Math Class Is Tough
Back in the early 90's, Mattel released a new Barbie doll that said, "Math class is tough!" Controversy ensued, of course, and the company quickly pulled those dolls off the market.
I'm wondering if maybe one of them found its way into my daughter's collection.
For the past few weeks she's been telling me that math is too hard for her. Second grade math. Addition and subtraction. Especially subtraction.
She was having trouble with the simplest problems. Like, "You have 15 pennies. I take away 7 of them. How many are left?" She'll think about it and then answer something completely wrong, like, "Three."
This went on day after day, and then I started to suspect something.
She's putting on an act.
I think she's afraid of challenging herself, because she's seen what her 5th grade brother is working on in math, and I'll bet it's incredibly intimidating to her. As if we're asking her to make the leap from simple subtraction all the way to dividing fractions.
My daughter is bright and intelligent. I know she can learn these things. What we have to do is show her that math is not an insurmountable series of obstacles, but rather a gradual river of knowledge with each lesson flowing toward the next.
I don't want her to think that "Math class is tough!"
I want her to say to herself, "I can do anything by starting at the beginning."
It's funny that she would put on this dumb blonde act when we've always told her that she's anything but that. I can only guess that she picked up the idea last year in public school, where there are too many young girls already starting to believe that fashion and make-up are more important than learning.
We'll cure her of this. Even if we have to dye her hair brunette.
I'm wondering if maybe one of them found its way into my daughter's collection.
For the past few weeks she's been telling me that math is too hard for her. Second grade math. Addition and subtraction. Especially subtraction.
She was having trouble with the simplest problems. Like, "You have 15 pennies. I take away 7 of them. How many are left?" She'll think about it and then answer something completely wrong, like, "Three."
This went on day after day, and then I started to suspect something.
She's putting on an act.
I think she's afraid of challenging herself, because she's seen what her 5th grade brother is working on in math, and I'll bet it's incredibly intimidating to her. As if we're asking her to make the leap from simple subtraction all the way to dividing fractions.
My daughter is bright and intelligent. I know she can learn these things. What we have to do is show her that math is not an insurmountable series of obstacles, but rather a gradual river of knowledge with each lesson flowing toward the next.
I don't want her to think that "Math class is tough!"
I want her to say to herself, "I can do anything by starting at the beginning."
It's funny that she would put on this dumb blonde act when we've always told her that she's anything but that. I can only guess that she picked up the idea last year in public school, where there are too many young girls already starting to believe that fashion and make-up are more important than learning.
We'll cure her of this. Even if we have to dye her hair brunette.
Permalink posted by Idaho Dad at 12:02 AM
11 Comments:
Can you trick her into liking math via fun science projects or by using Barbie accessories?
I wrote a post a while back about exactly this girls and math situation. My daughter is in first grade, and hasn't yet succumbed to the "math is hard" mentality. I'm worried about it in advance, and hope to be able to avoid it or to repair the situation should it become a problem.
I'm the first to admit I'm not a great teacher, but an approach I've seen work is to sneak the lesson into something that seems unrelated.
You might have to figure out how to do this exactly for your own situation, but one example is when we hear stories about how people respect one another.
We hear the story, take it in, and think that might be a good model for ourselves. Whereas if we're told to treat people a certain way there's an automatic resistance.
I have no idea if that comes across clearly (again, I'm not a great teacher) but hopefully it's helpful.
I bet if you added and subtract smarties(or M&Ms) she would love math.
My daughter has done exactly the same thing...not putting in effort and guessing completely random far-off numbers. But when she wants to, she can easily do her math. They both need to know that it's okay to be a smart blonde second grader.
This is why I am reading daddy blogs such as yours now, so I can have the answers already once it is my turn to deal with such things. I will be interested in how you get her past this hurdle.
At least you're recognizing the concern up front and not finding out later after she's wasted months not trying. Inspiring kids to enjoy school subjects is what's tough. Maybe you can turn it around and ask her to play teacher to a younger child or one of her dolls. Ask her to pretend she's teaching subtraction problems. She may find it empowering while learning at the same time.
Now, the dying her hair comments is way funny. I find it interesting as well what our kids get in their heads about challenging opportunities. My 13 year old daughter has found Pre-Algebra to be an extreme challenge. She tries to pull the, "I don't know," and wants us to just give her the answers. It's frustrating but if we stick it out long enough with her, eventually she feels the reward of learning and having accomplished the solution for herself. It's going to be quite a school year. I'll keep a bottle of hair color on hand just in case.
Have you ever noticed that you love your son more than your daughter? I know you would never admit it even to yourself but it is true. Your extreme bonding to your son will cause you both problems. Let the poor kid go to a real school and take a break from your smothering. Also you are quite arrogant for someone who does housework for a "job" I'm a psycho thereapist but it doesn't take one to read you through your blog. I'm also a smart ass, so sorry about that part.
Have you ever noticed that you love your son more than your daughter?
Haven't noticed that, because it isn't true. I give both kids a reasonably equal amount of my love and attention.
Your extreme bonding to your son will cause you both problems.
Sure it will. So, where's the research on Being A Loving And Attentive Parent Is Bad For Your Kids?
Also you are quite arrogant for someone who does housework for a "job"
Oh, yes, it's so easy to feel self-important while cleaning up cat barf or scraping burned macaroni off the bottom of a cooking pan.
I'm also a smart ass, so sorry about that part.
Really? I couldn't tell. On a positive note, it's nice to see my in-laws reading my blog. How's the family?
One would think a "thereapist" would know how to actually spell therapist. Hey... I'm a smart ass too!
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