I can't say that my son loves math, and he would probably tell you that it is his least favorite subject, but I think he is gifted in math, just not as much as in other subjects. The educational psychologist who tested him several years ago told us he was gifted in math and thought he could have scored even higher than the three grade levels ahead on the math section of the individual achievement test but he refused to use a pencil and paper to find the answer and it was obvious he was getting tired. He said he really should have been tested over more than one session because of the fatigue issues. I have noticed that his mental math ability is not quite as good when he is tired or has a bad headache and I have the same problem.
Because my son had handwriting problems and difficulty keeping columns straight, he hated multi-digit multiplication and division. When he was younger he hated subtraction that involved borrowing because he could do it a different way with less writing (he would just write the answer) because he could do it mentally and he could do it even though he did not spend as much time practicing math as his friends in our public school.
He likes to have the freedom to work on what he wants to work on first and then go back to the other stuff. He never wants to do the first problem and work them in order.
He still refuses to write any more than he has to, like when he is subtracting measures, for example: 2 lb., 5 oz. - 12 oz., he refuses to show that he is regrouping by writing the numbers at the top like the book shows. He just looks at the problem and writes the answer and he does it faster than I can do it the normal way. I decided to let him do math his way because I think this is how he will compensate for the handwriting problems.
Even now that I let him use a calculator he doesn't use it as often as I would because he likes to try to find the answers mentally. He is more than half-way through an 8th grade book (he should be in 5th) and having no trouble at all as long as I let him do the problems his way. He rarely makes errors. I think he would make more errors if he had to do more writing.
He says that when he gets to something that he has to do more writing to get the correct answer, then he will do more writing. I know if he had to go back to our public school they would not let him do math his way and this would be a problem but I try not to think about it. I told my husband if something happens to me he will have to homeschool our son.
