Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Math acceleration - forward or sideways ?

I hear you, cerdaclan! I have the same worries about my 7yo.

Last year we stopped using Singapore Math 3A--which was requiring a lot of time because he didn't know his times tables yet, and still doesn't. But like your DD, he understood the concept of multiplication and could work lengthy problems without difficulty. He was just s-l-o-w-w-w-w! But he was hating math, and I wasn't okay with that.

We shifted gears to geometry, and that went swimmingly. And not that "this is a triangle" stuff that passes for elementary school geometry. Real geomery, albeit light on proofs. (But still heavy on logic and critical thinking.) It was challenging enough conceptually, but light enough on arithmetic, that he was in math heaven!

This year we're going to do some Living Math in a homeschooling coop, I think, so more geometry stuff. Plus we'll do some physics and calculus at home, at least conceptually. (DH is an engineer, thank goodness!) All of this should bring him to algebra in some fashion, which I expect to use in part to help him learn his times tables.

I realize that our approach seems backwards--"Calc before times tables! She's crazy!" But I decided we should proceed according to where DS7 is conceptually rather than letting arithmetic hold him back. I figure most kids have to know their times tables by, what? 9 or 10yo? So that's when my son has to know them, too. But if he's ready for higher math concepts before then, then he should get them. We'll just find workarounds, much as you are doing.

A lot of HG+ kids only learn their times tables when they hit algebra. It's common. My goal is for my son to love math first, and to progress second (since the progress is really the easy part with him). I figure he's a good bit ahead in math, and it isn't a race, so there's no need to rush him to memorize math facts, especially if that has an overall negative effect on how he feel about math. Love first, progress second, and I think that way we'll actually get both love AND progress.

They only have to make a year of progress for a year's worth of work. More is swell (and is likely, with these kids!), but is not strictly necessary.

Oh, and if you let her use the calculator, you might consider having her multiply each digit one at a time. In other words, instead of typing in 5832 x 6789, have her type 9 x 2, then 9 x 3, then 9 x 8, etc. That way she a) gets to see the facts more often, and b) finds using the calculator to be a bit of a pain, so she may decide it's just easier to memorize the tables. Just a thought...

I'm interested to hear more about what you're doing, since it sounds like we're in something of the same pickle!

Kriston,

thank you for your comments. The idea of using the calculator for single digits rather than the whole number is a great idea! I have her do half of her math without the calculator and half with (her math assignments are typically 45 or more equations long....a lot for a 7 yo). She also LOVES geometry and she CRAVES ordered pairs. She also loves math when the math is hidden in story problems. She is also enjoying fractions and decimals a great deal and grasped the concepts very fast. It is just the adding, subtracting, dividing muck that bogs her down. She is highly distractable when doing these things.....finds them incredibly boring and her mind wanders....she makes kings and queens from the numbers....crowning them......draws hearts all over her page.....makes elaborate pies with the manipulatives.....builds castles from then 10 frames....etc.....hmmmmmm. So....I let her buld the castles, but she better darn well have the perimeter figured out when she is done......you know? It just takes FOREVER to allow her to express her need for creativity AND get the math done.

Terri

I let my 8 year old use a calculator if doing a calculation by hand won't teach him anything. So, if he understands a concept completely, I don't force him to calculate by hand.

A good example of this is exponents. If he has to figure out 8^4, I prefer to let him type 8*8*8*8 on a calculator to having him laboriously go through each calculation.

I also don't always insist on absolute mastery of something before moving forward. So when he knew ~2/3 of the 0-10 times tables, we moved to long division. He memorized the remaining multiplication facts by applying them in division. The new subject matter kept his interest up and he simultaneously acquired the remaining old subject matter.

I'm more cautious with algebra, though. We do a lot of reviewing so that I ensure he retains concepts.

Val

I let my 5 year old use a calculator if he asks to, but not for arithmetic homework. I will let him check his homework with the calculator, though. I have shown him how to use the exponent function and a bunch of other stuff. Actually, the calculator itself has led to math discussions--e.g. What does this button do? He wants to use my fancy-schmancy HP "reverse Polish" graphing calculator. My 9 year old DD shows no interest in the calculator.

My ds7 is in a similar boat, not quite as pronounced on regular worksheets, but with timed math fact sheets, he moves at an agonizing pace. And there isn't any oh, well you did 'ok', though not great, it's just a pass or a fail so he was beginning to feel like a failure in math.
I have taken a lot of time to reassure my ds that he
actually is uniquely suited to pursuing and enjoying math, and that memorization of what
I refer to as 'computation facts' will come faster the more he uses them, but I am in no
rush to see him complete a 20 problem sheet in 1 minute rather than in 2 minutes.
Sometimes I show him articles on mathematicians who can't balance their check books, but think things through at a pace which allows them to come up with new ideas about things which other folks have been 'seeing' for decades but not pondering.
I think the guy who solved Poincares conjecture about the nature of space is a great example. When it first came out, someone stated that it just goes to show you that most of our truly profound thoughts have resulted from long periods of isolated thinking. Newton is another good example of this. Not a bad thing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/science/15math.html

I always say that DS7 is a laser or a deep-thinker rather than a fast thinker. Speed will *never* be his thing--he does NOTHING fast!--but he buries himself in the things he's interested in, coming up with insights that blow my mind.

So, yeah, I hear you!

Interesting. Yes, this is a slightly older thread, but it deals with what I'm struggling with right now to some degree. DD is much younger, but there is some of that asynchronisity in her math. I highly doubt dd is PG, but she is very creative also, and artistic.

With math she is ahead of her current curriculum, but at the same time she doesn't know her math facts. She needs her math facts, but I can't imagine a year spent in her current math curriculum, which would simply be review for her on everyting else. She is only a K student. She is working at a 2nd grade math level, but she doesn't have those addition facts memorized.

Like you I'm also getting very diverse opinions on this, and I can argue this both directions. It doesn't help matters for me either that my daughter is also highly asynchronous in reading. She is not a phonetic reader. She still hasn't absorbed the silent-e rule, and can have trouble reading a word like 'lit' in isolation, but is reading 3rd grade level books.

I found the comment about math facts being like spelling interesting, b/c that is an area that doesn't come naturally to my daughter either.

I'm pulling my hair out b/c she is all over the map, and I don't know what is the right level for her to be taught at.


Tammy