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    Dandy #55262 09/13/09 02:11 PM
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    Originally Posted by Dandy
    [quote=marieg]On the rare occasion I can get him to slow down ever-so-slightly, his quality and accuracy go through the roof. I just haven't figured out a way to get him to hit the brakes.


    I've read (although haven't tried it) that manipulatives, like a stress ball or silly putty, can help with kids flying through things. The theory behind it is that by unconsciously diverting some of their mental energy to the manipulative, they are forced to channel the remaining mental energy to the schoolwork, directions, etc. (Sort of slows them down to "normal" levels of brain power)

    Of course, your DS may need to juggle flaming batons in order to reach "normal" levels of brain power. laugh laugh laugh


    Mom to DYS-DS6 & DS3
    master of none #55268 09/13/09 04:04 PM
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    Originally Posted by master of none
    Exercise, exercise, exercise.
    Her problem is too much physical energy that keeps her from mentally focusing. I don't know if it would work for you. Sounds like your problem is too much mental energy.
    He's pretty active at school & at home, so his physical energy seems relatively balanced (thankfully!). But teaching him to throttle back his mind. Aughhh -- that's the real challenge.

    The teachers all say that he's just going to have to experience the sting of low scores a few times to figure it out.

    ALEKS has been a help to some degree because he knows that if he takes his time and answers carefully, he'll not have to do as many problems to get through a section. Hasn't carried over to his other work, though.


    Being offended is a natural consequence of leaving the house. - Fran Lebowitz
    sittin pretty #55269 09/13/09 04:06 PM
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    Originally Posted by sittin pretty
    Of course, your DS may need to juggle flaming batons in order to reach "normal" levels of brain power. laugh laugh laugh
    Maybe juggling flaming batons WHILE treading water?? That'd be quite the diversion.


    Being offended is a natural consequence of leaving the house. - Fran Lebowitz
    Dandy #55271 09/13/09 04:18 PM
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    Our district follows the 10 per grade rule and sometimes parents remind teachers of it (before state testing). DD10 is in first year of middle school. Her study hall is right after 4 core subjects and she does most of her homework then. She saves big projects for home, which we can do over several days. Last year she would do upto 2 hours of homework, which makes me wonder if middle school is going to be easier? Not only does she come home earlier, but we are not stretching homework into dinner time, which works better for all of us:)

    Jen

    Dandy #55332 09/14/09 09:37 AM
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    Originally Posted by Dandy
    If some creative teacher can find a way to teach our son to slow down just a tiny bit -- and pay attention to details, instructions, etc -- he'll be unstoppable. "Going too quickly" really is his only problem in school right now, and is the only thing negatively affecting his grades.

    My DS9 has the same problem. We were going through math yesterday and I read a few of the posts in this thread to him. I told him that the forum is run by the Davidson Institute. The immediate effect was that his face lit up when he saw that smart kids can have this problem. He had been complaining of being "stupid" on occasion before that.

    I also thought about how to help him increase his accuracy. I realized that I've always emphasized the need to "check your work!" but never gave specific advice about how to do this, apart from re-working the problem. Of course, this approach can just lead him to make the same mistakes.

    So I deconstructed the process and gave him these pieces of advice, based on his biggest problems:

    1. For order of operations, use braces to show which parts of the problem you do first/have done. This will help you keep track of things.

    2. Always simplify fractions.

    3. THE LAST THING YOU NEED TO DO is to check signs.

    His accuracy went up immediately! The task didn't seem as overwhelming to him either.

    Val






    Val #55342 09/14/09 10:03 AM
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    we have had some check your work issues. I brought this up with DS9's teacher last year and she quizzed him on procedure. He knew the procedure but just went too fast and didn't check work carefully. Teacher had a talk with him as did I about he needs to show what he knows. This may of helped some but not completely. I think he just got so stressed and disengaged at school that he just couldn't keep the focus. Last year was not challenging enough. He has incredible focus when he is stimulated enough and not stressed.

    So far this year, no problems with checking. I'm praying this contiues. This problem doesn't help much except to know there are more kids in similar situation.

    Someone here suggested "Mental Math" book for checking work. I haven't tried it for this but sound like agood way of making something too simple feel more challenging.

    Last edited by onthegomom; 09/14/09 10:05 AM.
    Dandy #55348 09/14/09 10:44 AM
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    Originally Posted by Dandy
    On the rare occasion I can get him to slow down ever-so-slightly, his quality and accuracy go through the roof. I just haven't figured out a way to get him to hit the brakes.

    Have him imagine that one day he will design an airplane or a giant skyscraper. What would happen if he makes an error in his calculations or assumptions?

    At some point in his life, he will assume a great deal of responsibility and in order to be ready, he needs to have a lot of practice at checking his work and generally being careful.

    Speed should be used to give yourself time to check your work on key things IF there is a time crunch!

    --

    As for home work, there are lots of guides on studying.

    But, what I like to do for technical stuff is to:

    1. Read the chapter, taking notes.
    2. Make flash cards of all theorems and example problems.
    3. Memorize those in 2.
    4. Do the assigned problems.
    5. Do all the problems - omitting the trivial ones.
    6. Add cards from 2 to my stack for the class and carry around for 5 minute power sessions.

    7. When finals approach:

    a. Go through notes from 1 and consolidate.
    b. Do randomly selected problems all over again- omitting the easy ones.
    c. Do hard problems for speed.
    d. Review problems solved 30 min before test.

    8. When the class is over with, move notes from 7a into an "archive" notebook for future reference.

    If you have time, you can get another book on the subject and work the harder problems in it.

    The same can be adapted to humanities type classes. Problem solving is replaced by synopsis of the read passages. I try to totally memorize key passages if doing lit.

    If you are reasonably bright, you should be able to do the final with a 100% every time given the above preparation. The speed drill is there to give you time for either very hard problems OR time to check your work.






    Austin #55361 09/14/09 01:40 PM
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    Originally Posted by Austin
    Have him imagine that one day he will design an airplane or a giant skyscraper. What would happen if he makes an error in his calculations or assumptions?

    I did this with DS9 yesterday, using a bridge as an example. The question was for him to imagine a bridge that might have to hold a thousand stopped cars weighing xxx kg if there was a traffic jam or some other problem on the far side of it.

    Me: "What would happen if the engineer made a mistake in his calculations regarding how to make the bridge?"

    <pause>

    DS9: "It might collapse."

    This example got him thinking.

    Val

    Austin #55380 09/14/09 05:33 PM
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    Originally Posted by Austin
    Originally Posted by Dandy
    On the rare occasion I can get him to slow down ever-so-slightly, his quality and accuracy go through the roof. I just haven't figured out a way to get him to hit the brakes.
    Have him imagine that one day he will design an airplane or a giant skyscraper. What would happen if he makes an error in his calculations or assumptions?
    We will have this conversation tonight.

    Nearly every mistake so far this year (only 3 weeks, but lots of work) has been due to carelessness. Frustrating.

    I told him that while we do not expect perfection, we expect him to at least take his time and show that he cares about the quality of his work.


    Being offended is a natural consequence of leaving the house. - Fran Lebowitz
    gratified3 #55392 09/14/09 07:07 PM
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    Quote
    forced to revise writing when he's pretty sure he got it right the first time! grin


    LOL! That's a problem I have always had--if it were wrong, I wouldn't have written it the first time! I've never been good at editing my own work for that reason. Of course, I'm obsessive about editing anyone else's work. smile

    I always did the outline and rough draft after I was done with the paper....


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