It's possible that this is simply a normal part of the developmental arc. Doing straightforward computations that all require the same technique on a worksheet is very different from having to apply two or more different techniques in a word problem or other problem. Sometimes the correct approach isn't obivous, and it can be difficult to pick the correct technique from a large-ish array of them.
Practice and increasing confidence (which comes with practice) may be the key here.
Last edited by Val; 04/20/15 04:04 PM.
