Attack of Math

This week in school was hard.  Not all of school, but math particularly for Natalee put up a fight for us.  I had to take a step back, evaluate where we were and how we got there, and we'll be doing a little back-pedaling in this area.  I tell you this because I'm truthful, and human, and want you to learn from my mistakes.  If you need to judge me, do it quietly, please.  

For the last 3 years Natalee has done Math U See.  Primer was pretty basic for her and Alpha last year introduced single digit addition and subtraction.  The curriculum doesn't focus on mastery of each math fact, instead mastery of the concept with a suggestion that children memorize as many of the math facts as possible (it's obviously easier).  As time went last year, I knew Natalee wasn't memorizing like I wanted her to but didn't want to interfere with the curriculum.  Dear Parents, it's your job to interfere with the curriculum if it's not working.  This wasn't a curriculum problem, it was a me problem.  She excels so much at reading, Bible, memorization and other areas that it was hard for me to step back and see that math is going to be a real struggle for her.  I don't know why I couldn't see this straight away - I was a teacher of children with special needs - often children who excelled in one area and had a deficit or struggle in another.  But we marched on.  We completed the book.  I sat with her trying to make sure she "had it" and I wrote it off as success.

When this year began I could see straight away we were going to have troubles.  The math facts weren't coming quickly and sometimes not without confusion.  There were tears, many tears.  Distractabilty was high as was tension.  Monday was the breaking point.  I yelled, Mike tried to help,

Natalee shut down, and in the end I was ashamed.  Let me be straight - I'm not telling you this because I'm ashamed of my daughter.  She is an excellent student - she has to be to persevere through math problems that she doesn't firmly "get" and still come out standing.  I'm ashamed of myself as a teacher - that I let it get so far before stopping and realizing we needed to go back and work on previous concepts.  This was prideful on my part and not a right attitude for educating.

And so...this week we took a break.  We did +1, -1 math wrap-ups (whew - those were a struggle because of the physical dexterity involved...but she got them and she's proud!) and forgot the Math U See Beta workbook.

 Nope, it's not perfect, but it's not a jumbled knot of string so it's an improvement over the beginning of the week.

Monday we will be re-starting Math U See Alpha.  Yes, this is what she did last year.  Perhaps we'll skip around in it, perhaps we won't need all of it, but we'll go as slow as we need to and make sure concepts are mastered.  I want Natalee to feel as successful as I know she can be.  It's my responsibility, as long as her attitude is right, that this happens.  I know it will.

Natalee, Mommy is sorry for the rough season of Math we've had.  Let's succeed together, shall we?  We're proud of you, always and always!