So I am trying to figure out for myself what level of challenge is right for Z.
She is still doing that math book where the first page is 2nd grade problems and the next page is 3rd grade problems. Yesterday she got all of the 2nd grade problems right (that's typical) and she got 4 out of 7 of the 3rd grade problems wrong (usually she gets 2 or 3 wrong).
On the 3rd grade side the problems usually have 4 or 5 steps. For example: Add together 3 menu items for Joe, add together 3 menu items for Lisa and then find out how much change they should be getting back if they paid with three 5 dollar bills.
Zoe can actually do all that but she is trying to do it all in her head. She is barely using the scratch paper I gave her. Yeesterday I erased the wrong answers and asked her to do them again but to write down all the equations. She did and ended up with only one wrong and that was because she added instead of subtracting.
So I compared math to music. You can't just sit down and start playing something without looking at whether it is forte or piano or if it is quarter notes rather then whole notes or on the bass clef rather than the treble. If you disregarded those things you would be playing incorrectly. So I asked her to come back and reread the problems and ask herself what she needs do to before she does it.
I think she should keep doing the 3rd grade math. I think that if she is getting all the problems right on the 2nd grade sheet (usually) then it is too easy.
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It is hard to find a level for these kids. Sometimes I feel like she should be getting them all right because that is what gifted kids do right? When I was a kid in most of my classes (not math) I not only got all the answers right I would get my work done way before everybody else. And I never had to study for tests. But then again I was not working at my level.
If she is getting them all right then is it too easy? Or should, if she is trying really hard, be able to get them all right?
I just want her to be learning, stretching her brain, and not get into a frame of mind that everything should be easy for her.
What do you do?
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4 comments:
A couple of thoughts:
1. Sometimes a little bit of easy isn't so bad. A lot of what I read is that if gifted kids are challenging themselves to their full potential in every area they are going to be exhausted. Are you at a point where Z. could take a week or two (or more) of easy math and just enjoy it?
2. We struggle with the right level too. We're slogging through some multiplication math facts, but the promise is that after we finish next week's review of the 9s (of course we already know 10s and 11s, and from there 12s are just an addition problem away) we will do something totally different. I have found things like algebra or geometry engage different math skills and allow Violet to work at the appropriate conceptual level even though she has not done the rote memorization of math facts. (We do it, but too much is just painful!)
3. Sometimes on the multi-step problems V. and I look at a set and I sit with her as she identifies the operations she'll need to do (sometimes solving a few problems in her head along the way) and then I leave her to finish on her own.
4. Working on paper -- an ongoing battle! I don't push the "show your work" but I do try to point out when writing out a problem would be /would have been helpful.
I think 3rd grade is the level she should be at. It's obviously making her think. But I suggest that you continue to bring in a few 2nd grade activities about once a week for review purposes.
"Easy" is not enjoyable at our house. Easy leads to tantrums and refusal to do work.
I have the same secret thought sometimes that a gifted child (well, to be more specific, MY gifted child) shouldn't make mistakes because she is gifted. But when I am being sensible I realise that the level and quality of mistakes is the perfect indicator of her performance ability.
One thing I have learned recently is that it sometimes doesn't matter what is the "right" level, but what is the level the child herself responds best to. Rose really needs to be in 7th grade maths (remember she is older than Z) but she finds it boring and always tries to get out of doing it. She likes 8th grade and ends lessons in that with "that was fun!" So we do 8th grade but I get in as much 7th as I can on the sly.
As for working on paper - well, I guess that's important, but if she is getting the answer right does it really matter? I do like to hear how Rose worked out her answers sometimes (she volunteers the information) because it is usually so convoluted and odd that I smile (on the inside).
I wrote a response and lost it the other day. So when I have time I will tell you about us.
We usually go with the easier of the two and throw in a few "challenge " problems. Gracie does, however, like to flip to the back of the book and do a page here and there. :) I'm not sure what that qualifies as, but it's cute!
Forte
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