What to do with a kid good at math?

[rlowetx]

I am so frustrated.
My child is excellant at math and a very quick learner.. he did NOTHING in school last year and after testing realized his brain was just on a different level, if you will. So we pulled him out, hoping to challenge him. The problem now is, he won't do it... its the same thing that happened at school, except school gave up. He plays around, sings songs, taps pencil.. anything beside's putting his head down and doing his math. His math skills are off the charts, which is why the school didn't "force" him to do anything - they knew he could do it so they focused their time on other kids...well, I can't just NOT make him do his computation, just because he gets it. We don't do tons of stuff, because I know it bores him, but he has to at least do the 20 problems so we can go on.. We're doing Singapore Math, which isn't too much repetition - but even then he WONT do it.. It takes an hour to do a lesson because of his dancing, prancing and other things.. No other subject is like this, and I know its because the other subjects he's actually learning and feels like he's progressing. But with Math, he just won't do it.. and its his best subject...He just doesn't like HAVING to add or subtract or whatever it is that day..What do I do? I can't stop, math IS about some repetition and its needed to go on to harder concepts and to exercise the brain into remembering.. he needs to do the 20 problems.. How do I do this without us going crazy?

[JenneinAZ]

Radically accelerate.

Try him in a pre-algebra book and see if that is any better. If that doesn't help try Algebra. He is bored and complaining that he isn't challenged. So challenge him. Some kids really don't need the repetition to learn math. Even Singapore can have too much.

If you are worried about gaps you might try Aleks.com It will give a placement test and then let him work on only the problem areas. He might find that more appealing then lots of worksheets on things he "already knows".

I hope this helps.

[rlowetx]

I had not even seriously thought about that.. I thought he would miss something and needed to "go in order".. even if we did it quickly. Thank you for the idea..I'm gonna try that and then see what gaps there are..
He's just so funny.. he "gets" it, but doesn't like memorizing it..he figures once he understands the concept why go over it and over it and over it.. he can just figure it out because he knows how to break it down. I guess its mostly my problem b/c I thought even smart math kids were supposed to stand up and recite their multiplication tables as fast as they can..and then that would mean they are ready for more.
Great idea...We'll try it out and see how mom deals with it :-)

[melmichigan]

If he hasn't already taken the math placements for Singapore math then I would start there. Keep taking the tests until he starts to have problems. Be sure to explain why you are doing it so understands the importance of doing his best work. You might find that he does perfectly fine with much higher material, in which case, give it to him as suggested. My DD wouldn't do math in school, we brought her home. Well no wonder, she is doing math at a much higher level and was the catalyst for my forming the EPGY group. Once they understand something there isn't the need to 'beat a dead horse'.

[kiana]

Another option could be to use the placement tests until you get to stuff he doesn't know, even if it's above his grade level.

For memorization of multiplication tables, if you allow games, you might consider the free download of Timez Attack and see if it works for him. It's definitely a lot more appealing than working math problems.

I pretty much agree with Jenne.

[RanchGirl]

I agree with the others, if he is capable of doing a higher level, he could be extremely frustrated right now. Even once you move him to a higher level, he may get it a lot faster than you would think -- so doing 20 problems would be overkill if he completely understood the concept after 2!

[KristenS]

Mine's not working as far ahead ... only a year, because I keep being afraid we'll miss some concept ... but he hates all the writing (he's nearly 8). So I cut down the practice sets to a lot fewer questions. And we use Horizons, which is spiral and has a lot of variety within each lesson. So far it's okay. I have thought of bumping him up a year, but I think we'll miss stuff, and those writing spaces get so much smaller! I don't want him to think he can dictate half his math for the rest of his school career, LOL.

Our workbooks have tests every ten lessons, though they don't always cover the most recent material. So if I was going to accelerate, I'd probably just do the tests instead of the lessons in between, till I spotted problem areas. Then I'd know where to start.

[JennW in SoCal]

There are many other materials to stimulate your mathy boy other than a simple math program.

Look for books by Theoni Pappas such as Fractals, Googles and Other Mathematical Tales.

There are two wonderful books called Family Math -- one for elementary and one for middle school years. It has lots of games and activities to look at and think about math in different ways.

The Highlights company has some very fun math puzzle books, as does Critical Thinking Company and Prufrock Press. Also search on-line for word problem sites, and look into computer math games (the computer games my kids used are sadly mostly out of print now so I have none to recommend).

Don't discount pattern blocks -- my kids used pattern blocks with accompanying middle schooler books when they were 7. Also consider logic games -- SET, Rush Hour, chess, the computer game Logical Journey of the Zoombinies.

There are math board games and card games that reinforce basic math facts.

As for your basic math program, I agree with everyone else to take the Singapore placement tests or sign up for Aleks.com. Aleks is great because your ds can go at his own pace and you are out of the picture - it is all between your ds and the computer, with the computer giving him extra work where he needs it and advancing him if he is ready.

[Spetzi]

Two things I did for my ds.

I tested him ahead. If he missed anything, we went back over it. Ds leaped ahead and kept going. He is doing very well in all aspects of math (computation, problem solving, algebra, geometry.) Perhaps your son is just one of those people who "gets it."


We did some math orally, I did a lot of the writing for him and made sure to get workbooks. Since ds was much younger than the curric was designed for, I knew the tiny spaces or copying the problems from textbook to notebook paper would not make him happy.

HTH,

[nmoira]

A few suggestions:


After taking a placement test for Singapore, offer more than one year's worth of material at a time. Let him follow, for example, topic dealing with the operations of whole numbers from 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A so he gets more new material at a time.
Use Singapore Math's Intensive Practice books in addition to or instead of workbooks.
Let him "challenge for credit" by passing a pretest or by testing out of a unit at any point.
Life of Fred (http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html)
Murderous Maths
Supplement with such materials as Primary Grade Challenge Math, Challenge Math, Becoming a Problem Solving Genius (http://www.challengemath.com), logic puzzles, units from MEP (http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm) (email for a password to access teacher files), books by Theoni Pappas. We have a few books from Prufrock Press. We're currently using Can You Count in Greek? (http://www.amazon.com/Can-You-Count-Greek-Exploring/dp/1593630565/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251436474&sr=8-1) and will follow up with Alien Math (http://www.amazon.com/Alien-Math-Marya-Washington-Tyler/dp/188266471X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251436486&sr=8-1) and Piece of Pi (http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Wit-sharpening-Brain-bruising-Number-Crunching-Activities/dp/1593631200/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251436474&sr=8-2).
EPGY (http://epgy.stanford.edu/) (there are threads here about an affordable option)

[rlowetx]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions - today was so much better when I just let go of my need for him to finish the page. We did a couple problems of review and then went on to a new lesson - he was so much happier. We talked about the situation and said he thinks he will be more satisfied if we go this way and just hit topics quickly until he starts to need more reinforcement.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. And my son thanks you.

[JenneinAZ]

I am happy that it went well today. It can be very hard to figure kids out sometimes. I hope that next week goes well too.:001_smile:

[zaichiki]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions - today was so much better when I just let go of my need for him to finish the page. We did a couple problems of review and then went on to a new lesson - he was so much happier. We talked about the situation and said he thinks he will be more satisfied if we go this way and just hit topics quickly until he starts to need more reinforcement.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. And my son thanks you.

Oh, Rachel. My son is like this, too. He just can't tolerate review of something he already knows. A couple of problems: okay. A page? I'd have mutiny. And he's not even "mathy."

I'm so glad you found his "key."

:)

[EKS]

This is what I do with my accelerated math student with Singapore math. Have him convince you that he understands the lesson by doing several problems perfectly. Pick the hardest problems in the texbook and if he does the correctly then skip the workbook and move on to the next lesson and do the same thing. If you know he knows what's going on without the practice problems, go through several lessons and then have him do the practice problems only (or a subset of them). This way you will accommodate his need to move more quickly and you won't create gaps. Once you get to more challenging material you can slow down to whatever pace is appropriate for him. One important thing though--be sure to review every so often to make sure he's retaining the material. When you omit practice, sometimes the retention takes a nosedive (and sometimes not too).

Also, for retention he doesn't necessarily have to do the 20 problems. He may only have to do 10 or 5. If you get the Intensive Practice and Challenging Word Problems books you can use them a half a year (or a year behind or even a unit) behind to reinforce the material.

[MissKNG]

My daughter is between Levels A and B of Singapore Math K. So what I plan on doing is whiz through the units she knows in one day by picking the activities that I know she will like. She likes cut and paste, so I have all of those ready. Then when we get through A, we will go her pace through Level B.