math question...how much help?

[tess in the burbs]

we are still doing MUS with my 6 y/o. he KNOWS the stuff. but if I am in the room he asks for help on every single question!

we are going to try and let dh teach math in the evenings, but then I think I will feel like our day is never 'done'.

what math program is more independent. right now we watch the video together and do the first two pages. I help and aid those two pages. After that I expect him to finish the other 4 pages by the end of the week. I allow questions within reason. Like as review thing...i might give a hint on how we solved it before. But blatent facts he knew just a few problems above on the same page????

If I am not in the room he does the work and is fine. So what is out there that is more independent? Something I can teach and them let him be all week?

Or am I just dreaming at this age? :o

[Alana in Canada]

To be blunt, you're dreaming!

At six, the child really just wants your company. How long are his lessons?

Perhaps you can start slowly--like "do math for 10 minutes and do your best not to talk to me. after these 10 minutes are up, I'll answer any questions you may have." Something like that.

My daughter talks constantly and wants me RIGHT THERE all the time she's doing it. I usually do the dishes or scrub the cupboards or something.

[WTMindy]

is still this way. He gets it, but he is an oral processor and wants to tell me every step he is doing. It drives me bonkers. Sometimes I tell him he has to do 10 problems without talking and then he can explain it to me or ask questions. I find he usually answers his own questions.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

My DD2 will do this at times. It helps her to think outloud when she is trying to figure something out. When she asks me a question on a problems that I believe that she can do, I usually respond with a question. (How do you think we can solve the problem? or What do you think the first step is?) Very often she will just work through the rest of the problem step by step explaining it to me. When she's done, I usually tell her well done and suggest that she try to work the next 5 problems without any help from me. (It's not like I actually had to help her with that first one anyway.)

As far as independence, I usually aim for a little more each year. My first grader only does a couple of things independently, while my 3rd grader, does closer to have half her subjects independently. Independent math at 6 sounds like a wonderful dream to me.

[attachedto4]

I think it's to be expected in a 6 year old and I sit right by mine. If there is a day when everything is crazy, I always have Horizon math workbooks available, because my kids can do those entirely on their own and still like me nearby but seem more willing to do that without continual input from me.

[kaylk in tx]

that young kids don't always want us to answer their question. they want us to repeat it back to them so THEY can answer it. wanting to show off their smarts i guess. so if he asks "what's 3 + 2" just ask it right back, "gee, what is 3 + 2?" other than the fact that the constant talking would drive me insane, might be worth a try. :o

[Cadam]

He just wants you there. My dd does this too. So I say "what do you do first? Well done, what do you do next? hmmm, that's right. What's that last thing you do?...." You get the picture. I don't actually help her but I do prompt and participate. Sometimes it is my job to hand her the blocks she asks for or I do the writing and she tells me what to write, something like that.

[tess in the burbs]

they want us to repeat it back to them so THEY can answer it. wanting to show off their smarts i guess.

Oh yes, he likes to be a smarty pants, I will try this, THANKS!

[MelissaMinNC]

Which might have nothing to do with your question, but I have a 6yo, and we were doing MUS for a (what seemed like) a long time, till I finally realized it just is never going to mesh for my dd. However, if she really KNEW the stuff, we would not do all the pages in every lesson. I thought I understood that the program was designed so that you move on once the student knows the material?

As far as your question goes - switching math programs did not suddenly make dd more independent. I think it's just the age - she wants me to sit there and do it with her, whether she actually needs my help or not. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't - it mostly depends on what 3yo ds is doing. If she doesn't really NEED me, I might say that's my time to play with him, and she has to work independently (I try to take turns with them).

GL,
Melissa

[Karin]

My ds, 7, can be like this. He definitely processes his math orally. When he was 6 I sat with him, at 7 I stay in the same room most of the time. At least for Singapore. When he's doing MUS (we do both as we already have them from dd) I try to let him do most of it himself even if he doesn't want to do it alone because I'll let him build the problems if he thinks he needs to, but it depends on how new it is. But I have "weaned" him from discussing every single problem with me.