saxon math question

[fishnoises]

My 10 yo dd will be done with math 7/6 this year. She understands the concepts, but is still not checking her work and makes many stupid mistakes that she catches when she is doing her corrections. I am not sure if I should have her go on to algebra or do math 8/7? She has a quick mind (quicker than mine!), but she is lazy in her work. Any recommendations?

[Beth in Central TX]

I've decided to have my son do another year of pre-algebra for the same reason. My oldest son is academically ready to start Algebra next year in 7th grade, but I think he needs another year to mature. He works as fast as he can and doesn't check his work. Like your daughter, he misses many problems. However, he started to develop a disgruntled attitude during our correction time; that's when I decided another year was needed before we moved forward. He will still get to calculus in 12th grade even if he starts Algebra in 8th grade, so there's really no need to rush him when he's not ready at this point.

I was a very difficult decision on my part. I want to do what's best for him, but I also want to challenge him; it's such a balancing act. HTH!

[pianoplayer]

Your daughter needs to understand the critical need to work toward doing the problems right every time. Particularly where the issue is not conceptual understanding but rather disciplined execution of work (including checking her work), I would insist on careful work habits and not push forward into Algebra too quickly.

[Eliana]

I disagree with the other posters.

My kids do better when they have conceptual challenges and much, much worse when their only focus is on precision. The best thing I did for a sloppy child was to move her up to more challenging material. (She does *beautiful* work now and aced her college math class.)

I would recommend moving her up, but giving her more guidance in how to do careful work. At one point, I sat next to my daughter while she did her math and looked over every now and again and called her on her carelessness.... I'm not sure if it helped, but, as I said, she doesn't have any of these issues now.

Eliana

[KiminNJ]

Our 11 yr old dd was in the same boat last year... not checking her work and making small mistakes here and there. We pushed forward to 8/7 but just this past month I need to slow her down. She is still making these errors and if she would just check her work she would see them. So she began the year testing about 98% - but within the last 2 months actually got a 50% on one test - and a 70% on another. Nothing conceptual... all incorrect answers were - decimal in wrong place, she copied the problem incorrectly to the answer sheet to begin with, she didn't write her answer in the correct units etc.

So we came to an agreement about 2 weeks ago that we will continue with 8/7 but it may take us until November - and we will work through the summer. 8/7 is much harder than 7/6 IMHO - and we had bagged much of the Facts practice due to time constraints. So now we are back to Facts Practice and if the lessons slow down - so be it. She needs to work the problems correctly - and set them up accurately.

[LisaK in VA]

This is an issue we are dealing with right now. Up until now, my son has been able to skate through math, but when we got to long division he was making way too many carless errors.

I pulled out the grid paper, and slowed him down, forced him to check every single problem despite the "but the instructions don't SAY I have to check..." protests.

After two days, his work has improved greatly. This is our first year out of a workbook program... where he actually has to copy down the problems. It's a huge transition, but one I'm very glad we made at this juncture (while he's still pretty young). I felt this issue would only grow as the math became more and more complicated.

Since the problems are more on precise work, maybe a carrot/stick approach would be fine (this is what I'm doing with my son).

I choose about 6 practice problems. If he gets 100% of those correct, he gets to move onto the next lesson. For each one he misses, he does the correction PLUS one extra. Since we instituted our carrot/stick, we get through math much easier -- and he is being much more careful with his work.

I'm using this to teach him that it is better to go through his work carefully and get it done correctly the first time, than to rush through and make careless mistakes. Maybe something like this will work for you?

[fishnoises]

I am gratefull for the advice from both sides! I think I will take the idea of working over the summer on simply working on review and being careful and methodical. I still need to look at 8/7 and the Algebra. I don't want her to be bored, and I don't want to jump the gun! I think she is ready for the concepts, but realy has to focus on being careful. I don't know if that woill take the a full year though. At this time we have about 7-8 more weeks of math 7/6. Tere are quite alot of Supplemental pages left! Amybe I can "threaten" her with doing those in the summer if I don't see inprovement. Yesterday she got 18 wrong all due to carelessness. (I was not happy. And she did not seem bothered...)

[KiminNJ]

Today was a perfect example...
9 out of 13 problems incorrect.
I told her to go back, carefully do the entire set again with her best handwriting and double check her answers both logically and by reworking the problem. She sighed that heavy sigh but returned and only got one wrong out of the 13. (she converted centimeters to meters exactly opposite of how it should be done). So it really is just carelessness. Good Luck with your dd.

[angela in ohio]

I was that child. No one cracked down on me, and I regret it now. I still have trouble completing things with attention to detail. I am doing it differently with my dc. Being gifted and knowing the concepts is not an excuse in our house for slopping through. Work done poorly is re-done here. That cures them very quickly of the problem! It has less to do with the actual work and more to do with their character, to me.