We've had a terrible day, probably the worse since I took him out of school.
That old chestnut of maths has reared its ugly head again. I'm not altogether sure that the CGP workbook is quite right in the level of some of the questions. I'm sure that the NC doesn't require 6 and 7 year olds in year 2 to minus really big numbers, I can't find any reference to that being a requirement, yet half way through the work book, the pace has really picked up and he can't cope.
I do get really sick of him dilly dallying around day dreaming and not trying though, that really bugs me! I'm not sure what we're going to do about maths as he can't cope with this level. I'm really stuck to know what to do.
After I finished todays work we did a whole load of jobs in town and went to the library. Charlie got lots of history reference books and I got a few crime novels too.
This evening Charlie has read - surprise - and has also done another DWN lesson - the dolphin this time as requested by me. His writing was particularly neat which he was proud of, although slightly too big.
3 comments:
P and I had a problem with some Maths yesterday too - sympathies! Dani was brought up by mathematicians and has a much more relaxed attitude than I do. She helped me see last night that I get stressed about methods (most of which I was taught and learned without ever really understanding them) when what P needs is to think around the problem more and explore methods that might work. Was the problem about a method that Charlie couldn't follow or a whole idea he couldn't grasp?
Both to be honest, he really hates maths and it was always the one area at school he really lagged behind in. Although, once he grasps the method he can easily get them all correct - he just winds himself up which in turn winds me up! It's also my weakest point, although it's a big part of my job, so that doesn't help much either. I'm seriously considering getting a tutor as I can see us sliding towards the point where I can't help him as I don't "get it" either. Arggghh.
Claire, I really think it doesn't have to be a problem if you don't "get it" when you and Charlie start to talk about something. It happens to all of us all the time in other 'subjects' and we don't panic, we just find out together what the answer is. You can do that with maths too. It might even be reassuring for Charlie if he thinks he's not the only one who doesn't understand something.
I think most people are served quite badly by the way maths is taught in school, and end up feeling that they don't understand, or that their (perfectly good) understanding is not good enough because it doesn't tally with the way the teacher wanted them to do it.
I also think there's no harm in not trying to 'do maths' at all for a while. Being numerate is very useful, but if you don't enjoy playing with numbers and pattterns, there's no real need to spend your time doing it. If it comes up and you care enough about the thing you're doing to work out the maths behind it, then you probably will.
Maths doesn't have to be workbooks, either. Card games, board games, code-breaking, craft work, and lots of other things have plenty of maths in them.
Keep your chin up!
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