Teach homeschool that is. I thought that if the public school situation here got bad enough, I could teach some of the boys at home. For the most part, the school is doing a good job. However, one of our sons (#1) struggles with school. His biggest struggle is doing the homework. He is a very smart kid who taught himself to read at age three and was reading a sixth grade level at the beginning of Kindergarten having had absolutely NO preschool of any kind. He is still a great reader, a great speller, and a very intelligent kid. The problem is, that he hates math. I'm sorry...I misspelled that. I meant to say he HATES math. His teacher says that he is perfectly capable of doing math. She even says that he is smart in math. I think the problem is that Math doesn't come naturally and instantly to him. He has to think about math. He has to work at it. This frustrates him. I think that not having to work hard to learn to read has been a stumbling block in a way, because he learned to feel that he was so smart that he didn't have to work at school.
Homework has been a big struggle for #1 as well. He feels that homework adds a lot of pressure to his life. He has struggled with getting his homework done and with organizational skills. We are to the point now that his teacher sends home a note with the homework listed and we sign it and send it back. There were just too many times when he would forget about an assignment and it would not get done. Right now, homework is our big focus.
Yesterday I reminded him he needed to do his homework. He got it out and almost immediately became frustrated by it. It was Math. I hated Math once I got to high school. Before that I liked it okay, but once I hit the Algebra stage...I was out. He is already learning Algebra in the fourth grade that I didn't learn until I was in 8th or 9th grade. He does pretty well with it. Division was the culprit of yesterday's frustration. I can do division, so I tried to patiently walk him through the process. He burst into tears. Eventually I assigned the Math help to my math loving husband. The result was the same. I think they must have gotten through it eventually, though I heard many sobs from #1 over it. It has made me realize that I don't think I can teach homeschool. Not math anyhow. Do you have any suggestions for me?
Homework has been a big struggle for #1 as well. He feels that homework adds a lot of pressure to his life. He has struggled with getting his homework done and with organizational skills. We are to the point now that his teacher sends home a note with the homework listed and we sign it and send it back. There were just too many times when he would forget about an assignment and it would not get done. Right now, homework is our big focus.
Yesterday I reminded him he needed to do his homework. He got it out and almost immediately became frustrated by it. It was Math. I hated Math once I got to high school. Before that I liked it okay, but once I hit the Algebra stage...I was out. He is already learning Algebra in the fourth grade that I didn't learn until I was in 8th or 9th grade. He does pretty well with it. Division was the culprit of yesterday's frustration. I can do division, so I tried to patiently walk him through the process. He burst into tears. Eventually I assigned the Math help to my math loving husband. The result was the same. I think they must have gotten through it eventually, though I heard many sobs from #1 over it. It has made me realize that I don't think I can teach homeschool. Not math anyhow. Do you have any suggestions for me?
2 comments:
When I was in 5ht or 6th grade we had a before school math program for dorks like me who wanted to give it a try. It was called Kumon math. There was really no teaching involved, it was all review, but it worked on speed and accuracy. The first packet was single digit addition. You had 10 minutes to do 50 problems (or so, that was nearly 20 years ago) it was easy. The time limits got smaller, the addition got harder (carrying, etc), but you gained confidence. If you were unable to complete one in the alloted time, or if you missed too many questions you had to do it over until you were able to do it. Then you moved to subtraction, multiplication, and finally division. It was tedious, and i spent a lot of time on some of the packets (as in redoing them over and over again), but in the end I could go through a packet and quickly do a math problem with absolute confidents (although we all make little silly mistakes). It was an incredible math program and i attribute my abilities to do relatively complex math in my head to the Kumon program. The school discontinued it after the first year. Evidently it worked so the shool did away with it.
Mother of FIVE boys, I bow to your greater wisdom. But I do have some thoughts about homeschool (having done a bit of it ourselves). I'll bet you'd do a fabulous job at teaching your son because you know him like no one else. Many homeschoolers follow child-led learning plans, meaning that if your son is struggling with math and HATES it, then don't push it. Let him learn at his own pace (maybe it will click for him when he's older and maybe it never will but he obviously has other strengths). Find a different kind of math teaching method that suits him - is he a visual learner? more kinesthetic? etc. Find ways to apply math lessons to life.
Of course, this doesn't do much good if he's still in public school because he has to move at the pace they legislate and be taught with the methods the teacher uses. I just thought I'd open the door to homeschool a bit wider for you. It does allow for a kind of freedom that as a parent allows you to meet your child's needs as only you know them.
Sorry if you didn't want a mini-sermon :) I get passionate about certain topics and hate to see a bright child frustrated by the system.
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