Hi Trinity:
I have been using some of these techniques the past few weeks with my ds8. I decided to try these techniques after I read about them in Sylvia Rimm's book -- which I heard about from you here in this forum -- thanks! It was very interesting to see this article and realize I had just been practicing these techniques with moderate success. So, if you're interested, I've gone into detail below about how I implemented these approaches and how it's gone.
Until I tried these techniques, DS8 had considered learning his times tables a boring task, unworthy of his time. Also, he had no idea how to actually learn anything that he didn't just absorb in an osmotic way. He was definitely in the group of students (described in this article) who think everything depends on innate ability, not talent development.
So, even though he got two reminders over the summer from the 3rd grade teachers to learn his times tables, he resisted learning them, and said he "wasn't good at math." I encountered incredible resistance both with this and with any math homework done over the past year, so I knew I needed to do something.
His lack of interest in math was disheartening because he had been interested in math as a toddler and a bit precocious, counting to 200 (or higher!:}) in the car on his way to daycare or other places at two, and before three figuring out that 100 plus 100 is 200, 1 million plus 1 million is two million, etc, and around three asking what happens when you subtract five from three, instead of the other way around, and learning about negative numbers.
He went from knowing all the math he was supposed to learn in K before he started K (and paying no attention, and getting an average grade), to barely paying attention in first grade, not memorizing his addition and subtraction facts, and then actually struggling with it this last year in 2nd grade. I think he was rejecting math because it wasn't coming as easily as other subjects and he was rejecting it because it was making him feel not smart.
So about two weeks ago, as motivation (one of the methods recommended here), I started talking about how he needs to learn math to continue understanding science in the upper grades. He loves science and this motivator did work. Past attempts at motivation, in talking about how it would help him get a good job or get into a good middle school, had not worked. Even after a friend's big sister told him and the friend that they needed to do well in school to get into a good middle school so they wouldn't get beaten up:(
To help him realize he was capable (another of the methods recommended in the article) I also pointed out that the single-digit addition he once found so challenging was now easy and that eventually, with some work to get the multiplication facts to stick in his memory, he would find the multiplication tables easy, too. (To emphasize the importance of working to achieve his goal.)
I also promised him that for each set of times tables memorized (2x, for example), he would get one additional hour of his favorite video game (otherwise limited to one hour per day in the summer). He had to get at least 85 percent right to get the hour, and with 90, 95 and 100 percent right, he could earn increased steps of up to 1.5 hours of video game time. I also gave him 20 minutes of video game time for each hour spent trying out Aleks (which I saw mentioned on here and figured he should try to boost his confidence.)
Thus far, in two weeks, he has worked on Aleks for 4.5 hours. Aleks is a great reinforcer because it gives a lot of information on progress. He had whipped through Aleks, learning three concepts per hour. Seeing this on his reports HAS really boosted his confidence. In those 4.5 hours, he completed 9 percent of the third-grade curriculum. Through the pre-test, he learned he already knew about 19 percent of the third-grade curriculum, another confidence booster. Now, he has gotten to the point in the program where he really needs to know his times tables better, and he has started studying them. I gave him a times tables test today with 50 questions and he got an 85 percent and time on his video game.
This article also advises to provide study techniques at the point learning becomes more difficult, which I did. I explained to him several ways I memorized material, including writing down and repeating out loud what I had to memorize, and trying to process the information in some way. So for times tables, write down the equations and then write down problems and quiz yourself. Today, after he took the test (in blue pen), I told him that grading the test himself would also help him memorize the times tables, so he graded himself in pencil, re-wrote the multiplication problems he'd missed (I told him this would also help him) and then computed his score. I reviewed it all afterward and told him how much video game time he had.
I have still had to ask him if he wanted to try doing some Aleks or working on times tables. But, the other day, he asked to do Aleks, because he wanted to play the video game longer.
I think the one area where the advice in this article diverges from what Rimm suggests for my particular type of learner (he would fit in waht she calls the "dependent" category) is that she says let the kid figure out for themselves how to study. This article says to provide the child who doesn't know how to study some study techniques, and this is actually what I did. I did manage to stop hovering and nagging, which is behavior that Rimm says encourages dependence and underachievement.
I think it has been a small success. My son seems to now have a little more confidence in math and has somewhat learned his 2X - 6x tables and realized he already knew his 0x, 1x, 10x and 11x tables. I think he is probably skip-counting to arrive at many of the answers, but at least there, he is getting adding practice and adding up correctly.
I will continue to try to use these techniques once school starts , when he will have less allowed video game time and even more motivation to use Aleks and study his times tables to earn more video game time. Eventually, to make sure he is actually memorizing his times tables, I'll switch to timed tests and require an 85 percent on timed tests.
I like this article and I'm thinking about giving it to my son's teacher once school starts.
BK1
