Hello - new to the site and a question about Yr 3 homework??

[cabbagesoup]

Hello sorry new to this I'm a bit concerned about the level of my boys year, he's just moved up to juniors - he's a bit slow with his writing / reading etc which is fine the usual "spring Boy" have been used - we investigated Dyslexia but that was dismissed as the fact he was "mildly dyslexic" so we felt we were being discouraged from testing outside of the school.

Anyhow back to my question, they are doing times tables in school and they have to progress from 2 x to 3x etc so they are only allowed to move to 3 x once they have done 2 x.

Thinking easy not a problem he knows his tables, and then found out he's still on his 2 x, so I asked the teacher how were they being tested and could I help him at home as the rest of the class are on 3 x 4 x etc - so she gave me some sheets they call "speedy sums" and basically he has to do 100 variations sums on the 2 x table in 10 minutes (that's one every 6 seconds!!) I did the text myself in 6 minutes. We sat down this evening and rather than time him I let him do them and he took 17 minutes and got 100% right.

How on earth and I going to shave 7 minutes of his time? what can I do to help as this is only going to get harder and harder for him and the time they are giving him is the issue not the sums? any teachers out there could you advise if you were in this situation what would you do??

He's getting a bit desperate now as the class are all getting ahead of him on this one task and it's on a chart on the wall so everyone can see and I think there has been comments made.

THANKS!!

[roundtoit]

dont know how to help you but i would go and talk to his teacher again. Those 100 sums in 10mins seems far too much for anyone to do .

[whenIgetto3]

have you tried mathsdrills.com they have printable sheets on them so you can generate loads print them out and just practice and practice, do 2 a night and hopefully he will speed up. My DS in yr3 gets 60 in 10 mins whereas DS in yr4 gets the 100 in 10 mins, they have to get 100% before they can move on.

[cabbagesoup]

So your DS in yr3 gets 60 in 10 minutes? so is he still on his 2 x tables?? or has he moved up..

Thanks for the website - just looking an that's the ones she has given me a pile of them!

[mrz]

I give my Y2 class 60 in 5 minutes www.primarytopics.co.uk/maths/calculating/mental/year2/interactive/generators/2xtab/2xtabgen.htm

www.mathsframe.co.uk/resources/Multiplication_-_Rapid_Recall.aspx

[cabbagesoup]

Thanks Mrz - so if you had a lad struggling in Y3 with that same amount what would your approach be? Should we as parents be re-looking at the dyslexia? my husband is dyslexic. He has other signs of this?

We didn't get far with the school and when I mentioned we would test independantly we were met with negative comments about the testing etc - They assured us that they understood his difficulties but I'm wondering if his new year already his confidence is taking a knock again?

hes already confused about the new routine with the new teacher and has forgotton to bring books home and all sorts of muddles.

[mrz]

To be honest I would never suggest dyslexia testing all it does is provide a label not a solution. Dyslexia is an umbrella term and isn't at all helpful. Actually finding the root of the problem can be difficult and lengthy but effective teaching doesn't need a label.

Ask about a visual timetable for routines. I use a velcro strip with small laminated pictures of what a child needs for a task or to take home/bring to school - so it might be a reading book, homework, swimming bag...

Anything you put to music is instantly more memorable (think how annoying song lyrics get stuck in your head) and after that it is just building up spead with practise

[cabbagesoup]

Thanks Mrz you sound like a great teacher I was told he was a visual learner, so that would help him - - he forgot his guitar today!! (so did I!!)

This is why we held back on testing but in a situation where his confidence is ebbing away and he's bottom of the class to be honest extra time would help!!

You know as a parent in a very academic school its hard when your boy is the bottom of the class you sort of want an excuse, being honest it's been hard watching him struggling, he was such a bright little chap before school. So there is a tendency of protecting him and wanting him to "get it"

I'll get drawing some charts for him to remember!!

[mrz]

He doesn't need a label to get extra time

I have small pictures similar to these (printed at about 1 inch square) laminated with a velcro spot on the back so they can be changed each day.

[cabbagesoup]

Thanks for that - What i don"t understand is that in the STAT tests he did in the last year, he was national average 2B all through? even the teachers said they were surprised?

So is it standard that he should be doing 100 sums in 10 minutes? seems lots to me and the grandparents are shocked by the amount of homework and level of spellings that are expecting of a 7 year old.

[mrz]

It's supposed to be a "fun" challenge not a huge obstacle to be honest.

I always start with 10X as this is the easiest

[cabbagesoup]

OK Thanks!! I guess it's a huge deal to a boy that can't get up to the same level as his mates - The words "fun" and the class he's in are not really going hand in hand.

I'm in a year of competitive parents, (they don't think twice about doing hours of homework, way above what is asked of them) and trying my hardest not to get involved, but the children in his class have that attitude and will point out that they are "better" faster" or just generally clever!!

I'm amazed that children know where they are in class I'm sure I didn't at that age

Maybe that will scupper them all I'll ask if he could go on his 10's!!! hee hee.

[whenIgetto3]

Cabbage my yr3 DS is past his 2X tables onto his 4X (I think that was what he last said) but as he is at prep school, they have prep at the end of the day and he was saying that if you fail your times tables test then you get extra help with them during prep time (they don't have that much other prep as reading can be done at home). We started learning them last year when older brother (now yr 4) was doing them, we wrote them in the air as this really helps him, he is bad at spelling and we found writing in the air and singing them really helped (he is very musical).

Hope Mrz advice helps, I know what it is like they get downhearted you feel so sad for them and they see that and feel worse, they can then switch off so try and be up beat with him instead. My eldest DD went through a similar thing, but when she had the tables secure she came on leaps and bounds in the rest of her maths and moved to the middle/nearly top group of the class :)

[cabbagesoup]

whenIgetto3 thanks for that, he's doing them at home morning and evening so far the fastest time we have is 14 minutes - He's not great at writing - if he was asked them verbally he'd be fine - he's getting 100% so the problem isn't knowing them it's getting them down - If he could hit a keyboard, say them out loud anything but writing. He'd be on his 7's by now (or maybe not!) but it's frustrating for us all as he KNOWS them, just the method of testing his knowledge doesn't work for him. Brain to paper!!

We have the option of private school coming up with some inheritence we are getting. It's either buy a house or trustfund my 2 boys whole education. tricky one really as moving schools them would cause disruption but longer term it maybe the best for them - who knows it's such a hard one but lucky we may be in a position to make that choice. My husband keeps saying that private would adjust better to his needs. I'm state hubbie is Private and I'm openminded to either - what ever is best all round.

[shebird]

I bought a CD on amazon that sings all the times tables which has really helped my DD1. It also has a bit where the muddle them up and leaves a blank so you can say the answer. The tunes just sticks in your head even my DD2 (4) sings along! Worth a try IMO .

[whenIgetto3]

what pencil does he write with? My DS speeded up and became clearer when we swapped him to a stabilo handwriting pencil like this as he could grip it without it hurting his wrist

[cabbagesoup]

Thanks worth a try I've just ordered one, I'm not sure at school what he uses the teacher he has now get's them using berol pens, but pencil for some things I think maths is a pencil -Never thought of the "physcial" aspect of writing as I guess it's comes naturally when your a grownup.. At home he just uses what we can find behind the sofa or in a kitchen draw somewhere.

[cabbagesoup]

Hello whenIgetto3 - sorry i'm back - we did some homework today with his new pencil, arrived saturday morning, and he was very fast!!

He's calling it his speedy pencil - How funny is that, something so simple, your a genius..Thank you so much :)

[PastSellByDate]

Hello Cabbagesoup

If you have a computer at home download free maths video game - Tux of math command. It's open source maths game based on the old video game asteroids. It's great fun and really reinforces the basics.

Website: tux4kids.alioth.debian.org/tuxmath/

[sarahfreck]

I'd try and set realistic targets for him at home ( can he get it down to 13 mins, 12 etc) and give him a sticker or some token as he achieves each of these (working slowly down to the school targets iyswim). Agree that when he gets so many tokens/stickers he can have a particular reward/toy/treat. That way he can celebrate his progress, even if it is not as fast as his peers.

You could also try this game:

You need a die and 2 identical sheets with 60 of the times tables to be practised.
First your child starts off writing the answers to the sums as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile you repeatedly throw a die. As soon as you throw a six, your child has to stop. Then you swap roles. You start on your tables sheet while he throws the die and tries to get a six. Keep swapping roles each time a 6 is thrown until the first person finishes the sheet. Then mark the answers together. The winner is the one with the most correct answers whether or not they finished the sheet.

The winning of this game is pretty much under your control as you can let a few sixes go undeclared before you ?officially? throw one! Usually the child is so engrossed in getting through the cards, that they aren't watching what numbers you throw. I find that declaring one six in about three or four means that the child will usually win. As long as you don't make it too obvious, you can also slow down the speed at which you write your answers or throw the die.

[sarahfreck]

should read "getting through the tables"

[cabbagesoup]

sarahfreck - Thanks we have done that last night - he wants to go to a build a bear workshop so we have a sticker chart for him -His reward when he get's to his 4 x is a trip to the workshop!!

[cabbagesoup]

He did it!!! we are onto the 3's!! yeh... yeh yehhhh....Thanks all!

bugger is we were so busy doing tables he's buggered up his spellings this week - the joys of boys - one thing at a time :-)