Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Math
Jack's tutor: I think Jack forgot how to multiply large numbers over the summer.
Mom: Uh oh, we better work on that.
Jack: I hate math. I'm not doing it.
Mom: You really need to practice, we have a packet you can work on at home.
Jack: I just really hate it. I'm not going to do it.
Mom: But you are quite good at math, you just forgot how to do a little bit of it and we will catch you up.
Jack: But it is boring and I hate doing it.
Mom: Well, you can work on a little each day until summer ends and then you will understand it and it won't seem like you had a whole bunch to do at all.
Jack: I have 3 weeks? I could just do it all the night before I start school.
How do I deal with this irrationality!!!!???
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Maybe part of the problem is he doesn't care bc it doesn't have much relevance to what he cares about. You may have to put some forethought into it, but he might have more interest if you put it into terms he cares about, where he sees it's relevance...or doesn't realize he's doing math. Like...if the Pacers score 124 points a game, how many will they score over a whole season? If this bag of chips is .85, how much would it cost to buy a bag for everyone on the team/class/etc. Plane tickets cost x...how much would it cost to send the whole family to California.
ReplyDeleteJacob couldn't care less about "doing schoolwork", but he'll read signs, notes I write him, and song names on iTunes. He "practiced" reading 3 and 4 digit numbers by reading his scoreon computer games. We add, subtract, multiply, and divide in the car, the grocery store, etc. We practice spelling by writing dialogue for our sidewalk chalk Pokemon drawings.
Some kids, smart kids, aren't into "school"...the more ways you can find to not make it a battle, the better. You could even let him make up questions for you guys.
P.S. I do, indeed know how to use paragraphs, but I wrote that on my phone and for whatever reason, it'll only let me see the first little part of whatever I comment. And since I'm unable to put most comments into a "little part"...
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