Maths homework too hard. What age/level would you expect this to be?

[Runoutofideas]

My dd was in tears over her maths homework yesterday. It was answering questions on an online maths programme which they use regularly.

The questions consisted of 10 such as:

You need to travel 688km on a train which travels 40km per hour. How long will your journey take?

and 10 such as:

It is now Monday 3.10am - what will the day and time be in 103hrs and 17 mins?

DD found it very difficult. I'm wondering if it was set to particularly challenge them?

What year group/level would you expect to be able to answer questions like this?

I think while D/S/T is technically L7 lots of the easier questions can be done from common sense so could be done by able top juniors.

I am wondering which online homework package the school is using, it isn't mymaths as that doesn't mix these topics.

x-post!

Can you now redo the homework to improve your score? On mymaths you just go through and redo it, the teacher can see your score and how many attempts you had. I am always pleased to see students have tried a homework again as it shows they are learning from their mistakes and persevering- both of which I want to encourage.

Ah Mathletics....

It gets harder and harder the more you manage.

It does not help if the children work on eachothers accounts "just for fun". Ds2 came home and said "Today I worked on X's mathletics account, and Y worked on Zs account, whily Y worked on mine and Y is ACE at maths" snigger snigger.

is it because it is on a computer do you think?

if she copied the question out onto paper would it seem 'easier' to her?

lots of people find it very hard to work off a computer screen, no particular reason but reading on a screen for some people is very different to reading on a page and perhaps she feels more remote from the question whereas pen and paper is more natural.

hope that makes sense.

DDs do My Maths and it's fine except for this kind of thing,when you really need workings on paper to see where you went wrong.

Trouble is if you try again it gives you different questions, I don't know if mathletics is the same.

Personally, I'd ask if you can have 5 of each on paper, to be certain your DC understands them, before going near the computer. Then go slowly with scribbling paper.

Yes, I fear DD1 has been known to do My Maths for DD2 and DD2 has been known to do times tables bits for DD1.

DD1 is good at maths, but dyslexic and has a blank spot for tables and analogue time, thus a certain amount of mutual back scratching goes on, especially on the timed questions.

DS (granted top set) was doing stuff like that I think in Y3, but definitely all the time in Y4. Don't think you can really put an age on it as it's to do with maths ability. The problems are not difficult - it's more about knowing how to tackle them.

Hope you have managed to see her teacher, my dd2 hates mathletics ( she's year 3) she is very good at maths ( top of the class ) but isn't keen on using a computer to do it, dd1 loves it and competes with her best friend for high scores. Mathletics is great for some kids (the type of child that maybe isn't that keen on maths but has good computer skills ) but for other children it's hard work, ask her teacher if she can have a work sheet instead.

Hi Runoutofideas:

I agree with those saying this would be typical of Y5/ Y6.

The challenge really isn't the calculation - which probably if she was presented with just that on a conventional worksheet she could probably do - i.e. 688 divided by 40 - which a more able Y4 pupil could tackle - either using long division (Ye olde version) or in two steps by dividing by 4 & then dividing by 10. (and of course there's always chunking - god help her).

So in fact the problem is about converting a word problem into a maths problem in a logical way and is made all the more difficult by the fact that she finds it stressful, fears she can't correct any mistakes & (I don't know - not using mathletics) but may have to answered in a limited amount of time.

My sincere advice is to encourage her to tackle these problem but give her permission to write the problem down or print it out - and to continue working on it even if she runs out of time.

Have a word with the teacher but perhaps if you can remove the not being able to go back & correct errors element from this - so let her have a go on the computer but if she gets it wrong she can continue on paper - that may help.

Ultimately, like a sport or a musical instrument, practice of this type of thing will make it easier. Certainly the other message she should be picking up on is how wonderfully she's doing in maths if she's tackling problems that would freak out most Y6 pupils.

So well done to your DD!

HTH

Top 2 sets in year 4 will be able to do this.

Thanks for your very full answer Pastsellbydate. Will give it your suggestions a go. I think it is not the calculation which is the problem but the fact that if she gets it wrong a big red cross appears and she can't change it! I don't think it is possible to change that bit of the program but I will ask.
Her class teacher just said she would pass my comments on to the maths teacher (not the class teacher).
Thanks again