to the east coast), so this was a big surprise. Anyway, it's a good website.

Hi C.,

I teach 2nd grade and might have some tips for you. First of all, by the end of 2nd grade, students should have their addition and subtraction facts memorized--they can call out the answer with little to no hesitation. If she's not there yet, she's definitely not behind.

As far as using her fingers, a different strategy we use is touch dots. Did she learn this in 1st grade? Basically, each number has that many dots--a 1 has 1 dot, a 2 has two dots, etc. You teach children to count the dots with their pencil tip rather than their fingers. That way, the don't have to put down their pencil and they don't run out of fingers to count on. Here's a link that will tell you a little more about it http://www.touchmath.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=allothers.p... I don't know what this site is trying to sell, but it shows you where the dots go on the numbers. A number (like 6) has 3 dots with circles around them. In that case, you count the circled dots 2 times. I'm not sure how clear the info is on this site, but if you want more detail or explanation, let me know (you don't need to buy a progam to learn to use touch dots).

Some other things you can do are to use objects to manipulate to make addition and subtraction problems. Maybe she's a more tactile learner? Also, kids tend to retain information really well when put to music. You can make up a math facts song to the tune of just about anything. 2+2=4 2+3=5 (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle.)

It doesn't sound like she's really interested in the worksheets, so try to find as many real world examples as you can. (There's 6 pieces of bread and I'm going to use 2 to make a sandwich. How many are left?)

I hope this helps!

-J-

Dear C.: Your daughter may not be a visual learner, but maybe a tactile one. She may need physical objects to work out the concepts (like her fingers), or she may need to find a way to place the problem into an everyday setting (like shopping for hair bows or eating cookies or something like that). I'm no expert, but I've done a little bit of work on my own learning style as an adult - I'm all visual, but I do well with other methods because I've learned to "translate" the input into visual data so I can comprehend and remember stuff. I also know that our school system only favors one or two learning methods out of at least 5 that truly exist. Could she be an aural learner? Or a kinetic one? Do you happen to have any grade school teacher friends? They're pros at this kind of thing.

Hi C., have you thought about Sylvan or Kumon? I heard those really work. My brother had his two kids in Kumon and he says they learned alot. I don't know if there is an age limit but check it out. My daughter has trouble also in math and she will be going to junior high in the fall. But right now i'm unemployed so there's no way. But as soon as i find a job that's what i'm going to do. this is all i could tell you sorry.

Hi C.,

First of all-kudos to you for trying to meet your child where she is at.
There is a website that has online fun math activities called www.creativemathematics.com They also sell these cds that are really fun. They have addition, subtraction, multiplication etc. I bought them for my son last summer and just popped them in the cd player while we were driving around town.

2 other ideas -- We had a lemonade/brownie stand. I priced everything at $1 and the kids had to make change. That was the biggest aha experience I'd ever seen in three 7 yr olds.

Also, I wrote the math facts on pieces of paper and taped them to our wall. I let my son shoot them with a dart gun and we 'raced' to see who got the answer first.

There is a fun game called spaghetti and mathballs that you may want to try also.

Good luck to you.

Incorporate math thinking into your daily activities with her. Don't make it too obvious, but just start your own thinking in that way so that as you do things together you begin to automatically use math terms with her.
Have her help you with simple recipes in the kitchen and talk about the measurements... maybe even make half a recipe or double the recipe so you both have to think about how to make the adjustments.
Go on walks and talk about things you see using math terms. Just let it become a natural part of your life and it will soon become more natural for her. Children her age think in concrete terms... what they can see, touch, hear etc. Math as taught in a textbook is more of an abstract idea so is harder, but when we relate it to the concrete things with which they are familiar, the child can begin to understand and possibly even enjoy math. Forget the "apples and oranges" concept, and use things that are of interest to your daughter. Does she like Disney Princesses (most girls seem to these days)... then talk about them with her and incorporate math in those conversations. If this is a new idea to you, it may take a bit of practice, but you will both be learning from doing it.

Hi C.,

When my daughter was younger (and still to this day) math didn't come easily to her. I have found that she understands much better if she can see what the problem is. We used favorite toys or candies and set them out on a table so she could "see" the problem. Looking at just numbers on a page didn't do it for her, she didn't understand what she was really doing when solved a math problem. If we did groups of candies and added and subtracted from them it seemed to make it much clearer for her and made her understand what she was actually doing when she was adding and subtracting. I think some kids are just visually oriented and need something concrete that they can see to make things click for them. This worked great when we got to decimals as well. We took a piece of cheese and cut it in pieces to make her understand pieces of a whole. It was amazing, she had struggled with the whole concept and as soon as she could see what they were talking about, it was clear to her. Good Luck!

There is a book called "NUMBER JUGGLERS" (Math Game Book) and it is by Ruth Bell Alexander

This book makes math FUN FUN FUN...for everyone!!!

I hope that helps!

M....

My son is the same age and for him it was reading that was hard though he is now doing so much better after taking an after school reading program at school. Any way he loves math but my husband is good at it(me not so much) and sits down with him making up problems as they go along. You may try a reward for us it was a quarter for every 4 homework pages for his quarter jar and with some pages I would do it with him and we would race, if he beat me then (and he always did) he would get a quarter. I also used to carry dice in my purse and when we went to a restaurant he would roll the dice and add it up, to him it was a game. I just Googled and found this site that looks good http://www.coolmath4kids.com/ the yardstick arithmetic looks good maybe it would help. Good Luck!

I hated math as a child. In retrospect I blame teaching methods. There are tons of different ways to learn math. There are even ways to use fingers as an efficient calculator. Look on the web. There are lots of ways to make learning about numbers more fun. learning should be FUN. We learn 10x's more if we are having fun. It lets our guard down!

I'm sorry if I duplicate anyone elses answer, I don't have time to read all the other posts right now but I wanted to throw this idea out there. Does your daughter like music? My son LOVES music and will learn anything you put to music. Maybe you can make a felt board (you can buy supplies really cheap at wal-mart) and do felt stories/songs that have to do with math. That way she can have the "hands on" experiance as well as the "auditory" (hearing the song) and "visual". If you need some ideas on how to make a felt board, feel free to message me. Good Luck.

Have you had her evaluated for a math-specific learning disability? It's possible that math isn't "clicking" for her because she's not able to process it the way she should be, or the way that it's being taught. If you're very concerned, and there is demonstrated difficulties in school, the school district is obligated to provide testing for her. I would make a formal request, in writing, to the counselors at her school, and see what you can do on that end. Until then, do you think a tutor would help? Perhaps some 1:1 teaching time with someone other than her parents would help her see what she's missing? GL, I hope you find an answer soon - I think it's WONDERFUL that you're identifying the problem early on and being so proactive in finding a solution for you daughter!

My granddaughter, also just leaving 1st grade going to 2nd grade, doesn't have many of her addition facts memorized yet either. I have discovered that with the new way they are teaching math, they don't just sit and memorize addition/subtraction facts like we used to. The way they teach these days is totally different and at first I didn't like it because it seemed like they were skipping around so much between addition, subtraction, counting money, etc., but she is learning. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now - just keep working with her and slowly but surely she will remember.

use manipulatives. Make them fun ones for her. Subtracting... eating fruit loops etc...

Hi C.,
My daughter is the same age, and we ran into the same issues this year. What her teacher suggested to me that really did work, was to have sheets with 100 math problems on them. At first we started with adding 1's. So she would have to add 1+1 up to 1+12 (not in order, at random). We would do one sheet every night for a week, and she went from taking 15 minutes, to less than 5 minutes! Then we would move on to subtraction of 1's. And so on until we got up to adding and subtracting 9's. If the idea of 100 problems is too much for her at first, just cut the sheet in half, or even into sections of 2 rows so it's not so overwhelming. Time her so she knows how fast she did it, and can measure her progress the next time.

The thing about math facts at this age is that it's just not very fun no matter what you do. It's basic memorization, and that's what I kept telling my daughter this year. My mom, who was a teacher for 20+ years before she retired, likes to explain it like this: math is a game. But first you have to learn the rules. Once you learn the rules (math addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), then you can actually start playing and it becomes fun. If you never learn the rules, the game will never be fun. I think that's a good way to describe it!

Anyhow, good luck!

I used to tutor second graders in math and they loved Math Bingo. I bought it at a teacher supply store. Maybe that will help her. It sure is fun!

HI there -
I am a first grade teacher. THe best math program I've found is Making Math Real - check it out. Getting a MMR tutor is the way to go. Counting on her fingers is a strategy and a good one at that. She will move past it once she learns some other tricks/rules to equations. It needs to make sense for her. Memorization just doesn't work in the long run. Good luck!

if you have Kumon in your area, I would look into it. My daughter (last year) in 2nd grade had a hard time making the leap from 1st grade to 2nd grade math and she really didn't want any help from me.

Kumon tutoring seemed to work really well -- she stopped using her fingers to calculate after 3 weeks.

It is usually a $50.00 fee for registering and then $100/month for one subject --- just do math because that is what you want to concentrate in.

take care and great luck.. M.

My daughter is the opposite, loves math and doesn't like doing her language as much! We got her two books that she loves and have very catchy poetry to help you remember math: "The action of subtraction" and "the mission of addition" by Brian P. Cleary they're so cool and reading about math made her day. She was told at the end of the year to count on her fingers and I learned that way, too and still do it to this day... although I am better about doing some simple sums in my head. :) A retired teacher once told me that math doesn't have to be sums on a workbook, it can be counting clouds, counting flowers, sorting types of flowers in the garden, cooking and baking, cross stitching.... those little peg boards that they put together and then you melt with the iron, we've lined up lego figures and made a game of playing take away and adding more to figure out how many troopers she's responsible for... just have fun with it and show her that there are fun ways out there to use math! :) Good luck!

Hi C., I went through this with my son too. I baught him a music CD that sang all his math facts. It was a little annoying for me but after a few weeks of listening to the CD everyday he knew all the facts! Hope this helps and good luck.
-R.

C.,

check out algebraforkids.com wich has a skip count tape- skip count memorization in the early grades can help alot.
In first grade the mind still thinks in concrete terms - things to be seen and touched.

Abstract thinking doesn't come until later. I would let him use his fingers, beans, blocks, whatever, to count with.

Also it is a good idea to play math games like yahtzee.

If she likes computer games, there are a lot of them that help kids learn math.

HI C., My daughter does okay with this but her Teacher has said this is actually difficult for most first graders and they will be doing this work a lot in second grade. Hopefully your daughter isn't getting discouraged, try to make it a game and as far as memorizing I used repetition with my daughter ad nasuem. Relate it to math "families" an example is 3+5 is? repeat that 3 times, 5+3 is? and the 8-5 and 8-3 all repeated several times then mixed up. I did this on the way to school waling and in the car and we joked about it and would say the answers like we were exasperated, tired or really fast. It's so tedious for them at this age but try to make the repitition silly. If you see numbers ANYWHERE use it as an opporutinity to quiz her. Also, Ask her to Quiz YOU. Then have all kinds of fun with it from fumbling for the answer to saying it really fast or in funny voices. We also got these things called math wraps at a store called Golden Apple in Pleasanton. I found a picture of a multiplication math wrap here http://www.panthersupplycatalog.com/multiplication_wrapup.... Anyway, hope this helps and good luck. One last internet resource. Math cafe http://www.mathfactcafe.com/ You can print out worksheets for math here.