Attached to Baby

To make a long story short, my DD has a very  hard time with Math and is  a little behind her peers

Just like her dad, she has been diagnosed with mild ADD, so I am sure 80% of her math problems have to do with that. When it comes to Math, she just does not seem to retain new information unless it is repeated to her a lot, and even after it looks like she has understood, she might make the same basic mistakes again.

She has no problems in any other areas, loves reading and is very artisticshe (she illustrates books and designs her own styles of clothing -- I have been told she drawsat least  as well as the kids in middle school -- and is now learning very fast how to turn those designs into real clothes.

Right now she is attending a very small school, her teacher can give her almost individual attention and can customize her teaching style to fit DD's learning style (she is visual).  She had the same teacher last year, so the teacher decided to is help DD with some of the basics she did not quite get a firm basis last year rather than hold her back just because of Math.

We are moving soon though, and I am afraid a new school is going to hold DD back and keep doing so year after year because of Math problems and the ADD... It is not like ADD goes away when you hold the kid back!! I am afraid  it will end up bringing DD down in the other subjects too as well as destroy her self esteem...

Should I enroll her in a new school when we move and give it a try? If so, how can I best prepare her in the summer? Or should I just homeschool her instead?

What would you do?

well first how are you with teaching her  i learn the way your daughter learns and i was diagnosed dislectic at about age 13  some children just learn differently if your worried try finding a charter school with an open block math ciriculum try realting her fave things to math problems too  make everything a numbers game .. also dont take to heart too much on the add thing i think too meny kids are being labled add that arent even close to add they just think differently then most esp kids that are artistic she will catch up it will take a lil time  you just need to find her nitch what gets her brain in math mode also you might try taking her to a sylvan learning center for tutoring they can help find a way she will learn the math

I used to tutor Math to kids when I was in college.  Mostly kids that struggled learning the traditional way, so I had to come up with "fun" ways to learn Math.  Depending on what your dd is learning, you could come up with artistic games, etc to learn math.  Ya know, have her draw things that she needs to add up...just to give you an idea.

I would see how she does in school before you decide to either homeschool or switch her to a speciality school.  Sometimes its the teacher, environment, other factors in school that makes it harder for some kids to learn.

I can still remember my 4th grade math teacher.  The first day of school, he gave us all checkbooks.  We got paid for getting a particular grade on a test or homework.  We had to pay to take a test or go to the bathroom.  It was ALOT of fun, and even motivated alot of us to get better grades because we "made" more money.  Every week, we could buy a "prize" depending on our balance...almost always math related, and once in awhile just something special like a piece of candy.  We never really knew what we would be "buying" at the end of every week.  But at the end of the year, we all knew so well how to balance a checkbook and write a check.  I did this very activity with some 8th grade kids that I tutored but encorporated an interest bearing checking account.  At the end, I rewarded them with 50% of their total checkbook amount --- something none of them knew I was going to do.

Basically, there are things you and dh can do to make learning fun for your dd.  Its a matter of finding out what would make her interest peak for math.

If you have any questions or want some ideas, please feel free to contact me  :)

 

Abigail

I work with kids in a different arena, but I often suggest to teacher just to make math fun. Hide 4 or 5 math problems in those plastic Easter eggs and have a scavenger hunt finding the eggs and solving the problems. Toss bean-bags back in forth w/ #'s on them have the child add each set of #'s that are tossed to them. Trying to make it fun seems to help a lot of kids that find math to be a chore.

There's a book called Family Math that incorporates math games, riddles, experiments, etc in every day activities. It goes from preschool to upper elementary I think. I'm just starting to use it with my kids and finding it very helpful with my son who hates subtraction for some reason...

I would evaluate the school/teacher when you move and see how it goes. Your DD will be the best guage if it's working well or not-you'll know if she's happy or not. You can always homeschool if it doesn't work out with the school-that's the nice thing-you have options!

good luck, ann

my dd was having problems too and we started making everything math problems for her we would be out and i would tell her ok in the parking lots if there are 4 lamp post in a row and 5 rows how meny lamp post are there and she would count them   she loves math now and is getting A's in it now just try to incorporate math into everything you do with her  some kids just need a diff way to see math is all she will get thru it

An Update:

I have been doing a lot of fun math things with DD lately. We also went to B&N and we picked a couple of fun MAth books too -- she chose the ones she liked to have.  She is doing A LOT better now, and for the first time since she started school, her teacher says she is progressing right on target! (they don't do grading in her school). I will keep working with her and hope she will have an easier and easier time with it

I was thinking about it, and last year she HATED to read because it was a new thing for her, a lot of work and she did not think she was good enough. We did 20min reading every day, and then eventually she began loving it. Now she is a little book worm and finished Charlotte's Web in 3 days! lol  Maybe she will like Math just as much once she feels confident enough.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions!

What great news Poliana.  She sounds like she is a bright girl who just needs some extra help in a couple of areas.  She is lucky to have parents who are so involved.  :)