After a team meeting last Friday, the sp.ed teacher and I looked over my son’s wj scores from 6th grade, he is currently in 8th. He has add/inattentive and takes concerta. On the test he shows weaknesses in fluid reasoning and slow processing speed but average in all other areas (she mentioned that at the triennial he may not qualify for sp.ed and we’ll have to go for a 504 for accommodations, which is really what he has now, he has been included for the last 2+ years).
Anyway, he had some trouble with the last quarter of 7th grade math and is having trouble with 8th grade math. I understand that his weaknesses are specifically what are affecting his grasp of algebra, statistics, he has some short term memory problems so that even the easier things don’t stick (he needs lots of repetition, but once he learns it well, it’s in there for good). What is your opinion of being able to address the weaknesses? Is there something in particular that you use to help your students?
My son does have a tutor, specifically a certified middle school math teacher, some of what she sees on my son’s homework is inattention to details, simple errors. These errors though, end up giving my son anywhere between a 28 and a 67 for homework grades, he isn’t given any credit for the hour + time spent doing the homework.
The first assignment was a 5 hour ordeal on the 4th day of school, there were only 17 problems, it’s gotten better since we took Dad out of the picture. We were told not to check his homework, help only if he asked. Well, he has a D so we are kind of at a loss, if not for the tutor who has agreed to see his homework everyday to make sure it is correct before he turns it in.
I have read a lot of folks’ posts of the different programs available, IM being the one I am looking at most. What do you think or suggest?
I appreciate your help.
Amy
Re: Not Victoria, but dd went through IM this summer.
Thanks, just not sure what to do to help with this stuff. I went through most of school not understanding math and doing poorly in it.
Not Victoria either :)
If the way he learns is to do it ‘til it sticks, then the way it’s tuaght will probably, simply, not be effective. Telling the parents to step back and not check the homework can be a good idea — but a basic assumption *is* that the curriculum and pace are appropriate. I have a bad feeling that IM wouldn’t necessarily get him to where their choice of curriculum & pace would work (especially since it basically doesn’t work for a whole mess of humans out there with and without diagnosed learning problems).
If he were in our community college he could sign up for the learning lab, meet regularly with the teacher, do the modules at his pace, take the test when he was ready, get the credits one at a time and move on… if you’re thinking outside the box, it might be worth checking on some of the opportunities for adult learning in your area.
Re: Victoria, help (long, sorry)
My son is doing much better with math this fall, following IM. Can’t be sure it is IM only though since we have continued work with Neuronet as well. I certainly wouldn’t do IM just for that reason. I think math improvements are only antedotal.
However, since your son is ADHD, you might consider it. The attention improvement from IM is well documented and if you get a math bonus, all the better.
I think math is very complicated and there can be different reasons for the same symptoms.
Beth
IM may or may not help your child. I was hoping that it would help my 10 year old with math, but it did not. However, many have had good results. IM is extremely expensive as well as the pretests and posttests. IM is one of those things IMHO that you have to look at it on an individual case and it is not the “quick fix” that you may be looking for. IM did help my dd in other areas, but it didn’t help her as much as I hoped especially in area of short term memory. My dd does have motor processing problems which probably impeded some of the IM work. HTH, Jan P.