Since I need the distraction, a teacher question

[cleo29]

During the summer months, would you want your students studying ahead? Meaning going over stuff they will be learning in the coming year or would you rather they maybe review what they had learned already? The subject in particular is math and this is elementary school.

[Jalapeñomel]

Both!

[cleo29]

I fear with learning ahead, that when the time comes to actually learn the material the kid will feel bored. (this has happened already with this kid and he felt he did not need to do the work because he knew it already).

[rugbywife]

If they had gaps in their general understanding of math concepts I would want them to be doing ongoing work (both during the school year and over the summer) to consolidate their understanding. That being said, this is only possible if there is someone available to help them to do so (generally if a kid didn't get it the first or second time in a classroom setting they aren't going to get it all by themselves later - unless by later you mean as an adult).

So an example:
grade 1: Billy is struggling to count numbers above 50 by the end of the school year. He also can't skip count by twos. So over the summer mom/dad/grandma/whomever plays games with him to help consolidate his understanding of numbers beyond 50 and to skip count by twos

grade 6: Jane finishes the school year and she still hasn't understood how to round numbers to the nearest tenth. So over the summer she works on rounding to the nearest whole number and then to the nearest tenth.

[thinkofthesoldiers]

The boredom factor is a big part of it, but with things like math school build on previous lessons to teach new information. Often, they do things a particular way, but a parent will teach it differently and the kid is resistant to doing it the school's way. It can cause problems down the line as everything gets built upon for the next lesson. I see nothing wrong with keeping the kids up to date on their information that they learned the previous school year, but going too far into the next section can cause problems later on.

[cleo29]

Aug 12, 2012 15:30:08 GMT -5 thinkofthesoldiers said:

The boredom factor is a big part of it, but with things like math school build on previous lessons to teach new information. Often, they do things a particular way, but a parent will teach it differently and the kid is resistant to doing it the school's way. It can cause problems down the line as everything gets built upon for the next lesson. I see nothing wrong with keeping the kids up to date on their information that they learned the previous school year, but going too far into the next section can cause problems later on.

Oh yes. His mom got his third grade math book and they have been teaching him things from it already.

I was never great at math, so I did stuff during the summers to try and help and never working ahead, simply continuing to work on what I had learned to that point so I would have an easier time when school started up again.

[rugbywife]

Oh, and as for covering new stuff. I would rather that a parent works on general life skills related to math over the summer as opposed to teaching new concepts. Like mental math, have your child do some mental addition while doing groceries. Or measurement, have your child tell you what unit of measurement they would use to measure things while you are out doing 'stuff' (ie: the weight of a car would be measured in pounds, the length of a cereal box in inches, etc...). Have an older child calculate the tip on a bill in their head. Younger children can name the solids for household items (a klennex box is a rectangular based prism, a can is a cylinder). Look for patterns in bricks or nature and have the child explain the pattern.

These kinds of 'real life' math situations are key to general understanding and can easily be taught at home.

[cleo29]

I think they always want to show the teacher how smart their kid is and then will complain when the school will not accommodate him even though they are the ones that created the situation in the first place.

[tacokick]

It doesn't seem like working ahead works for this kid but I've seen it work for others. Working ahead sometimes helps slower learners because they still benefit from "learning it again" but if he refuses to the work in school that has other effects.

[Deleted]

I'd rather the summer be spent strengthening skills through real life experiences than working ahead from a book. Helping mom and dad measure the living room for new carpet, figuring out percentage for sale prices, visiting historical places, reading the newspaper and discussing current events, etc. Spend the summer putting knowledge to use and building prior knowledge to fall back on in the new year.

Just my $0.02!

[cleo29]

I agree with all of you.

[spedrunner]

i would def review bc most likely in the beginning of the year things will be reviewed to refresh.

As far as starting new material. It really depends , part of me says NO bc if the teacher/school is required to teach the subject in a certain matter (like everyday math) it might be confusing to the student
It could go either way. I think it depends on the child


Is this about you? Props to you for wanting to help your child!! If not, props to you anyway

[cleo29]

Not me, my SIL. They just always seem to be pushing with this kid. And last year he was getting in trouble for pretty much telling the teacher he did not want to do the work because he knew it already (this is when they were just working at their desks). And they, the parents, were mad at the teacher for not giving just him new material.

Like I said, I think it is great to keep reviewing what you already know and even apply it to every day situations, but it bugs me that they always need him to be ahead of the other kids.

[speckledfrog]

They may not be allowed to give him new material. I have heard that second hand about the districts here.

I asked MH about this post, since he is a super smarty and was in magnet school. I was torn because I can see both sides of this - if the child is able to understand the material and work ahead why not? But, if he's acting out in class and they aren't able to provide more for him is supplementing at home worth it? MH said he felt like it was important for an advanced student to work on being well rounded because being grade levels ahead in a subject won't really gain him much in the long run. It should be more about blanance. That has been his experience, anyway.

Also, I love the idea of working on translating math to practical life skills. .:files away for later:.

[cleo29]

Aug 12, 2012 16:35:57 GMT -5 speckledfrog said:

They may not be allowed to give him new material. I have heard that second hand about the districts here.

I asked MH about this post, since he is a super smarty and was in magnet school. I was torn because I can see both sides of this - if the child is able to understand the material and work ahead why not? But, if he's acting out in class and they aren't able to provide more for him is supplementing at home worth it? MH said he felt like it was important for an advanced student to work on being well rounded because being grade levels ahead in a subject won't really gain him much in the long run. It should be more about blanance. That has been his experience, anyway.

Also, I love the idea of working on translating math to practical life skills. .:files away for later:.

I agree with your H about being well rounded.

[pierogigirl]

Also, just because a child can "do" the math does not mean s/he understands it. The Common Core is supposed to address this by having kids learn fewer topics, but working with the topics extensively. For example, many students could learn how to multiply fractions quickly, but very few students could actually explain why the answer is the answer. I see this all the time. Students get a problem wrong, but don't recognize that their answer is ridiculous because they are just doing the math, not understanding it.

[cleo29]

Aug 12, 2012 20:32:16 GMT -5 pierogigirl said:

Also, just because a child can "do" the math does not mean s/he understands it. The Common Core is supposed to address this by having kids learn fewer topics, but working with the topics extensively. For example, many students could learn how to multiply fractions quickly, but very few students could actually explain why the answer is the answer. I see this all the time. Students get a problem wrong, but don't recognize that their answer is ridiculous because they are just doing the math, not understanding it.

this is how i feel when they say he is reading at a fourth or fifth grade level but then say he doesn't understand most of the words. If you don't really understand what you are reading, you are not reading at that level, you are just reading the book.