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main page. Solution: "Nobody's perfect"
You do three problems. Make mistakes in two of them. Have your child find which problems are wrong, and have him find the mistakes. Let him use a calculator for facts if necessary so he can concentrate on the steps involved.
Comment: All children enjoy catching an adult in a mistake. This activity capitalizes on the need of a child with Attention Deficit Disorder for control. You can turn an apparent weakness into a strength in this way and trigger concentrated effort on his part.
Another solution: "Double-Checking"
Have your child do the first three problems independently and then check with you to make sure he's doing the problems right. After that he can check with you at set intervals--say, at the end of each row. This way if he gets confused you'll know it before he's done the whole assignment wrong.
Warning: Set reasonable standards for accuracy. If he brings home math papers with grades in the 60 - 70% range or lower, require him to get four out of five problems right to start. If his math grades are more in the 70 - 80% range, require 85 - 90% accuracy. If you insist that every single problem be done perfectly under all circumstances, no matter how hard he's worked or no matter how much improvement he's shown, he may not want to cooperate by bringing the work to you.
Tip: Let your child decide how many mistakes he should be allowed. This gives him some control, and you may be surprised when he sets his target for accuracy higher than you would have.
Go to "teachers
helping teachers."
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on Taming the Dragons: Real Help for Real School Problems.
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TAMING THE DRAGONS: REAL HELP FOR REAL SCHOOL PROBLEMS. Copyright Susan Setley, 1995. All rights reserved. For ordering information call Starfish Publishing Company (314) 367-9611
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