I think it is a problem of not enough practice....
What you say makes logical sense and is probably true for most kids, but not necessarily all.
My dd actually gets worse with practice. Her performance slips, and then she begins to believe that she doesn't "get it" because there are errors, and it spirals down from there until she develops a "block" and simply can't perform the skill under any circumstances (well, other than screaming).
What my dd needs is "high interest" math or more advanced math that requires a knowledge of the basic concepts as a building block, applied simply at first, and then with increasing complexity. She does not do well learning the blocks first, but will learn the building blocks naturally, and often independently as a part of solving the more advanced problems.
Master of None: I was reading up on Silverman's description of Visual/Spatial learners as mentioned by mumofthree. I'm not sure if it applies to my dd; I will have to think on that a little, but it did seem to parallel some of the comments you made earlier about your dd. I've copied a little here:
"Teachers often misinterpret the student's difficulties with the instructional strategies as inability to learn the concepts and assume that the student needs more drill to grasp the material. Rote memorization and drill are actually damaging for visual-spatial learners, since they emphasize the students' weaknesses instead of their strengths. When this happens, the student gets caught up in a spiraling web of failure, assumes he is stupid, loses all motivation, and hates school. Teachers then assume that the student doesn't care or is being lazy, and behavior problems come to the fore. Meanwhile, the whole cycle creates a very deep chasm in the student's self-esteem.
Concepts are quickly comprehended when they are presented within a context and related to other concepts. Once spatial learners create a mental picture of a concept and see how the information fits with what they already know, their learning is permanent. Repetition is completely unnecessary and irrelevant to their learning style."
