Going back the original question vs. direction this post has taken. My older DD has language processing LD and while learning math operations with numbers wasn't a problem for her word problems were a HUGE issues. I'm not suggesting your son has an LD but I figured I could share what i did with her. These are a basic idea's but sometimes basic suggestions gets overlooked. Read the problem out loud if you can (hard during a test), underline the important numbers & their units, cross off the unnecessary verbiage, circle the words that describe the operation. If it's homework trying to explain the problem and/or what you don't understand to someone else even if it's the cat or dog often works wonders. Basically slow down and treat it like a puzzle to be decoded and practice, practice, practice.
I love the idea of having him try to write his own word problems.
