My ds9 has been diagnosed with a vague 'fluency' learning disability, towards the end of last school year. We took all the info to the school, we mutually agreed there was nothing to do on that problem since he was getting A's at the time, but I dread the start of each year, as he just goes belly-up on the math facts. And like clock work he brought home a couple of dismal multiplication grades these last couple weeks.
I don't want to wait too long to look into this as it gets him all bummed about math in general, and takes a while to get him re-inspired. End of each year he loves math, but it's those first 2-3 months that are very hard on him.

So I sent a note in and we are having a meeting to talk about what can be done. They will probably need to do their own assessment, but my question is, what would an accommodation for this sort of issue look like on paper?
I mean, our Dr. said something about additional time for timed tests...are there other things that might be useful as well or instead? Any suggestions appreciated!

What would happen if you had a 'family math review' every August,just to brush up? Any bribes he's been hankering for? Have you tried this already?

I make it really clear to my son that certain kinds of learning is 'understand once and have it for ever' and certain kinds are 'every year we make a groove in our brain, and then when we don't use the info for a while, and our brain has grown, the groove is more faint, so we need to re-learn again. Luckily since the groove is already there, it will be faster each time.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Grinity, what a great way to explain it! I'm going to plagiarize this to explain to my DC when it's time for review.

Ditto! Wish someone had explained this to me when I was younger. I thought all learning was the "understand once and have it forever" kind. It would have helpful to know about the groove/re-learn kind of learning sooner rather than later.

Ditto me too! It was a real revalation when I finally figured this out. I swore that my kids would at least hear the story. Living the story is even better, and it is happening - Yippee!

Grins

Thanks folks, just got a chance to check whether anyone responded on this! Grinity, that sounds like a very good idea, I did bring up review several times in July and August...but to little avail. I think explaining it in the terms you suggest will probably help - I wonder if this is the line between 'concepts' and 'facts' - stuff you get for a lifetime because it involves 'understanding' and stuff you have to refresh from time to time because there isn't much of a meaningful anchor, (until you get to really use it!) I am hoping we can work something with the teacher which focuses on bumping up the volume he works the problems, and making them more meaningful, and reduces the timed-tests to few and far between!

I had been wondering about the game Math 24, which is a game which applies the math facts, I have gone around in circles in my head, wondering if he'll like it, hate it, benefit from it, ??? More and more I think we will give it a try as it seems to have defined levels which should make introducing it less shocking.
If anyone has any experience with this game, I'd love to hear more before getting into it...

Thanks mon for the ideas on study and thoughts about accommodations...we had tried timezattack and he really dug it last year, but this year it is a bit of a turn off. He himself asked yesterday if he could switch to multiplication.com, it seemed fun for him and similar to timezattack in that he could focus on one table at a time, so hopefully that change of pace will help.

thanks all!

Remember that if a child seems not to take you up on a hint, you haven't found the right set of circumstances to make it attractive enough yet. There is no such thing as 'no avail' only 'that battle isn't worth fighting.' It's like the process of elimination - every fail is celebrated because it communicates to you information that you can use to make a better attempt next time.

I see it more about 'concepts' versus 'skills' - skills just plain have to be practiced. I really wouldn't go down the road of asking the teacher to make them more meaningful, I would go down the road of 'this is a style of learning that involves repetition - lets look at ways to make the repetition as fun as possible.

I haven't played that game, but I would recommend you get it, and try it, and play it yourself for a bit and openly enjoy challenging yourself. You and he are working together to figure out how to get through the repetition with as much fun as possible, but in the end, it just has to be done, fun or not. You are giving him the gift of not having to be afraid of boring work. It's a lovely gift. Imagine the difference that makes to a person's self esteem!


Just think of it as a big bunch of keys - one of them will fit the lock and open the door, but you just have to keep trying them, one by one, until you find the right one.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Thanks again!! Many great thoughts, I appreciate all of them

You are so right about the 'not worth fighting' this particular battle - obviously this is definitely worth it, and about learning from the failing!
I think part of my slack on this one was that I guess maybe in the back of my head I thought, well, he's tackled that already, why fuss? Also we were dealing with a somewhat depressed/anxious guy, so maybe I was too kid-gloves, but since he is coming along nicely with this mood (mostly happy) I guess I am ok with being a little behind on the times tables again.
(In a way I am not too worried about it, but I know he has a tendency to really beat himself up about it. )

The ideas about 'repetition' just being the key are very much what I need to hear - I keep thinking there might be some way around the boredom...lol!