Our DS actually (weirdly) has no trouble with word problems. The only real issue is that showing his work has been a slow skill to come-- and that's only an issue because the answers come to him too quickly, without evident "steps." This is a skill worth mastering, because scientists have to do it, so we forge ahead on it.
Hi DeeDee, I apologize for veering a bit OT here, but fwiw, I'm a scientist with a math degree and if I was young again and in school now I'm sure someone would classify me as "gifted at math". I just wanted to let you know that if I'd been tasked with word problems in elementary school I would have *hated* it - it's really not easy explaining and showing your work (or worse... having to show it in multiple different ways, which our kids' school is always asking). "Showing" my work didn't really click with me until I was in college, but I turned out ok
So, just a little bit of reassurance that while it's a worthwhile skill to teach, if a kid isn't getting it when they are young and math is easy, I wouldn't overly stress it. There will come a time when they need to show their work and they'll get the skill then.
OTOH, that's all totally discounting the value of getting graded on showing your work!
polarbear
