Seeking advice on how to strength math facts base

Activities & Lessons Math & Science
1

I have a daughter who will be 9 yrs old next month and entering 4th grade. She is good at math and just a little shy of doing advanced math. We want to help her strengthen her math facts thus helping her feel more confident and make less of the careless mistakes that held her back from doing advanced math in 3rd grade. She has it in her but just needs a little more guidance.

Does anybody have any recommendations on classes or a good private tutor (with creative teaching skills and not necessarily just book teaching) who can help her? I live in Almaden Valley in San Jose.

Has anybody heard from Vedic math? What about centers like Kumon, Sylvian etc.

I know about websites that can help but she does not do it on a regular basis and also looses interest after a few days. I am hoping if I sign her up for classes or with a tutor, then she will remain more focused and work on it on a regular basis.

2

I know Kumon has a reputation for strengthening math skills, but it is memorization/ repetition, I think, not creative or fun, so some kids would do better than others in that environment.

3

I think working with a tutor is a great idea, but I also think it is important for your dayghter to understand that it is ok if math (or any subject or sport, etc) doesn't come easy for her, it's about the effort and the practice that goes into it that's important and with that comes the understanding, etc. There is a great book for parents and teachers called "Mindsets" by Carol Dweck. There are fixed and growth mindsets and as parents we want to encourage the growth mindset. When kids are told how smart they are their whole lives when a challenge arises, they'd rather not take the chance of ruining that title so they simply won't try. You have to praise the effort, so kids know it's ok to fail sometimes, that's when you gain experience and know what not to do the next time, etc. It was a real eye opener for me, because you so innocently tell your kids wow, you're so smart! And it devalues them actually.

Good luck!
STeph

4

I agree with Stephanie. You need to make sure she knows that some subjects might come easier than others, and it's ok if she has a little trouble. You did say though that she is good in math, so I have to ask if it's just you who wants her in advanced math, or is she really having trouble? Why not search the web for printable worksheets that she can do. Also try the library for books on fun activities to strengthen her skills. Even activities like cooking and baking help with fractions, addition, and such. Make it fun for her and she'll want to do it. I think a lot of times kids don't like tutors or places like Sylvan because it makes them feel like they are failures.

5

I tutor students in math enrichment and I was just talking to a parent of one of my students. We were discussing the need for basic facts to be in place and she sent her daughter to Ms. Hansen. In just a session or two, the child was on her way.

Here's her website.

http://www.firstfocus.com/

Stephanie

6

is your daughter's issue really careless mistakes, or is there an underlying comprehension problem. and what does "really good at math" really mean? as a high school math teacher, i always found parental descriptions of what their kids know of certain subjects can be vague. i'm not trying to be mean, i just want you to assess what's going on with a little more detail, more for yourself.

if you decide to go with a tutoring center, the most useful part will be a diagnostic test they can give your daughter to give you a sense of what skills are weak or strong. personally, i don't like kumon. i think they stress drill and kill too much. there is value in drill, but it doesn't work for everyone.

if you can find a tutor that has experience with teaching mental math skills, that might be more useful to your daughter. also problem-solving and reading comprehension. "advanced math" for the elementary grades is mostly making sense of words and connecting numbers to them. the mental math will help with comprehending things like double digit multiplication, etc.

by mental math, i mean teaching regrouping skills like
15-9 = 6, right?
it's also 15-10+1 = 6. 15-10 is a lot easier and then if you add back 1, you get the final answer.

those sorts of understandings get at larger math ideas that are very subtle but extremely useful for mental agility.

i used to tutor myself, but i'm due in 3.5 weeks, so i'm off. :oP

as for hesitancy on your daughter's part, i would stop by a teaching supply store, like morrison's school supplies in sunnyvale and pick up a math based game. if you help your daughter see that math has fun applications and that there are different ways to get the "right answer", she'll start to let go a little.

growing up, i played a lot of logic and math based games too. these days, they have sudoku and kakuro, which are great. perhaps the best thing they taught me is that struggle, making mistakes, and trying a different way is all part of problem solving. the students i see who "hit a wall" some time between middle school and freshman year of high school never really learned how to persevere through math problems, are terrified of not finding the "right answer" in one step, and get really confused when they are presented with 3 different ways to solve the same problem.

obviously, math is my thing, but i also agree...there are other things to enjoy! at the very least, let your daughter enjoy what she likes best at the same time. don't take it away, or she'll resent math.

7

I think there is a computer based program for kids from Stanford University called EPGY and check it out online.