addition facts--need hints/tips

[Rock'n Robin]

DS is in 2nd grade, 7 years old. Next week they will start timed tests on addition facts. I am at a loss because DS doesn't seem to retain facts like his sisters did. In all honesty I have no experience with a child who has trouble with this stuff, because the girls never had any difficulty.
He is doing better, but I don't think he can do 20 facts in one minute. He needs to thinnk a little too long. Does anyone know of any software or anything that can help with this rote practice? His "reader rabbit" software has math stuff but not timed tests, and I would like to try something besides just flashcards.
Robin M.

 

[simba928]

You could make up your own timed tests. Make them like what the teacher will give. When my brother started to take the timed tests, I think he got like 5 minutes to do 50 or something like that. The time gradually decreased as they got better.

 

[horseshowmom]

aplusmath.com

This site isn't timed, but you can use it for practice on your facts. DH teaches 4th grade math and suggested it.

 

[KarenB]

You could practice facts in odd places and make it a game. For example-while driving somewhere you could say "Let's see if we can do 15 addition facts before the red light turns green." Or if you get to the point that you want to reward his efforts, you may give him a goal. hhmmmm-how about if you can do 20 addition facts in one minute by Saturday we can choose an ice cream treat at the grocery store or a new book at the book store. (I am not sure how you about material rewards....just a thought!)

Karen

 

[sadiebell]

I know your pain--my DD is 7 and in the 2nd grade. Her 12yo brother had no difficulty with math and neither did myself or my DH. We have used flash cards as well. She gets the answer right most of the time but it seems to take a bit of time and she still wants to use her fingers. Thanks for the tip about the aplusmath website. I'm going to check it out.

 

[Karel]

I used to stress over this with my daughter but then I saw the light and just let it go.

She'll never be quick with math. I'm not and never was.

I'd rather her get them right than do them fast. I know that it's important for later math skills but hey, she's in sixth now and doing fine. (except they change the whole math program anyway and taught them new ways...)

The best thing is to drill with flashcards. We tried all the fancy stuff but it just kept coming back to doing flash cards at least once a day.

 

[disneyelaine]

We use www.aaamath.com. Just pick 2nd grade and then addition. There is a clock running at the bottom to see the time.

 

[Mickey76]

Can I just add my input here?

I'm a remedial math teacher and this is my thought about any teacher that gives timed math sheets, like "minute math" or whatever: They're idiots. Giving a student a timed worksheet where they have to answer a set amount of questions in a short amount of time does not prove that the students know their facts; it proves they can answer quickly. Many students, possibly your son, maybe like most students. They know the facts but perhaps they feel rushed and cannot concentrate because they are worried about finishing first or before their friends. It certainly is not a morale booster and I would have a conversation with the teacher about asking the students to do such a task. When I hear of teachers doing this, it really irks me. There are a lot of things that I feel that parents should not gripe about, but this surely isn't one of them. Someone needs to be an advocate for the children of this classroom. If you really want to know if your son or any child in first grade knows his or her addition facts, make up a worksheet of 20 questions and give them a sufficient amount of time, like 10 mintues to complete it. They should be able to complete two problems a minute. If they cannot do this, I would look into purchasing unifix cubes (they snap together..kinda like legos). If you have one cube and add on another one, how many do you have? Trust me, it works. You can also teach them with M&M's, Skittles, or whatever you think will help them learn. If the teacher is not using manipulatives in the classroom, I'm sorry, but they should have their certification taken away and they need to find a new career. I hope your son overcomes this dilemma and is successful throughout the year. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'll be more than happy to help.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Oh OH OH! I have an answer for you!

I'm homeschooling my daughter who is in second grade. I'm teaching her Saxon Math. I love the method by which they prepare kids for their timed tests.

Start at the beginning with each set of flash cards, and don't move on until you have the last set correctly. Do a homemade timed test where your child has to write the answers on each set. Do them in this order:

0+ (0+1, 0+2, 0+3, etc. thru 0+10).
1+ (same as above, only using 1+ each number)
2+
doubles (1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4 etc.)
Then do doubles plus 1:
(a method of learning that teaches the child to use what they know and then adding 1)...for example...if your child knows 6+6=12 from rote memorization, then teach him/her to be able to look at 6+7 as 6+6=12+1=13.

I thought this method was insane when I first tried it, but we're through the first nine weeks of school and my daughter is consistently getting 23-25 answers in under a minute. I am amazed at how well it works.

Don't skip over the 0+'s--because they are an ego boost to the child.

Good luck to you!

 

[disykat]

I disagree with Mickey76 about the timed tests. From what I've seen, teachers are returning to timed tests because fact memorization has been getting lost in the goal of higher level thinking. I think getting beyond the manipulative stage and being able to recall facts is important. The time factor helps weed out which kids have them memorized and which kids have to count on fingers etc. It's great to understand the operations, but if you can't do the computation, you still get the answer wrong. When I first taught, timed tests were "in", then they were "out", but I've definately seen them back in the classrooms in the last couple of years because the teachers were unhappy with their kid's basic computation skills.

There are ways to handle remedial math students in this setting. Hopefully if timed tests aren't your son's thing, the teacher will quickly find a way to work with him. I've been a parent volunteer with two different classrooms where my job was to take a group out and practice facts at the manipulative level - I did this during the time the other kids were taking their weekly timed test.

 

[russtwinsmom]

Use a deck of cards. Aces are ones, face cards are tens. Shuffle and turn over two at a time. Each time she adds the two cards together rapidly she keeps the pair. If she adds them incorrectly or two slowly (count to ten and then over time - eight, then six...) make a seperate stack, and have her practice with those cards later.When the cards run out, she counts the cards. See if she can beat her record.

Another hint, have her practice only the facts she DOESN'T know. That way she can focus her meta-cognition on those facts that are difficult.

 

[golfgal]

http://www.edu4kids.com/index.php?page=11

This is a great website. You don't need to have a membership to use most of the tests there. They have a math section and you can set your own parameters as far as if you want only number from 1-5 addition only, etc. You can have them timed or not. They have other subjects too. We have been using this site for years.

 

[golfgal]

Oh OH OH! I have an answer for you!

I'm homeschooling my daughter who is in second grade. I'm teaching her Saxon Math. I love the method by which they prepare kids for their timed tests.

Start at the beginning with each set of flash cards, and don't move on until you have the last set correctly. Do a homemade timed test where your child has to write the answers on each set. Do them in this order:

0+ (0+1, 0+2, 0+3, etc. thru 0+10).
1+ (same as above, only using 1+ each number)
2+
doubles (1+1, 2+2, 3+3, 4+4 etc.)
Then do doubles plus 1:
(a method of learning that teaches the child to use what they know and then adding 1)...for example...if your child knows 6+6=12 from rote memorization, then teach him/her to be able to look at 6+7 as 6+6=12+1=13.

I thought this method was insane when I first tried it, but we're through the first nine weeks of school and my daughter is consistently getting 23-25 answers in under a minute. I am amazed at how well it works.

Don't skip over the 0+'s--because they are an ego boost to the child.

Good luck to you!

Our school uses Saxon math and phonics and it is AMAZING how well the kids do. Our twins are now in 5th grade and the first class to have had Saxon all through school so far. Their 5th grade homeroom teacher was telling me the other day that she was just amazed at how much farther along they are with reading and math then the previous classes. She has a PhD in education and administration too.

Timed tests do serve a purpose but I wouldn't stress out if he doesn't do well on them IF he knows his facts. Our DS10 struggled with timed tests. He knew the facts but he just can't write that fast (he has some fine motor control issues) and he was trying to make them neat so if he wrote something wrong he would erase it and write it over. We told him to just cross out the wrong answer and put the right one next to it. That saved him a lot of time. He is a strong math student that can't write fast.