Re: fear of mistakes/karen

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the tips . I have heard of math-u-see but also

thought the expense might be a bit much for us, I have looked for it

used online. Going slowly is key and doing anything to downplay the

anxiety that comes from fear of mistakes. She will actally set the

timer and do 40 minutes of drill if it is something she has somewhat

mastered (we have been doing division this way for weeks-but I have

tried to address " remainders " and she is very resistant to taking

that next step).

As for writing we hit on the same approach. I was trying to get my

daughter to " compose " her writing, and it was such a trial for her.

I gave her subjects from history to write on, and then realized, in

order to complete an assignment (she is very concerned that we have

a daily assignment to record in the record book for each subject)

she was actually almost copying from the book, paraphrasing

slightly. In other cases I guess it would be plagiarism, but in her

case, it is a means for her to gain practice and confidence. It is

better than when she would not write at all.

Btw, how is the adjustment with your new baby? (congrats!)-we are

expecting very soon.

nancy grace

> Hi, Grace --

>

> Your daughter sounds like mine -- she's very bright, learns loads

> just from her reading, but resists any sort of " testing " -- often

> takes it as criticism, or simply panics and worries that she'll

say

> the wrong thing. It can be a real trial. We also homeschool, and

> here are some of the adjustments we've made.

>

> Math has been the biggest problem, and we've worked on building

> confidence there. Would your daughter be able to " work up " to

some

> testing if you gave her lots of opportunities for successful

> testing? In other words, if you tested her orally on some pretty

> easy stuff, do you think she might slowly gain confidence? I've

been

> doing this with , and I'm seeing progress. Initially, she

still

> panicked, but I " talked her through it. " :-) Sometimes, I can

even

> make a joke of the panic, and get her laughing. I just remind her

> that this stuff isn't the end of the world -- it's just stuff that

> she needs to learn if she wants to be able to figure out how much

> that next American Girl purchase will set her back, or if she can

> afford that really cool Barbie she so badly wants, or how many

pizzas

> we need to feed her friends at a party.

>

> We started very slowly, no pressure, very short lessons. VERY

short.

> :-)

>

>

> > If I could find a math program that has a thorough enough

written

> > explanation of new concepts, with enough examples, maybe she

would

> > do better at that than with a tutor(maybe videos?).

>

> Have you considered the " Math-U-See " program? It's exactly that --

> videos. The videos are meant for the teacher/parent, but I've

heard

> a lot of parents say that their kids love to watch the videos,

> because they learn best that way. Might be worth a try. Again,

> though, with a canned program, I'd just take it slowly while she

> builds confidence.

>

> >But in her difficult subjects

> > (math and writing) she seems to get more and more behind, just

b/c

> > she needs extra help but will not accept it, and tests are

easily

> > failed once she gets frutrated (so I try not to use them).

>

> I was also concerned about Em's writing and spelling, and we

> approached them in the same way as math -- slowly, and with

> confidence building. Last year, she was loathe to put much on

paper,

> because she feared it would be " wrong. " I started her on copywork

> (copying favorite passages from books she loves) and it has been

> great, both in terms of improving her handwriting, and giving her

> confidence with spelling. (I quiz her from the copywork --

started

> with extremely easy spelling words, and we've worked our way up.

She

> realizes now that she's turning into a very good speller.)

>

>

>

> >>And/or maybe trying math

> > approached more like a 'reading' subject if that is possible

>

> I do think it's possible. Check out the website

> www.4reallearning.com -- it's a Charlotte Mason method site, and

look

> for math links from the moderator, MacBeth. She does a great job

of

> offering suggestions for math anxiety.

>

> I also think it helps to remember that our Ocd kids are not the

only

> ones with math anxiety -- it runs rampant in our society! :-)

>

> Best,

>