Door-2-Math Blog

Parents often come to me and say “If I had known that my child was struggling in math 3 years ago, things would have been a lot easier”. But the early signs of math struggle are easy to miss and with budget cutbacks and large class sizes, it would take a very dedicated and astute teacher to alert the parent.
There are things however that you as a parent can do to spot math trouble early even if the last time that you took a look at math was in high school. This series of questions is a simplified version of the procedure that I use during an assessment, and will give a rough idea at what grade level (between 3^rd and 8^th grades) that the child’s math is at. The important thing to get from these questions is not whether your child gets the right answer but how she goes about solving the questions. This is the part that a standardized test cannot tell you. If from this series of questions, you feel that her math is 2 or 3 grades below grade level, then letter grades on her report cards do not tell you the whole story. In fact, her math foundation and learning process itself may well be in jeopardy.
Question #1: 1/7 and 1/8, which one is bigger and why. (1/7 is bigger)

If a child draws a picture to explain that 1/7 is bigger since 1 slice of pizza is larger when 7 people rather than 8 are slitting it, then visual learning is that child’s dominant style. If the child converts both fractions to decimal forms, then analytical is the dominant style. If, on the other hand, a child stumbles on it, then I know that math foundation has holes at roughly 4^th grade since that is when the concept of fractions is usually introduced. If a child gets the right answer, but is unable to explain it other than ‘that’s what my teacher told me’, then I know memorization already got hold of this child, which foretells tremendous trouble down the road as one simply can not memorize his/her way out of math.

Question #2: Tell me how you’d add 1/7 to 1/8 and why. (1/7+1/8=15/56)

If a child arrives at the correct answer by using common denominator and is able to explain why common denominator is used (to get both fraction into the same ‘size’), then I know the math understanding is beyond 6^th grade. If, however, they add both top and bottom of the two fractions like (1+1)/(7+8) = 2/15, then I know the math has not moved beyond 5^th grade at best.

Question #3: A family meal cost $76, how much do you leave for tip if 15% is what your family normally tips. ($76 * 0.15 or $11.4).

If a child arrives at the right answer, I challenge her to see if it’s possible to perform such operations without paper and pencil. If a child does not convert 15% to decimal form, then I know the problem started right around 6^th grade.

Question #4: Half of what number is 7 times 3 and why. (half of 42 is 7×3)

If the answer is correct and is solved with proper pre-algebra process of using variables, then the understanding is beyond 6^th grade. If a child simply uses arithmetic to arrive the answer, then the transition between arithmetic (K to ~5^th grade) to pre-algebra (~6^th grade) didn’t go well. If the child simply gives up because ‘that’s a word problem’, then there is a phobia to be reckoned with first.

Any families you know can benefit from this article? Please forward it. I’d appreciate it.

Happy Zen Math!

MathDoc @ Door-2-Math