Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion maths in underachiever

Slightly different slant on my problem. I have a just 9 year old son, skipped one year, who USED to be exceptional in maths; does better with ed psych assessments (eg. had achievement level of 9.5 at 6; 13 at age 7.4); now drifting back down to grade level.
My last post was asking about the use of in class distance ed learning and I have had a look at ALEKS, thanks for that. I am waiting for a response from the school.

My question is a more general one. Can anyone point me to a link describing HOW to teach maths to kids with a high ability?

The approach we take with ND kids is a linear one; one digit addition, then two digit etc. I have in my mind a two pronged attack; firstly a fun exploration of new and challenging concepts from high school moving at a fast pace, backed up by reinforcement of calculation etc skills a few grades below. So for example, you don't have to have all your times tables off perfectly before learning multiplying fractions.
Does anyone know of any work on this subject?

Thanks again,

There is a book called 'Developing Math Talent' that could be a good source for you.

Thanks so much everyone, I will certainly look for that book.
I will certainly try with the real life maths too, thanks for that suggestion, though he has been "allergic' to maths recently and not keen. I think with all this though he is having to think about his attitude a bit so hopefully things might change for the better.


Yes this is what I think we are heading towards as well. I hope the ALEKS thing will work out, have to see if the school agrees.

Thanks!

Just a thought... with the 7-8 year olds I have in maths club, I constantly ask them HOW they solve problems. Not "showing their work" per se, but when faced with even something simple like 9+5, what is it that they see in their minds? How do they arrive at the problem? Did they see 10+4? Did they imagine a timeline in their head and jump forward 5 places? I use visual spatial strategies (picture tree x tree is a washing line line for 3 x 3 = 9) to see if this resonates. So I try and work out what happens in their mind first. Two things happen: often their own explanation of how they got to an answer surprises themselves (!) And secondly, they're often really surprised by just how many different strategies that kids employ to get to the same answer.

So this is my long way of saying... ask your DS! jojo

Hi all,
just writing to say thanks for the Aleks advice, I really like it. He is able to do some at school when the others are doing "boring stuff" like writing out tables etc. He did an hour and a half at school in one day this week! I get him to do it a couple of times a week at home too if he has not done it at school. He has really improved his score on the assessments and he is doing it all by himself. His teacher is pleased with his change in attitude in general - we have been encouraging 'hard work' etc. So... so far so good! Fingers crossed it continues!