Yes, I am concerned about how she perceives herself in regards to her math ability. I don't know that the school has them do those timed tests.
School says that they used to let kids advance more on the math curriculum, but that students would later hit a wall, as they did not know their math facts. They then changed their system, and they make the kids do a lot of hands on, manipulatives, etc. to work on the number combinations. In K, Dd would have a target number, where she'd do combinations, for instance 7=5+2=1+4+1+1=3+4.... etc.
I don't think that is bad. She knows that 8+8=16 right away, but might need to calculate 7+6.
I remember those "math drills" at school, they called them "mental calculations". I was fast at those, but probably not the fastest; and I am a mathematician. Even if I know that being a human calculator doesn't mean you are super good in math; it did take me by surprise how well she is doing in math.
Thanks for the article, I took a quick look and I'll read it later more thoroughly.
Last edited by Mam; 09/26/09 07:59 PM.
