I have brought up Rylee's math struggles before, and for a time I really thought they got better. We finished up their math a few weeks ago and I immediately moved them to the next level, knowing she was not going to do well if we took a break. Well... although she is doing fine with her actual math curriculum, gets things right if I stay by her and make sure she isn't wondering mentally, she can not think in math when it comes to anything else. Last night we played Buy It Right as a family. Her turns were BRUTAL. Reagan would be jumping out of his seat telling her what coins to use to pay for the item she had drawn. Hubby and I just kept giving each other looks. I'm not sure what he was thinking... probably that I'm not doing my job I guess I need to add in living math daily... board games like this, playing store, reading more of the MathStart books, etc. I guess I need more ideas... so throw at me what ever you may have that may help her learn to think in math terms. (She is very "artsy")
I think living math would work wonders. Counting money should be a life skill and not something that is done in a math book. I like the idea of playing store or even going to a real store and allowing her to pay for cheap items.
If she is artsy she probably will never think in "math terms" but you can help her develop money skills. Her brain is probably wired that way. That being said you can help her develop basic skills. I think playing that game or another game I like the Allowance Game can help her improve her skills. I would not stress to much about it, she will get it but it will just take a little while longer.
What is the Allowance Game? Besides Buy It Right, I have Presto Change-O here as well as things like Rack-O, Yahtzee, and I have all the Family Math books and several other books that have math games in them (Mega Fun Math Games, Math Card Games)... all these things collect dust but I guess that needs to change. I just got a huge lot of Highlights PuzzleMania magazines... I'm thinking using them with her will help with her critical thinking and reasoning skills (which is where I think she is lacking). I don't mind if she is never a math genius, but she really needs to be able to survive in the real world some day.
Here is a link for the Allowance Game http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/pr...<>ast_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1362068604174
My 7yo dd struggled with counting money BADLY. it seemed that no matter how I tried to teach her it was a failure. I finally decided that she needed "real" experience with money. I told her we were going to play store and I let her pick what store we were going to "shop" in. She picked Costco because apparently that is her favorite store. So, I told her to set up a Costco store in our kitchen. She had so much fun pulling food out of the pantry and fridge and setting up a "store". When she was ready I priced everything. Then I gave her a bunch of play money that looks pretty real and I said go. She got a laundry basket placed it on a chair and said it was her shopping cart and she began to shop. When she was done she came to checkout. I made her add it all up (which she wasn't thrilled about because at the REAL Costco the cashier does that) and then I made her figure out how much money and what dollar bills and coins to use. She didn't get it right the first few times, but because she had set the game up she was determined to get it right. She finally did. Then we played several more times and each time she got it right. She is still a bit slower counting and thinking but that is because she wants to make sure she is using the fewset bills and coins possible. It worked magic for my dd.
Great idea Minthia.. sadly it's not just money. She can not think in numbers, at all. It's so frustrating for me because I see math as a puzzle to solve and have fun, she sees it as a headache and I want her to love playing with numbers as much as me. I know she is herself and not me, but grrrr the kid looks nothing like me, she could have atleast gotten my brains..lol
^^ this is me. I really don't have any great advice. I just wanted to sympathize with your daughter. And let you both know that I do survive. I've never been able to "think in math" either. It just doesn't make sense to me. :/ I know that sounds silly. I struggle with just about all of it and I got by in both high school and college by the skin of my teeth. I'm not going to lie, simple math equations trip me up and I use my calculator for simple things. or just leave a tiny bit extra on a tip at a restaurant just so I can round it up to an easy number. ALTHOUGH -- I successfully waitressed for several years and carried my own bank (meaning we handled our own money, we didn't have a cashier) and never made a mistake. Or at least none of my customers ever noticed. I always took my customer's check and money to count away from their table (and away from pressuring eyes), though. This was sorta the store rule, too, though, for courtesy's sake. I've also been told I'm a pretty great cook and I've yet to mess up a recipe while adjusting measurements (though I do a lot of tossing and no measuring too. haha. but measuring is important in baking and I manage that as well), it just takes me longer than it should to think it through. Actually, that would be a good idea -- get her in the kitchen with you to cook and bake or make some fun homemade bath products. Lots of math there -- measuring, fractions, additions, subtractions, etc.
I was just talking to hubby about this. Lately the conversations in our house have been to do with "what do you want to be when you grow up", and Rylee wants to be like me (awwwww) when I suggest a career path she shoots them down with things like "I'm not schooly" "I don't like to read" "I have a hard time with math". This kind of breaks my heart. I think I'm going to drop her math.. the 2nd grade math we just started (mind you we are technically over 1/2 way through her 2nd grade year). We use McRuffy and it really is ahead of most public school maths, she could easily test into TT3.. even being non-mathy. I want to stick with McRuffy instead of switching now to TT, because I think it will help her in the long run.. it's very hands on. We will focus on living math. Helping in the kitchen some (though I will not throw any fractions at her yet), helping with shopping, playing math games and store and whatever. Reagan is begging to move ahead in math (he just started 1st grade level), I can see him easily being done with 1st by the time we start our "next year". Then I can start both of them in 2nd and I think it will be better for Rylee. I really think she is better off on a 1st grade level in everything and not in 2nd.. she isn't a great reader yet either... she just doesn't care to push herself even though she is getting better at it. So I think I will just slow her down and meet her where she is and see where it goes.
Start paying for stuff in cash, and have her help you pick out the money and give it to the cashier. It won't "solve" any problems, but it might help her some! I taught one summer in a Learning Center at a camp for special needs youth. I had one 17yo boy who couldn't for the life of him figure out there were four quarters in a dollar. He got REALLY upset and asked, "That's an important survival skill. How can I manage in life if I don't know something that simple." I told he could manage. He just needed to make sure he married a girl who was a wiz in math, and let her take care of the finances! He looked at me like I was absolutely crazy, then burst out laughing. And you know what? It relaxed him enough that he was able to remember it, lol!
I wouldn't stress yet. According to your info tag, she is just 8. Just because it doesn't come easily, doesn't mean she'll never get it. I agree that making the learning fun and related to real life experience is the best practice. Keep going with the games, playing store and walking her through managing her own money.
I used to take a muffin tin that I had numbered the cups on and put some coins in each one. I would have my student count the coins in each cup and put the answers on numbered paper. We later progressed to having play store with priced grocery items, and other household items. We used a little fake cash register and play money. You can purchase play money or print it out. I would have them ring stuff up, you can use a calculator, then one would pay and the other count change out.
We have some really good (looks real) "play money" (from a school supply store), plus the money in the Presto Change-0 and Buy It Right are both realistic. I like the muffin tin idea. I think I may steal that one I have been looking through my books and games and trying to plan out 1 game plus 1 life skills math thing for each day. Not just money, but all aspects of math.
Playing Battle/War with regular cards can help build a mental picture of the amounts of each number (a visual image of "how many spots") and the concept of more/less. Play with a Pinochle deck or just two regular decks with the face cards taken out. Dominoes builds addition skills -- you have to have a sum that's a multiple of 5 to score, so you end up counting pips pretty quickly to know if you scored or not. Keeping score is really easy too, because each 5 is one slant of an X, and one big X with a little x in each "corner" is 50. Yahtzee is good too. Canasta requires keeping score too, but you have to hold so many cards it might be difficult for smaller hands. Maybe some sort of Rummy game?
I just signed up for a trial of Dreambox they really like it, it may mean that I can not buy teacherfilebox like I planned but our reading eggs subscription has done wonders for them, I'm willing to give up my want for their need. Thanks for the ideas Lindina I made these card holder things out of gallon ice cream lids and those brad thinggies for their little hands, they love them... they are great for Uno..lol
