2Nd Grader Struggling with Math - Montclair,NJ

As a math teacher, gave you offered several techniques for solving? Count to, borrowing, build on doubles, reverse addition, estimation, etc? Sometimes O. of the many out there "click" better with certain students. And lots of kids use a combination based on the problem and their comfort level. Does she have several techniques/tools to use?

www.IXL.com - LOVE this site. The kids LOVE this site. They get "prizes" and get excited and show each other.

We also do a lot of math in the grocery store and while measuring in the kitchen.

We have found that if our child missed ONE concept, then the rest of what's suppose to be built on it will never happen. Seriously, go to IXL and start at 1st grade. Whatever she gets wrong, it will give her more of just that concept, rather than more busy work in all of the areas.

I have found that the more practical you can make it, the better they understand it. For some kids it really does need to apply to something. Grocery shopping, street signs, I mean anything that presents itself as math. Also don't be afraid to use technology, it's got some great stuff out there.

My husband and I are both TERRIBLE at math. I knew genetically, my kids would need a thorough, understandable, good program geared for mastery to avoid our pitfalls. My aunt on the other hand, is a math genius, and so are all of her 10 kids who fly to college levels of math in early high school. Genetically. But she also homeschooled using the Math-U-See program which I am now using with my first grader. We did the kindergarten level too (first grade is review of that) and it is AWESOME. It's so simple, understandable, and logical in its progression, a child WILL KNOW and understand every step along the way to each new concept. It has accompanying colored blocks so the child learns visually how much volume is in each number while they learn basic operations. My daughter is almost to a second grade level-and as I said, her genes would put her behind :) You can check out their website and ask questions to their nice reps. Each year has a DVD of lessons for you to follow, blocks and a workbook. Since you already teach, you could preview it and see if it would help fill in any gaps for her. Second grade would not be too late at all.

cooking is what helped my daughter learn fractions. Just the basic recipe. Then double it. Then cut it in half. What if you only have a 1/2 cup measuring cup and nothing else..... how do you still measure everything correctly based off that.

Also - budgeting. with 'real world' stuff. You have xxx you want to buy a poster of Justin Beiber. It costs xxx how much is left. Can you afford a ticket to his concert also? How long would it take for you to drive to the arena.... etc.

Play pretend grocery store and take turns being the clerk, who has to add up the groceries since the cash register broke. Why take turns? You set an example for her and show her how excited and fun math is. Also there are lots of fun free websites online that have math games. I remember there was one that you had to add the sheep up. Just type it in a search engine:
http://coolmath-games.com/
http://www.math-videos-online.com/free-online-math-games....

My kids favorite was simply playing Math War.

I think all the tools, games, sites, activities, are nifty...but kids just want to play at that age, really.

So, we played Math War at whatever level they were at. First, it is just reading the numbers....6 and 7, who wins? Once comfortable, then graduate to addition, subtraction, times, division, etc.

Oh, and you have to use real cards with the diamonds, clubs, spades, hearts, to facilitate counting.

And we removed the face cards.

Once she is confident with this game, the rest starts to click and she'll relax.

GL!

Cooking, money......
The best way that I teach my kids stuff is how I understand it - I figure we must be wired in a similar way right? How was the mom in school with math? maybe she can provide some insight into how she views math.
Also, she needs a stong motivator (candy, toy, tv time, etc) and really celebrate and build on small success to bring up her confidence level!!!!!

Just try telling her "Lets start fresh. In the past, you didn't get along with math. But this is now, the present. I am here to help you have fun with it and get along with it. If you always think it is not fun, then it won't be. So start thinking all over about it, and start fresh.... Ready? Set, go!" then do a high-five with her.

Sometimes, the way to get a child to click with something, is just to tell them, what IS going on. They may not realize that.
You need to, help them re-think their thinking about it.
It works with my kids.

Also, I hope no one is telling her she is "slow."

My son was in the pull out program for Reading last year.
And you know what? HE loved it and didn't get all down about it.
Why? Because, I (and the Teacher) told him how LUCKY he is to get free extra help from the school. And how MUCH more he will learn... tips and extra fun that the other kids don't get.
And my son NEVER got down about it. Because, I chatted with him about the positives about it. Not that he was "slow" in reading or not on par with the others. I did not critique him. And now, because of that program and because of the POSITIVE slant I told him about it, he reads REAL good now.
It is also, all about how you talk to the child about it... not just doing it with new fangled ways.
My son LOVED seeing his Reading Tutor and going to his reading help. He said it was FUN.

I've been a substitute at the same school over 10 years and I work mainly with grades 1-3.

Many children get frustrated because they see someone else finish before they do, etc.

We use a lot of math manipulatives to help them learn. Examples:

Last week we used 2 pennies and made a chart of how many heads or tails we had on the chart and counted them.

Dice game.. use the number you roll then decide "how many more" (we've done that with how many more being 100). You could always scale that down to 20, or a number she would be more comfortable with.

Play 21 with playing cards.

They LOVE Fasttmath on the computer.

We always do at least 1 multistep problem a day with the UPS check Explain method. Understand, picture, solve, expain your answer.

Fill in missing numbers on a chart, greatest to least, etc. A lot of activities that reinforce the knowledge of where numbers are placed.

Parents can help out by having her count how many apples to purchase and weigh them, etc.

We aslso practice with large magnetic coins to identify them and what th value is, then we will post some on the board and say how much?

I think you are on the right track making it "fun" to learn the basics and concepts and then she hopefully will find it "fun" to solve the problems.

Good luck to you!

We use glass beads with our daughter. Then again she's just starting. My husband is "brilliant", for me numbers just get mixed up in my head and I still use my fingers. :P I don't expect my daughter to be a genius with numbers, but helping her get a strong handle on them now is always nice.

Ps: my husband always chuckles at me when I try to do mental math, he says I get this really silly look on my face and just stare blank into space. He's a booger.

Our school has a membership on the IXL website - they have a ton of math games. Once a week or so, the kids are assigned IXL for their math homework. My girls always think they've pulled one over on their teacher - as if the teacher somehow doesn't realize that she has assigned something FUN! They'll sit there at the computer playing math games for an hour or more. (The whole time thinking, "Mrs. McClelland doesn't know I'm having FUN doing my 'homework!' Hahaha!") Anyway, I understand that a lot of schools have IXL memberships - it might be worth seeing if this little girl's school does, as well. They have different sections for all of the different grades, so you can choose to work in a certain area.

Also, my daughters love The Numbears Multiply by Phil Snyder (it's music - you can get it on iTunes). It's more of a 3rd grade thing, but they are songs about multiplication. My girls LOVE it. Maybe he makes addition/subtraction songs, too, I'm not sure.

I'm kind of old school in this regard... :/ Flash cards are a big thing with me. I was tutoring a 4th grader and, like you, was used to working more with high school level kids. I suggested flash cards to the mom, but she wanted something more "fun." Don't get me wrong, I understand that we want to make learning an enjoyable experience for our kids, but there are some things that just have to be learned. I remember what made the flash cards "fun" for me was my mom going through them with me as fast as we could and timing me. :) Each time, I'd try to see if I could beat my best time.

I'm not sure what you're working with her on (I'm not exactly up on my 2nd grade objectives), but once the basics are gotten, everything else clicks in place easier. There used to be a game called "Math Blaster" I think, and we had that on our computer when I was a kid. It was the only "game" we had. :) I loved it.

Here's a free download of that game. It certainly doesn't look the way it used to, but it's math, and it's a computer game, so.... It's worth a shot! http://www.download-free-games.com/pc/math_blaster_ages7-...