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

[crystalpyramid]

Why does she need to slow down? If it's something she wants to learn right now, why not let her learn it, now, while she wants to.

If she's picking up math this fast, she'll bored in regular math classes whether or not she's seen it before.

[kyrielle]

What crystalpyramid said.

Also, for Ana, would an abacus be a helpful intermediate step, or would it just defeat your attempts to get memorization through?

Because I hated memorization, and I sucked at it, and learning to do the math better and faster without it worked better for me. Memorization drills were...well, the only time I can recall that I hated math.

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

Why on earth would you want to slow her down?

*deeply baffled*

[leora.livejournal.com]

I had huge problems with "math" in Elementary School, even though I was great at math concepts. The only thing that worked was years of regularly doing math. By about partway through fourth grade I'd done enough that it clicked enough in my brain that I was alright. I think you shouldn't discourage her using her fingers, just keep her regularly doing math. If she does it enough, bits of it will start to stick in her brain, and she'll use slower tools less as she needs them less. And hey, I still use fingers now and then, and I think that's okay. I didn't run into serious problems with math until calculus 2, so what I did worked well enough.

As to Evangeline, why have her slow down? Sure, she'll be bored in school with her math work, but you wouldn't deliberately slow down someone's reading development for that reason. Slowing someone down can really kill their enthusiasm and hurt their momentum. I say let her keep advancing. If she has a natural gift for arithmetic, then let her enjoy that, progress in it, and be good at it. And if it saves her time later, she can put it into any subject she finds more challenging. She's unlikely to be equally good at everything. And if she ends up having all her homework being really easy, then you can work with her on other things outside of school that suit her abilities.

[chaos-by-design.livejournal.com]

Add me to the chorus of people saying don't make Evangeline slow down. I don't see why you should make her slow down.

She'll be bored in school, sure. But maybe she'll turn out to be a super math genius or something.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Would having Eva teach Ana math work? Or would that result in sibling battles royale?

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

For slowing Ana down, how is she at cooking? Can you use recipes as math problems?

[elenbarathi.livejournal.com]

I agree; don't slow her down, or ever give her the idea that there's something wrong with being so excited about learning something that you don't want to stop. Don't take her books away; don't limit her reading-time; don't make disparaging remarks about her scholarly pursuits - obviously she does have to brush her teeth, do her chores, participate in family activities and go to sleep at night, but her free time is her time, and if she chooses to spend it studying, how cool is that?

I agree with leora: introduce the child to other forms and applications of math than the ones she'll be studying in class next year. Of course, there's also the option of letting her go ahead and learn all next year's math now, so that she'll be able to crank out easy A's in class, while continuing to get on with her own studies.

The inevitable price of being smarter than average is having to constantly wait for those who aren't. Naturally, this is extremely frustrating, and it doesn't help to increase the frustration by imposing even more limits on a child's intellectual pursuits. There does have to be a clear agreement though, that boredom is not an acceptable excuse for 'acting out', nor are those who study ahead allowed to lord it over those who don't.