More on How to Help Kids with Math: Math Tutoring

OK, so your kids have Everyday Math (or another investigative learning curriculum) and your kids fall into one of the "Everyday Math doesn't help my kids" categories;

• Kids who might have a language problem but would be really good at mathematics,

• kids who need the "rules" first and then they can come to the concepts (think phonics versus whole language),
• kids who need drill in order to retain concepts,
• and kids who are mathematically gifted --

what next? What do you do?

To the teachers' credit, many teachers have figured out the deficiencies in the program since they have been teaching it a few years and try to get the children to learn their math facts. This is the case in my school district. (If your child was one of the first classes through the program, they may be deficient in this area and you may have to do some remedial work.)

However, a lot of class time may or may not be devoted to math facts simply because there or so many hours in the day or some teachers have to do it "on the sly." Some curriculum directors may prefer the program be taught in its "pure" form and therefore discourage any rote memorization or think time taken for drill is wasted.

This is where computers are extremely helpful. They can make flashcards fun!

I had my daughter go onto www.funbrain.com and use the math baseball game, which is free. She had to get so many runs. I didn't care how many outs she received, but she had to keep at it until she got 50 runs. In the beginning my daughter was tearful when she received an out. Of course I tried to tell her that making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn yada, yada, yada, but she really had a tough time with it. Contrast that with my son, he loves it. He keeps trying to get 50 runs with no outs, which he has done many times. He thrives on the challenge. (I also have him regularly do math games at the third grade level when he is in second grade. The second grade problems are too easy. Update: they now use the mathbrain games in the arcade section at funbrain. I actually have my daughter doing third grade rather than 6th grade right now because she is actually weaker in the addition and subtraction than she is in the multiplication and division. Again, she is going backwards trying to fix what she didn't get the first time with Everyday Math.)

I think that this highlights why Everyday Math was written the way it was -- if you don't care if you get the correct answer, then everyone can enjoy math because there is no real test of your knowledge. Being almost right is just as good as being right.

Now, I have some personal sympathy to this way of thinking. I always received above 90 % in the concept portion of any math exam, and then received 10 points lower in the application. I hate detail. I hate drill. I tend to think in the long-term rather than the short-term. Calculators are a wonderful tool, etc.

However, now I am (cough) older and wiser with experience in:

• occupational analysis (many years ago I worked on the Guidance Information System and helped create a product with literally thousands of occupations and the skills required to do those jobs)
• management (I teach an excellent management methodology at www.managementvitality.com)
• and just plain years of business experience (Houghton Mifflin, Ziff-Davis, ZiffNet, ZDNet, ZDU, KnowledgeSoft, FamilyEducation and now ManagementVitality),

I have come to respect the urgency of getting "the correct answer." You need someone on your team who is obsessed with getting the correct answer plus defining the many details of the project or the project, whatever that project may be, is likely to fail.

It seems to me that this curriculum was built for my daughter's short-term needs -- her potential to like math -- rather than her long-term needs -- her ability to actually do math on a consistent basis.

As a parent, my job is to balance the short-term and long-term needs of my children so they can grow up to be happy, healthy and wise (note the tag line of this site.) Therefore, it is my job to make sure that my daughter understands that it is OK to make mistakes, but she has to keep trying because that is the way you learn. Period. And sometimes learning is hard. But, to grow up to be a successful adult, she needs to be able to pull out her "I can get the right answer and be careful about details" when needed even if it isn't her natural tendency. She has to respect that it is important and be able to do it because sometimes there isn't someone else on the team and it needs to get done or the project will fail. She doesn't have to make this her career, but she needs to be competent when pressed because her chosen career may require her to understand the math to get to the information she needs.

Anyhow, so what can you do? Have them go to www.funbrain.com or another site and drill them on their math facts. (Many of the other math computer programs don't focus on these drills either because it is less fun, but the kids need them.) Make sure they work 5 to 30 minutes a day outside of their math homework.

Once their facts are up to snuff, have them work on a traditional math program in addition to their current curriculum. I have found www.aleks.com to be wonderful. There is a free 3-day trial which starts out with an assessment to help you pinpoint where they need help. It then guides the child through the concepts step by step based on what they know. What is even better is that Aleks gives two explanations for any concept so you can help your child even if you have forgotten a bunch of math. It is the best $17.90 a month I spend. Furthermore, the child has to get the problem correct at least 5 times before Aleks moves on, and Aleks continually reassesses.

I have also found some traditional math videos that are free at www.mymathtutor.com. (Right now they are free!) The instructor is first rate. My second grader tried the place values and addition videos, and he can easily understand up to the billions and firmly grasps how addition works even when you "turn it around.")

I'll talk about how to get your child motivated in a later post. And if you know of other computer programs that cover a traditional math curriculum, please let me know.

(Full disclosure, I worked for www.familyeducation.com (now part of Pearson Learning Network) at the time that FamilyEducation purchased funbrain, which is how I know about funbrain. I no longer work for them and have absolutely no financial ties to the company.)

Other posts on this topic include:

• If your school has Everyday Math (first post on math)
• this is the second post
• More on Math... Math Sense: Stage 3 Help (third post on math)
More Parents Find Out About EveryDay Math (fourth post)
Everyday Math Exposed: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Reverses Course (fifth post)

Comments

[Spelling Games]

Thanks for your insightful advice, I'll read all your articles on this matter, you rock!

[Erica malouf]

Thanks so much! It's wonderful to hear this from a parent who is intervening. Because that is exactly what i feel forced to do. Your advice will get me started in the right direction. I'm very disenchanted with everyday math.