waht are some good ways to help my 11 year old daughter improve in math over the summer?

Question

My daughter is going into sixth grade this fall and I know things are going to get harder for her. She is has learning disabilities like dislexic and ADD. Math is the hardest subject for her to comprehend and she forgets it easily. I want her to be ready when school starts so what are some ideas( good computer programs maybe) that she can do over summer vacation.

Answer 1

there are many math and other workbook type books at the department stores also flash cards, and perhaps when you set the table for meals have her set the table and count the plates silverware and other things around the house, you may also put cards or signs around the house as a reminder, we did this with memory verses from the bible to help the kids learn the basic principles of the bible. It does work. visual aids as well as practicing math with common things around the house. the simle things can be used for add subtract, multiply and divide. alternate weeks four plate take away one or two as you set or clear the table. one for tims how many people etc. you can be creative i know you can.

Answer 2

Math and science were some of my own most challenging subjects in school. Oddly enough, as I grew into life, most of the activities I chose had heavy math requirements -- computers, programming, aviation, etc. and I did very well. I was able to solve problems, understand complex financial transactions, and calculate escrow balances better than people who did it for a living. The main reason is that, for me, the math has to mean something.

Math software may be helpful but, as others have suggested, a tutor would be much better. Better still, look for ways to make math important to your daughter in her everyday life. Have her help you when you pay bills, shop at the market or the mall, calculate a budget, figure out how much food to buy to fit a recipe, ask her questions like, how many quarts in a gallon of milk, etc.

Whatever activities she's interested in, find ways to bring the math in that activity to the surface. It's ideal if you can do this with her, but I understand that many times the problem is that parents aren't that strong in math either. This makes it difficult for parents to be the tutor. This is why hiring a tutor to reinforce the skills and answer questions is ideal. Your daughter is likely to have questions that a computer program isn't designed to answer.

Math camps are also a good option, although it may already be late in the year to register. Your school, other parents, the local PTA, or your Parks & Recreation Dept. may have programs that are both fun and educational in strengthening math skills.

If your daughter is good in other subjects, or has special extracurricular skills, like music, maybe she knows another student who is skilled in math. They could tutor each other in a kind of exchange.

I hope these ideas help and good luck to your daughter in her math endeavors!

Answer 3

Read some of the history of the subject and the contemporary problems and lines of approach. Forget about doing calculations and read the excellent paperbacks Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh, The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy and Four Colours Suffice by Robin Wilson. Maths as taught at school is awful stuff and deadly boring -- yes, I know you have to be able to do it, but mathematicians don't sit and do sums all day: they do exciting stuff. They would all have slit their own throats long ago if they had to spend all day at their desk working out how long it would take three workers to dig a trench eight feet long when four workers can get a ten foot trench finished by Tuesday.

Start another field in mathematics. If she has never done statistics, read The Lady Tasting Tea by David Salsburg and then take a look at the maths itself -- impossible without a computer but still exciting. Or find out about Diffie and Hellman's algorithm for encryption, based on some apparently useless results of Gauss more than a hundred years earlier. That algorithm safeguards trillions of dollars in transit every day, and you can understand how it works in ten minutes.

ADD is better known as Boring Teacher Syndrome. Anyone can read a book to a child so that it fascinates both of you.

Answer 4

I would rather her come to me with this problem, then have her shave. Shaving just increases the growth in the hairs. It like stubble on a mans face. He shaves in the morning, and by the evening her already has stubble appearing. Shaving, as you said waste time, and in the long run is more uncomfortable than waxing. I hope that when my daughter is around that age, she won't even bother shaving, because if you wax from the start of your hair removing days, the longer it takes for the hair to grow back. I can go for months w/o waxing because I've waxed since 14. I feel, as a mom that 13 is a bit young for a bikini wax, but, I wouldn't want my child to unhappy with her appearance, or self conscious about anything. Try asking your mom can you go to a salon and get waxed. Even show her your post. I would let my daughter get the bikini wax, just for the summer time, though. Ask your mom can you get it done for the summer time so you can wear you swim suits. Good luck.

Answer 5

You are her best teacher. Find out in advance what she will need to know next semester and
acquire the necessary materials. Always schedule a math timeout and always give a reward for doing a great job. I would suggest a 1/2 hour a day and then go to 1 hour a day.
A reward can be either food, a toy, a trip, a
new game etc. As her mother, you need to know the answers first, so you can guide her
and help her with her homework next year.
Praise her often for trying-good luck

Answer 6

I might be of a real big help here.... my daughter has had add all of her life,and math is one of her down falls,and the teachers have been a very big help to me in the past with her,and they have been able to provide me with math sheets,and told me to set aside some time for me,and her to spend together,and the they have very limited short time before thay soon get very borde with it,but you have to make it like a game for her,and set some kind of rewards for her,so she will want to learn and play more. As she has gotten older they would tell me to work with her all summer so she wouldn't forget what she had been taught in school,and I would get her some elemtary school work books from the Wal-mart, or whatever store you have close by that sells those kind of things for her. We would also play with real money with her,and have her add up some of those,and what ones she got right, she would be able to keep the money. She wasn't long before she was wanting to do it all the time!! Hope I was of some help for you,and good luck!!

Answer 7

I'm 47 years old and I have big trouble with Math. When I read it I dint fully comprehend and understand and then I can't always remember when I do understand. What helped me was I hired a tutor. I was very fortunate I got the best tutor in the world, she not only helped me to understand and comprehend math but she turned me into a math lover. Now we are the best of friends. It was one of the best decisions I made when i hire a tutor.

Answer 8

There are books and websites that have math work for your daughter's level. She should do a few of these everyday (no more than 5). This will keep it fresh and will help her to feel more confident when she starts in the fall.

Answer 9

I'm a math teacher for high school kids, and a father of two (younger daughters than yours). I recommend some of the same activities others have: tutor, math practice by workbooks - but as the drunkredneck emphasized, keep it to short sessions...you don't want burnout, and kids typically resist parental instruction.

Emphasize fractions and basic equation solving: those are the most important things as far as I'm concerned.

This is how I treat my daughter, who just finished 3rd: She would ask me, "How many cookies do you want?" Most parents respond with "2", but I respond with "ten-thirds". Then she goes about figuring out exactly how many cookies that is, and after that she realizes that I was just "testing" her. It is fun for her, and fun for me...non-rigorous, but effective.

Answer 10

When we didnt have homework from school, My mother purchase work books in or level and maybe the next level up. and every day we had to do a pay or two. So buy her some math wooks books in her level and the next level up and help her with a page a day.