Marguerite
Active Member
You've got a problem brewing with his hastiness. His teacher is right to try to make him pay better attention to his work. I suspect until now, he's been able to whip through it really quickly but now he's required to think more carefully, and to him it feels like he's becoming more stupid. He needs to revise his knowledge and learn to apply it more effectively. A good book to get to help him, is Speed Maths. You can get a version of this for younger kids. I think it could be an Aussie author though. Or you could get computer programs that help drill maths. Don't pay big bucks, there are some ridiculously expensive programs out there (which claim to include tutors available on the phone, etc for thousands of dollars - don't do it!). We are booked into a much cheaper, very similar program here, originally organised via difficult child 3's correspondence school. It's called Mathletics, and costs A$99 a year (which I think also includes spelling, but I don't know if their spelling has a US option - it's worth checking). We've been with this mob on and off for a few years now. Not last year because difficult child 3 did not do Maths last year at all. But this year the school is using Mathletics as his set work.
Other software to help him - look for basic, generic, Maths stuff. Make it stimulating for him, but also he needs to really know his basics. Algebra might be worth a try, because he has to fully understand Maths principles to manipulate the pronumerals. We used to give difficult child 3 mental algebra problems while driving in the car. Simple stuff, for Grade 2 - "If x - 4 = 0, what is x?"
We had to keep easy child stimulated at school. easy child 2/difficult child 2 as well. The trouble is with the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids - they HATE revision, they really hate having to do more work than they feel they need to, and will often refuse. Teachers then refuse to extend them if they have not completed the basics! We came to a deal with difficult child 3's Maths teachers, that difficult child 3 would go right to the LAST problems in the exercise, the hardest ones, and attempt those first. If he could get them correct, he could move on to a new exercise. But if he had a little difficulty, he had to do an easier one. This has been really good for difficult child 3 because he has learned to attempt the tricky-looking stuff (generally the multi-step problems, where you have to solve intermediate stages correctly before you can move on to the final part of the problem) and to not worry about quantity, but quality. We had to have the tea her on-side for this.
How this came about for us - difficult child 3's Maths work was all in writing. The school posts out large reams of worksheets, which include all the "how to" information. The exercises all begin with the easiest problems and work through to the hardest. Right at the end in most exercises are "optional". These are the most challenging but also the most interesting. They are also the extension exercises. But difficult child 3, snowed under by a massive quantity of work, did not want to do the optional ones, "because they are optional - I don't have to do those."
So I talked it over with his teacher who agreed that difficult child 3 could START with the optional stuff, and if he got them out with no difficulty, he could leave the rest of the work and move on. As a result, difficult child 3 has sailed through a lot more work, covered more topics and feels good about his ability in Maths.
Computer stuff - apart form the basic Maths drill stuff. Look for Zoombinis (there are three basic game packages). These teach Maths logic, and are increasingly complex logic puzzles which he has to solve in order to rescue these cute creatures. Delightfully interactive. We use computer games a lot.
Another one that was brilliant for us, I don't know how available it is - NumberMaze. Also NumberMaze D&F (Decimals and Fractions). These begin at a pre-school level and work right through, and the software sets itself at the child's level of ability automatically.
He needs stimulation, but he also needs to learn to identify his weak areas, and focus in on them. It's a valuable skills and at the moment he's running the other way and this sets him up for failure in a few more years. Not good.
See if the teacher can give him some more complex, harder problems.
An example - a kid working with areas. He is given a rectangle's two dimensions and asked to work out the area (by the way, he MUST always write down the units - square inches, or square metres. Never just write the number without the units. Vital lesson to teach now). But a more complex, and more interesting, problem - "We are painting the set for a production of Camelot. The set is a castle - we have a large, flat piece of board with crenellations cut out on top. (draw one and give dimensions. Make each of the crenellations a square of the same size, added to the top of the rectangle). If the grey paint we want will cover at the rate of 1 litre per square metre, how many litres of paint do we need to do two coats?"
This has to be broken up into several stages. First - calculate the area. You do this by calculating each rectangle and adding them together. If all crenellations (or merlons) are the same size, you multiply the area of one, by the total number of crenellations. This gives you the total area. Now you look at your paint - if you have, say, 6 square metres, you will need 12 litres of paint (two coats).
Life is full of these kind of problems so putting it this way makes it more relevant to the child.
I had a student once who was only interested in theatre and set design, hated to do her maths. So I set her this problem to re-engage her.
Keeping him engaged is going to be an ongoing struggle. But kids like this love to learn and love the person who teaches them. They are intensely loyal, also, and this can be a surprise to people who THINK they understand Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) but don't. So get him accustomed to using his brain, and he will continue in this habit. teach correct habits all along, right form the start. For example with writing tasks - if he finds information for a report from somewhere, teach him to copy the website or publication details into his draft text file also, under "references". it's never too early to start giving attributions in your work. It has to become a good study habit. The reason, you tell him, is so that when someone is reading his assignment and likes the stuff he's writing about, they can go do their own reading and find out more. It also provides the 'proof' you need that you didn't just make it all up, someone else agrees with you.
If your only problem is a gifted child who is not sufficiently stimulated, you still need to put in a lot of work and eventually get him assessed formally, preferably not just through the school system. But the school system could be a good place to start, as long as they share their sub-score results with you and with any later neuropsychologist. We found the school assessments were inexpertly given and fairly rough. But we were able to take those results, pass them to a neuropsychologist who then looked at just the problem areas, or the areas of interest. It saved us some money and the eventual report was an amendment in some areas. Like taking a photo someone else has taken, and looking at a few areas of that photo with a magnifying glass or image enhancement program.
When easy child 2/difficult child 2 was young, we thought our only problem was a gifted child who was already achieving faster than her peers. But the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) issues kicked in when she was about 9 or 10. We could look back and see the issues with 20:20 hindsight, but for a while we were stumped as to what to do for our genius child who suddenly lost confidence and capability.
easy child's early teachers told me that they had to keep throwing more work at her; they were hard-put through the day keeping the work up to her because if they eased back, she got bored and then disruptive. They rapidly ran out of Kindergarten and Grade 1 work, and in Grade 1 she was already working at Grade 4 level. Then I had to change schools, and we ran into serious problems. She stagnated academically for two yeas then went back to her first school where they said, "She's doing the same work we gave her two years ago! She's lost ground." She did catch up, but it took her another two years and it lost her a lot of opportunities.
And in case people think I push all my kids - difficult child 1, although bright, clearly was not acceleration material and was barely ready to start school at age 5. He did not shine at school although in the workplace (once they get used to his apparent absentmindedness) they love his meticulous attention to detail and amazingly broad general knowledge. And like all Aspies, when he gets onto any topic that has ever been his special area of interest (and over time, these special interest areas can shift) then difficult child 1 is a mine of information.
A bright child can be just as much hard work as a child who struggles at school because the work is just beyond them. Plus you can get the gifted/learning disabled kids, and their frustration is something ferocious.
We have both kinds of these kids in our family. The giftedness is there, but also we've had problems with three of our four kids, with learning difficulties as an overlay on the giftedness. It's been hard work, but it does have its rewards. However, I learned a lot form the example of easy child's first teachers - just keep shoving more intellectual stimulation at the child, at home too.
A good friend of ours is 12 years old. An only child, very precious. Both parents are professors. The child is amazingly gifted in many areas. No indication of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) in any way, although I suspect the dad has some Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) traits. This girl is such an amazing all-round achiever - an avid reader of complex books; a talented writer already writing better than most adults; a skilled musician on a number of instruments; artistic, creative. A dancer and athlete also. Public speaking, debating, chess - this kid has every opportunity, but at the expense of personal time. However, this child fills her own days with as much stimulation as possible. She demands courses, classes and more and more to learn. A couple of months ago my writing group had a writers festival (for adults) and tis girl asked to attend. I (as a friend) was asked to babysit the girl (in case she got bored or disruptive) but in fact she sat down the front, took pages and pages of notes and asked some breathtakingly adult questions. Other attendees thought she was in her late teens at least.
She is an amazing kid, but has drained the energy and resources of her parents, in trying to raise their perfect chick. She is going to be an amazing achiever in life, but her parents also see their efforts as a vital investment in her future. You would have to - otherwise you would go crazy.
That is what a gifted child can do to you. It's not a bad thing, it just IS. But it is also hard work, frustrating at times (especially the moment the kid realises they can't have it all!).
We can help, whichever way the pendulum swings. I especially really understand this phenomenon and also how to survive it!
So - welcome aboard, we're here.
Marg
PS easy child is right now planning to start a family. I can't wait! She is going to get hers. Because gifted begets gifted. I will take great delight in sitting back and watching the floor show!
Other software to help him - look for basic, generic, Maths stuff. Make it stimulating for him, but also he needs to really know his basics. Algebra might be worth a try, because he has to fully understand Maths principles to manipulate the pronumerals. We used to give difficult child 3 mental algebra problems while driving in the car. Simple stuff, for Grade 2 - "If x - 4 = 0, what is x?"
We had to keep easy child stimulated at school. easy child 2/difficult child 2 as well. The trouble is with the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) kids - they HATE revision, they really hate having to do more work than they feel they need to, and will often refuse. Teachers then refuse to extend them if they have not completed the basics! We came to a deal with difficult child 3's Maths teachers, that difficult child 3 would go right to the LAST problems in the exercise, the hardest ones, and attempt those first. If he could get them correct, he could move on to a new exercise. But if he had a little difficulty, he had to do an easier one. This has been really good for difficult child 3 because he has learned to attempt the tricky-looking stuff (generally the multi-step problems, where you have to solve intermediate stages correctly before you can move on to the final part of the problem) and to not worry about quantity, but quality. We had to have the tea her on-side for this.
How this came about for us - difficult child 3's Maths work was all in writing. The school posts out large reams of worksheets, which include all the "how to" information. The exercises all begin with the easiest problems and work through to the hardest. Right at the end in most exercises are "optional". These are the most challenging but also the most interesting. They are also the extension exercises. But difficult child 3, snowed under by a massive quantity of work, did not want to do the optional ones, "because they are optional - I don't have to do those."
So I talked it over with his teacher who agreed that difficult child 3 could START with the optional stuff, and if he got them out with no difficulty, he could leave the rest of the work and move on. As a result, difficult child 3 has sailed through a lot more work, covered more topics and feels good about his ability in Maths.
Computer stuff - apart form the basic Maths drill stuff. Look for Zoombinis (there are three basic game packages). These teach Maths logic, and are increasingly complex logic puzzles which he has to solve in order to rescue these cute creatures. Delightfully interactive. We use computer games a lot.
Another one that was brilliant for us, I don't know how available it is - NumberMaze. Also NumberMaze D&F (Decimals and Fractions). These begin at a pre-school level and work right through, and the software sets itself at the child's level of ability automatically.
He needs stimulation, but he also needs to learn to identify his weak areas, and focus in on them. It's a valuable skills and at the moment he's running the other way and this sets him up for failure in a few more years. Not good.
See if the teacher can give him some more complex, harder problems.
An example - a kid working with areas. He is given a rectangle's two dimensions and asked to work out the area (by the way, he MUST always write down the units - square inches, or square metres. Never just write the number without the units. Vital lesson to teach now). But a more complex, and more interesting, problem - "We are painting the set for a production of Camelot. The set is a castle - we have a large, flat piece of board with crenellations cut out on top. (draw one and give dimensions. Make each of the crenellations a square of the same size, added to the top of the rectangle). If the grey paint we want will cover at the rate of 1 litre per square metre, how many litres of paint do we need to do two coats?"
This has to be broken up into several stages. First - calculate the area. You do this by calculating each rectangle and adding them together. If all crenellations (or merlons) are the same size, you multiply the area of one, by the total number of crenellations. This gives you the total area. Now you look at your paint - if you have, say, 6 square metres, you will need 12 litres of paint (two coats).
Life is full of these kind of problems so putting it this way makes it more relevant to the child.
I had a student once who was only interested in theatre and set design, hated to do her maths. So I set her this problem to re-engage her.
Keeping him engaged is going to be an ongoing struggle. But kids like this love to learn and love the person who teaches them. They are intensely loyal, also, and this can be a surprise to people who THINK they understand Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) but don't. So get him accustomed to using his brain, and he will continue in this habit. teach correct habits all along, right form the start. For example with writing tasks - if he finds information for a report from somewhere, teach him to copy the website or publication details into his draft text file also, under "references". it's never too early to start giving attributions in your work. It has to become a good study habit. The reason, you tell him, is so that when someone is reading his assignment and likes the stuff he's writing about, they can go do their own reading and find out more. It also provides the 'proof' you need that you didn't just make it all up, someone else agrees with you.
If your only problem is a gifted child who is not sufficiently stimulated, you still need to put in a lot of work and eventually get him assessed formally, preferably not just through the school system. But the school system could be a good place to start, as long as they share their sub-score results with you and with any later neuropsychologist. We found the school assessments were inexpertly given and fairly rough. But we were able to take those results, pass them to a neuropsychologist who then looked at just the problem areas, or the areas of interest. It saved us some money and the eventual report was an amendment in some areas. Like taking a photo someone else has taken, and looking at a few areas of that photo with a magnifying glass or image enhancement program.
When easy child 2/difficult child 2 was young, we thought our only problem was a gifted child who was already achieving faster than her peers. But the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) issues kicked in when she was about 9 or 10. We could look back and see the issues with 20:20 hindsight, but for a while we were stumped as to what to do for our genius child who suddenly lost confidence and capability.
easy child's early teachers told me that they had to keep throwing more work at her; they were hard-put through the day keeping the work up to her because if they eased back, she got bored and then disruptive. They rapidly ran out of Kindergarten and Grade 1 work, and in Grade 1 she was already working at Grade 4 level. Then I had to change schools, and we ran into serious problems. She stagnated academically for two yeas then went back to her first school where they said, "She's doing the same work we gave her two years ago! She's lost ground." She did catch up, but it took her another two years and it lost her a lot of opportunities.
And in case people think I push all my kids - difficult child 1, although bright, clearly was not acceleration material and was barely ready to start school at age 5. He did not shine at school although in the workplace (once they get used to his apparent absentmindedness) they love his meticulous attention to detail and amazingly broad general knowledge. And like all Aspies, when he gets onto any topic that has ever been his special area of interest (and over time, these special interest areas can shift) then difficult child 1 is a mine of information.
A bright child can be just as much hard work as a child who struggles at school because the work is just beyond them. Plus you can get the gifted/learning disabled kids, and their frustration is something ferocious.
We have both kinds of these kids in our family. The giftedness is there, but also we've had problems with three of our four kids, with learning difficulties as an overlay on the giftedness. It's been hard work, but it does have its rewards. However, I learned a lot form the example of easy child's first teachers - just keep shoving more intellectual stimulation at the child, at home too.
A good friend of ours is 12 years old. An only child, very precious. Both parents are professors. The child is amazingly gifted in many areas. No indication of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) in any way, although I suspect the dad has some Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) traits. This girl is such an amazing all-round achiever - an avid reader of complex books; a talented writer already writing better than most adults; a skilled musician on a number of instruments; artistic, creative. A dancer and athlete also. Public speaking, debating, chess - this kid has every opportunity, but at the expense of personal time. However, this child fills her own days with as much stimulation as possible. She demands courses, classes and more and more to learn. A couple of months ago my writing group had a writers festival (for adults) and tis girl asked to attend. I (as a friend) was asked to babysit the girl (in case she got bored or disruptive) but in fact she sat down the front, took pages and pages of notes and asked some breathtakingly adult questions. Other attendees thought she was in her late teens at least.
She is an amazing kid, but has drained the energy and resources of her parents, in trying to raise their perfect chick. She is going to be an amazing achiever in life, but her parents also see their efforts as a vital investment in her future. You would have to - otherwise you would go crazy.
That is what a gifted child can do to you. It's not a bad thing, it just IS. But it is also hard work, frustrating at times (especially the moment the kid realises they can't have it all!).
We can help, whichever way the pendulum swings. I especially really understand this phenomenon and also how to survive it!
So - welcome aboard, we're here.
Marg
PS easy child is right now planning to start a family. I can't wait! She is going to get hers. Because gifted begets gifted. I will take great delight in sitting back and watching the floor show!
