How do I get Evangeline to slow down?

[conuly]

We've been having the nieces do "extra math" because NYC schools put a big emphasis on reading and I think math really suffers a little. Especially when the kids are already reading at or above grade level.

We didn't finish their workbooks during the school year, we're doing that now, and starting up with math games and all again because if nothing else, this summer Ana has got to, got to, GOT TO start memorizing some of her addition and subtraction facts. She has to count on her fingers, and then she gets frustrated that it slows her down and she drops her pencil.

If Ana works at the pace she's going, one exercise a day (which is more than she would be doing during the school year, there are more days than assignments), she'll pretty much be done by the time school starts in September. One workbook is half a year, we started late in the second half of the year, that's about right.

If Evangeline works at the pace she's going, 3+ pages a day, she'll be done with first grade math by the time she enters first grade.

She is ahead of where her sister was at that age, at that point in school (remember, Ana entered kindy half a year older than her sister entered did!), heck - she's ahead of where Ana was in the middle of her first grade year already!

I have tried talking to her, imploring her to slow down. "No thanks!" I've tried taking away her math and giving her on-level books to read to me. I've tried hiding her math, which is just deeply surreal.

I love this child. I don't understand her. HELP ME.

(Also, I love Ana, but she has got to stop with the fingers. I know the school didn't emphasize memorizing, and I know they have a really valid reason for that, but I also know that Ana is getting really really convinced that because she can't do math fast she's not good at it, and that's not the case. But you can't convince that child of anything. Best thing for her is lots of very cleverly disguised drill. Next year is not going to be very fun.)

Comments

[conuly]

I spent the first eight (count 'em, eight) years of school reading under my desk because I was so damn bored. In some classes, it wasn't under my desk, and the teacher didn't care, because I already knew the work. (Exception - I was only "at level" in math for a few years. But even that passed quickly enough, and I was never behind.)

She's already bored in class.

[leora.livejournal.com]

If your teacher isn't willing to give you material at an appropriate level for you, then I think spending the time in class reading is quite sensible, and it makes more sense than wasting the time.

[conuly]

Wasn't able, I think, more than not willing. I remember first grade, being shunted off into my own little reading group all by myself.

I mean, that now starts to get into the whole big problem with education, why are class sizes so large? And why a 1 year gap in students? A smaller group or a larger group would make more sense, one year turns out really awkwardly.

[leora.livejournal.com]

*nods* That's fair. Teachers who are overworked with too many kids can't accommodate differences as well. I was very lucky to be in a small class for first through third grade (same class, same teacher, special program). And she was very accommodating. Twice I was my own reading group, once for being the slowest in the class and needing extra help, and once when I passed the other kids in my grade. But we also did a lot of independent work, which made it easier on the teacher. And third graders had two work options that also made it easier for the teacher - they could use extra time to design work sheets and if the teacher approved them, they would be given to the class as assignments and you'd be exempt from doing your own worksheet. This was awesome and cool and I abused the heck out of that system. The other thing was third grade was the year of research project. Each third grader picked a topic of their choosing (I chose dinosaurs, one of my classmates chose holidays, I forget other examples) and any day you wanted to you could opt-out of the normal class assignment to work on your research project as long as you showed your work at the end of the day. At the end of the year you had a big book made with the results of your research (half pages of writing and half illustrations). This was really a wonderful experience, but it also meant third graders were doing less work that the teacher had to generate, and students were sometimes designing worksheets for the class for the teacher.

But we were expected to do a lot of working independently. We'd be given our assignments for the day, and then we'd work on them, and small groups would be called up throughout the day to work with the teacher on various subjects. Except for circle time for things like the teacher reading a story out loud to the class, the class listening to a classical music piece (every other month we studied a new composer), looking at reproductions of famous paintings and discussing them (every other month was a famous artist) or possibly similar things I've forgotten.

It was a fantastic class.

[conuly]

That does sound fantastic. That sounds like a dream for many students.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I was extremely lucky. It was a gifted program that vetted kids for both academic ability and good behavior, so all of the kids were also decent classmates. It was a dream class. My teacher was nice, respectful, and really good at what she did. And when I finished third grade, she retired. I also would not have qualified for the class in first grade under their normal rules, because I was not able to read, but they decided to experiment with accepting a bright child who hadn't yet learned to read to see if that requirement was necessary.

The downside was that all of the assignments were written on the board for each grade at the start of each day, and I had no idea what I should be doing at first. I found out afterwards that my teacher gave a lot of thought about how to treat me, and decided she'd try full immersion and not singling me out. I don't know what approach would have been best, and I spent a lot of my early first grade days asking other students, "What does that say?" to find out what I should be doing. And I worked really hard in first grade. But she worked very hard on catching me up to speed on reading, so it worked out well. I'm really grateful to have had such a good teacher.

Then I had fourth grade, which was untracked and so disappointing other than taking a lot of field trips. Plus, I didn't know the other kids in my school. The only other student in my class I knew was a boy who didn't even like me. And I'd been in a mixed-grade class, so they all knew each other and knew I'd been in the same school as them but not socializing with them. So, fourth grade was really awful. But first through third was great. Plus, it taught me how to work really hard. For many, many years I found that I did not have to work nearly as hard as I had worked in first grade, but that experience was a useful one to have had.

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

So did I. I was reading 12th grade or even college-level by the time I hit eighth grade, and I was in calculus by 10th grade. I still don't think it's a good idea to deliberately hold her back.

If she gets too far ahead, maybe see if you can talk with her teachers and get her advanced school work, or maybe put in a higher math class. If not-- from everything I've read, you certainly seem very invested in their education; maybe give her other (math related, of course) things she can bring with her to do in class.

I really, really (really!) think it's more important to encourage her at this stage than it is to try and keep her from being bored in class. Even if it does mean she acts out a little. How often do you run across a kid who *wants* to learn math, after all??

[conuly]

Without going into details, the way she acted out was extremely problematic. I'm stopping that discussion there, but it's more than just a little troublemaking.

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. Well-- nonetheless, I think there have to be other ways of stopping that behavior that don't involve also holding her back. :\

ETA: Actually, I like leora's idea of teaching her other varieties of math-- it would satisfy the same instincts without interfering with what she's learning in school.

[conuly]

Of course, as I said in my next post, if we were normal they wouldn't be doing math over the summer at all. (And this is the origin of the "summer slide". Look it up!) So it's not so much holding her back as... I don't know, something else. Pushing her ahead slightly less quickly.