Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Math Facts Speed Test

Maybe some of you can relate to this: the faster you try to do something, the slower you get. That is the situation I have been dealing with with my second grader. Every Monday her class goes to the computer lab and sits in front of a computer to do their "math facts." The idea, I guess, is to get kids to know their basic math facts in an instant, which is a good thing. My kid is having a devil of a time with this though. She gets all hung up on the idea of doing it fast, and the harder she tries, the slower she gets. It is SO frustrating. It seems that every little thing in the classroom distracts her--the teacher clicking her pen, another kid standing over her shoulder watching what she is doing, other children talking. My kid just can't deal with the environment. I addressed this with the teacher a couple of times and she sent home the "Math Facts Fast" cd for us to use on the computer here at home. All I have asked is that my daughter do the facts for five minutes everyday. So far she has only gotten them finished under two minutes one time. The most frustrating thing about it is that she knows the answers. All ten are correct every time, but only after about 2 minutes. I just don't know what else to do to help her. Now she is becoming so anxious about Mondays that she is getting stomachaches and nervous habits. Anyone have any ideas for me?

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