Thanks for all the posts. I can't swear that it isn't just a coincidence, but DD returned to school this week and has dramatically improved her scores on math speed drills. And this morning, she was lamenting that she didn't rewrite the clues to her crossword puzzle for the tutor so that they were more legible. (The full assignment was look up words and then use them to make a crossword puzzle. The look up is still painful, but the overall assignment isn't as bad as I made it sound.)
I did have a talk with her about why she was getting tutor time, how we thought that she would enjoy doing something a bit more challenging because she is so smart. Maybe the math spurt wasn't a fluke. All I know is that she has never gotten more than 35 out of 50 problems on their timed tests. This week they moved to 100 problems and yesterday she got a 100.
I'll check into some of the resources you all mentioned.
On the dyslexia thing - I don't think that is it. About 90% of the time she had the right page in the dictionary and the word was the first or second on the page. She just didn't want to have to sit alone and do her work. Unfortunately, for the second time in 17 years, I had to work on a weekend and wasn't able to hover. Or maybe it is fortunate. I don't know.
As for skipping over words - yes, she does tend to pick up the general meaning of things, but following up on words is a good habit to get into. (OT - Saw a set that is supposed to be for SAT preparation yesterday. Books like Frankenstein, War of the Worlds, etc published by Barrons. Big words likely to be on the SAT were bolded and on the opposite page were defined dictionary style. No having to go get a dictionary - the definitions were right there. All I could think was that my kids would love that. I think vocab is all that keeps them from tackling higher level material.)
I just find it frustrating not knowing really where she is on the spectrum because of the playing dumb. I have always had my suspicions - and lately DH has been starting to agree. Maybe just maybe we have two PG kids instead of one.
Or then again, maybe she is a highly creative MG kid and her needs are being met better than I think.
Mary
