Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Please son, just read the question!

My boy has the teachers exasperated because he can do the math yet he
a. doesn't read the questions properly
b. is careless

As a result his grades are rubbish! And in his exams he can't just be told "read the question" or asked "is that a 0 or a 6"

He is just about to start his final year in junior school and he has exams to pass to progress - and the high school is really suited to his needs. They are not going to admit him unless there is a vast improvement.

I am thinking of getting maths questions and going over, and over, and over....not to have him do them but to find out what he thinks they are asking him for. Apart from that I don't know what to do - we have come so far (see my other posts) and this seems to be the final hurdle (educationally alt least).

I need some good suggestions pdq - he can't be the only one to have this problem.

The first thing that springs to mind is boredom, do you think that could be an issue?

I have noticed at times when problems are REALLY easy for DS5, he will mess them up. It's very strange. Not sure if he is just flying through them without really looking or what. Usually he has more challenging work to do and he gets all those right most of the time. But recently they made him do the review with the rest of his class and he got 0 + 6 wrong and one other one that was so simple. I know he knows all that, but either intentionally wrote it down wrong or just didn't pay attention because of how easy it was. It's annoying only because I don't want them to give him more review thinking that he doesn't know the material when clearly that is not the issue.

Wish I had good suggestions...one I can think of that could help is going back through and double checking to make sure they are all right when he is done. He could either do it at the end or be taught to do it after each problem. Not sure what type of math he is doing but sometimes you can go back and check answers by doing them in reverse so that may help if he can get in the habit of doing that. Does your son get annoyed when he gets them wrong or does he not really care? Just curious what his reaction is as if he is annoyed he may be more motivated to doublecheck so that doesn't happen.

Teacher sys he is disappointed that he has done badly because he thinks he has done well. A particular example, yesterday he got 1 out of in percentages, which I know he can do 'with his eyes close'. Seems he was either careless or just didn't read the questions - exasperating!

Raddy, I'm not sure if this helps. Passing exams, doing math questions the way it's required (read carefully, write down workings logically etc) are skills that have to be learnt.

My son has this problem on and off. He usually writes the answers down without any workings, which is a real pain if he messes up and I try to go over with him on what went wrong. Many times, he wouldn't know how he arrived at the answer - I call it "blink math", where he blinks out the answer. It's great for speed but not for accuracy! I'm trying to get him to slow down and write down what's necessary - a working here or there will suffice.

My suggestion is to go through a few questions with him - the objective is for him to s-l-o-w-d-o-w-n and experience his own thought process. Focus on a few questions a day for several weeks if you can. I'm doing this with my son too - it's not easy because he hates to write (not even a bit), but I think it's helping him to understand his own thought processes and to have better accuracy as a result.

Good luck!

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Thanks - that is a great suggestion, I'm going to do that.

Did you see my post on 5 minute math - this has been an absolute peach of a success.
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....earch/true/5_minute_maths.html#Post74124


My son too won't write - and he's now 10 - hard isn't it?

My DD12 does the same thing.... Not only in math but even when following a recipe she'll skip through the directions and just do it. I think sometimes it is the result of being bored in school and having to do the same thing over and over that she assumes she knows. In math most of her mistakes are careless errors. I have gotten on her case alot about it. It becomes really important when it influences the future of thier schooling. That said we have been recommended to see a vision therapist to see if she is having troubles in that way. If there is trouble that way I will be sorry for the harrassment for something that was not her fault...or easily under her control... One thing I did that actually did help was use money... I know its not the best thing to do but I really wanted to show her that she could do the work and get them right and I knew the money would motivate her. This was a little less than two years ago and a prealgebra class. I think I offered to pay her $25 for the whole lesson if nothing was wrong. It took two lessons or so and she got them all right which proved to herself that she could do it.

This is not really a gifted issue - most students do this. Being able to follow directions is important and this needs to be discussed. Having students write directions is a good start.

This is actually the way students work now - just do it and ask questions later. However, this will bite them. If they advance in science or computers, they have to learn this.

This is where the basics end and the higher level learning is beginning. It is hard for them to slow down. Gifties often begin to have problems at this point until they mature. Would you want a surgeon or pharmacist to take short cuts?

My D15 has this issue, and she was recently diagnosed with a non-verbal learning disorder. She is actually quite good at math, but struggles with following instructions (especially on multi-part problems). Her NVLD shows up in executive functioning issues. One thing her math teacher suggested was to put one math problem per page for her. So the teacher started making special copies of the test for her. It definitely helped her focus on what that one problem was asking.