My daughter is quite a math whiz. She can calculate mentally well beyond her grade level. (She is in 2nd grade) We are working on Saxon math - I chose this program because I was happy with it when my son used it and I wanted her to have the rote practice at least during elementary school. She is breezing through all of the topics - has gotten 100% on all of her assessments. She also flies through her flashcards. However, when she does the timed fact sheets, she does poorly on most of them. The best she has scored is 23/25. But the majority of the time she scores about 8 or 10/25. It dawned on me that if she were in school, even though she does so well overall, she would probably be getting a failing grade in math because of the fact sheets. So, my question is: does anyone have any idea what may be slowing her down on the fact sheets? And should I even worry about it at this age level?
I know that Elijah does not do well on times tests. He thinks about the clock instead of doing the work. I then decided not to set the clock and just tell him to do them. He did a lot better.
I would guess that they timed aspect is making her nervous. Maybe do a few without hte clock - just tell her to go as fast as she can. Eventually set the clock secretly and see how she does. If she does better, then show her the clock and say, "LOOK HOW GREAT YOU DID!!!" If she didn't - don't even tell her you set it.
My oldest ds and I don't do well with timed things. It just throws me off! If we know we have all the time in the world to get something done (within reason of course!), then it's not a problem and we do well. Maybe, as the other ladies said, she's that way as well???
What teacher would fail a child because of their timed math fact sheets? If it were part of a grade at all, it would be a very, very minute part. This is seriously, not a big deal. If she knows her math facts, let it be. Remember the overall goal is to be able to do math and work with numbers "automatically" so that when you get to more complicated math you're not struggling with 7 + 9. I do a few different things with the timed sheets though. One is that if they do a sheet in less than 3 minutes they never have to do that sheet again. They know it, we're done with it and they'll get to review on the worksheets. We use dice to play games sometimes. (You can get 12 sided dice and do those.) I will verbally assess them by giving them problems and having them answer me orally. My son is exceptionally gifted in math and doesn't do well on timed drills bc he's so focused on the clock. . .ask him anything orally and he spits the answer back almost immediately. Saxon is a great program and I think it is very thorough. . .however, I think that if you follow every single thing to the 't' it tends not to work as well for math bright kids especially. If she knows the facts, I wouldn't even bother with the drills. . .especially if it is frustrating to her. If it's not frustrating her, then just make the goal to be "to do better than yesterday" rather than to complete the sheet. Better than yesterday can either be completing the sheet in less time, or getting more done correctly in the same amount of time.
What is the goal of giving timed tests? Only one, really. For the child to memorize the facts. The only way a child can do well on one is to know them, because there's no time to "figure it out". If you feel your child has already memorized them (as shown with the flash cards), then I'd drop them altogether. Maybe do them just once a week, if you feel you must. A word about Saxon. I've found there's a LOT of review in the beginning. When we switched to it from Horizons in Fourth Grade, my daughter complained that "WHY do I have to do this? I already know it!!!" So I gave her the first test and she got 95%. The next day, I gave her the 2nd test. I kept up like this until her test score dropped from the 90's into the 70's. And that's where I started her at! I've been doing that ever since. Keep in mind that Saxon is written for SCHOOL use primarily! In the classroom, you MUST have the review at first, to be sure all the kids are together. With homeschooling, you can go as fast or as slow as your child needs.
We use Saxon too for a number of years now. As far as the timed test go, my kids both start to get uptight about it, so instead I found an on-line timer and time how long it takes them to do the test. Then they try to beat their own score. This took the pressure of them and they started to see it as a game. Here's the timer link: http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/javatimer/javatimer.html
I also wanted to add - I'm sure she would be getting A+'s in a public school. Saxon is awesome and really puts the kids ahead (I see this with my nieces and my kids friends who are all public school kids). Even if they struggle with Saxon, they are still ahead, so don't worry about it.
Actually, Saxon was written for homeschoolers--not for school. They didn't start marketing to schools until after it really took off in the homeschooling community. Similarly, I skip stuff my kids already know or don't need the review on as well.
I used to use it in the classroom. . .IMO it is a HORRIBLE classroom curriculum bc really the author intended for it to be paced individually. I hated it when I used it to teach. But I hope I didn't come off too strong. . .that was myself w/o coffee! ;-)
I would wonder if she is using brute force instead of memorized math facts to do her math problems. this would of course show up in a timed test. Example 19 + 7 = 26 Brute force would be to add 7 to nineteen the hard way, by counting up or other means. This would take more concentration and time than recognizing a memorized fact that 9 and 7 are sixteen and carrying.
I couldn't agree more. I HATED Saxon in the school!!! I actually refused to use it, even though I was supposed to. When you guys are talking about using Saxon I cringe - even though I know it might be OK for an individual kid.
I'm sorry, but I have to chime in on this whole rote thing. I ALWAYS use my fingers (I still remember doing it under my desk so my teachers wouldn't see). I ended up going to college for engineering where I was a math whiz. By then, of course, we did all our calculations on a calculator so it didn't matter. I just really feel that some kids just can't remember those facts easily (I was one of them) and just knowing how to get there (to the right answer) is fine.
I do like it as a hs curriculum. For the exact reasons I hated it as a teacher. I think the thing is it requires a lot of monitoring and knowing where the kids are at which when you have 25. . .it's a little difficult to do that on a daily basis. . .but w/ one it's a piece of cake. We skip quite a bit but I do like the way it approaches problems.
My dd is the same way! It can be frustrating. lol. She just gets way too nervous when things are timed. If I ask her facts she knows them. If I time her she gets all flustered. The point is...she does have her facts memorized. She just does not perform as well on the test. Oh well...that is just one of many tests in math. If it becomes necessary I will try to get her past this hump.
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I do like the Saxon program. I want her to have her basic skills nailed down so that she won't be frustrated when we get to more advanced math. My son has a learning disability - but has beautifully learned to compensate and is an excellent student. I think I've been a bit worried that maybe my daughter may also have some form of processing disability that may be causing this glitch. I'm not typically a worrier, but we just started homeschooling in Sept. and math is her favorite subject, so I'm just trying to be proactive and avoid frustration so early in our homeschooling endeavors. I think I'll just time the fact sheets periodically instead of daily.
Oh, I also want to mention that her best scores (23/25) are all on subtraction. But on addition, she doesn't do nearly as well. I thought that was pretty odd.
Have you considered teaching her "fact families"? Take some 3x5 cards and fold them in half. Using the small round stickers, make them into "dominoes". So you have one with 3 dots, and 2 dots. If you put the three on top, you show 3+2=5, or you can turn it around for 5+3=2. You can do this both horizontal and vertical. Then you can ALSO show that 5 (whole card)-2=3 by bending away the two dots, or 5-3=2, by bending away the three dots. That way, if they know the one set, they can easily SEE that they REALLY know them all.
