Good thoughts kcab, that is how our son has been most of his school career also but for writing assignments instead of math.
Kriston,
Thanks for the support on how we are approaching the writing issues. I feel like a terrible Mom when I make him do things 2 or 3 times to get what I consider an acceptable report. (or at least something that the school can't use against us...) DS is a great speller when it is the only thing he is trying to do. In fact he is doing well in the spelling bee at school right now. It is only when he is composing and writing it that it gets a bit off kilter.
At age 5-6ish, I think he was really into mentally doing these types of problems as we drove places in the car.
5+7+12+15 = x (Up to 6 or 7 addens I think)
12-8+7+6-2 = x
how many 6s are in 36
150+25-75 = x
He loved amy problem that included a letter so we also did alot of
6x - 10 = 26 wit hbot hpositive and negative answers
Also in the car we did times tables up to 12. Once he was good at reciting them in order, we started mixing it up. Of course for every question he answered, he got to ask us one too... Almost like making him do double work since he had to decide if we gave him the right answer.
Drill though did not really start until this year. I think the idea of using a calculator or spreadsheet for simple computation to work on concepts is a really good idea
The tables sound good also. I might have DS draw them up as well. Maybe use them to play a type of bingo game...
