Kid is turning 12 in two weeks. She starts Junior High in two weeks. Tonight we were doing some summer math work and she expressed a lot of frustration in the way that she counts when she adds.

In 1st or 2nd grade she was taught to count on her fingers as most kids do. She still does this and as I mentioned is frustrated with it and perhaps a little bit embarrassed because everybody in her class can do it in their head in just a second or two. Things like 8 + 8 and the count on the fingers is needed.

She's decent at math and it's her favorite subject. She can subtract, multiply, divide quickly but has problems with addition.

Any tips to break her out of this habit?

(8 - 8 - 8 - 8) * -1

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+help+kid...+their+fingers

Most apt results are after the first few but then they carry onto page 2 and so on, there's a lot there

hope that helps

Location: Que?

Thanks, Irish.

Glad to help

This one seems to go the most in depth but I only clicked on a couple

How to get students to stop adding and subtracting on their fingers

If she can do the subtraction and multiplication in her head already she'll prbly have an aha moment pretty quickly

She just has to stop doing the behavior more than anything, no different than making yourself not look at the keyboard when you're learning to type

That's unusual. If you can subtract without counting backwards, why can't you add without counting forwards?

I don't think there's anything wrong with counting on your fingers, although I can see why it might be embarrassing in front of peers.

If she can multiply, for 8+8 do 2*8.

There's reasons it's bad, she's not visualizing the concept and understanding the underlying principles

It's just a crutch that she'll be able to break prbly quickly unless she randomly goes OCD on it

She knows multiplication table, can divide, but not add single digits? If I had thought about that a few minutes ago, I would have not thought that possible.

It's kinda funny, I wouldn't be able to put into words how to improve at addition. Those kind of things came very naturally to me, I was thought to be a brilliant little math sonofabitch, then high school rolled around, and math became formulaic, and suddenly I was ******ed.

Counting is the underlying principle of addition.

No, the underlying principle is not to be able to count on your fingers.

But then again, you just said you don't see a problem with a 12 year old doing that - in a conversation about that being the exclusive way she's capable of currently.

Thanks for the brush up on what addition is though, I needed that.

lastcardcharlie,

Are you fine with reading out loud exclusively too?

No, that's a heuristic.

DodgerIrish,

There may be good reasons to get better at addition in your head but they're not what you said. Using the counting on fingers method shows she understands what is happening perfectly well. What underlying concept could she be missing?

This isn't a big deal if she knows how to operate a calculator and has a method for adding on paper. It might cost her seconds on maths exams that don't allow a calculator but if she's running out of time in a maths exam at that level, she's probably got bigger concerns. The only other reason I can give why it would matter is the embarrassment thing. Honestly, if my daughter told me she was embarrassed by this, my first concern would be how easily my daughter becomes embarrassed.

Math just comes easier for sum kids.

I think addition is far more about memorization than it is about understanding the underlying principle. I certainly don't calculate 4+5, I just know that it's 9. If I would somehow forget that information I could figure it out using the underlying principle, but that's not really where you want to be.

You may need to figure out more specifically where she struggles. Is it with 2+6, or does she start struggling when getting into double digits? Like the example you gave, 8+8, perhaps it would be easier for her to add up to 10 and then add the remainder, so 8+2 = 10, then add the remaining 6 to get to 16.

I think you would have the wrong concern. I think it is perfectly reasonable to be embarrassed by such at that age and I think at that age the kids would be embarrassed by much less (and often times inconsequential stuff).

I also don't quite understand how one can be adept at multiplication, division and subtraction, but not be able to do addition. In my experience, addition came first and most easily.


Maybe some of this just has to be memorized. Multiplication tables for me started as just being memorized. Maybe make up addition tables and just memorize them to start.

I don't know though. I'm not a teacher and I do not have any kids and I have no experience with anything like this (other than when I was a kid I guess, but I was on the other side then and it was a while ago).

I'll just let you know I noticed this. It was ok.

I knew I could count on you.

48+57 w/ no paper, no calculator

go!

Still think fingers work and there's no underlying principle that's lacking?

In my mind the easiest thing is to slide 2 over to the 48 to get to an easy 50 and then add 50 to the remaining 55. Being able to visualize the numbers (or what the numbers represent) in your head is important, possibly memorization is at the core of that and then you extrapolate it out.

Maybe I used a wrong term or phrasing, possibly fundamentals was what I intended and would be acceptable to the nits. But those that are indifferent to the situation perturb me. My only point is the status quo would be unacceptable.

Again I ask, how would that be any different from someone that could solely read out loud?

50+50+7+8 = 115

EDIT:

Ha, messed that up.


48 + 57:

50+50 = 100

7-2 = 5

100 + 5 = 105

105

I'm also not getting anything for principles of addition or any variant via google so it seems this is all semantics and there's no textbook answer like you're getting at that i'm erring on.

All I'm getting is variations of

I realize this is related to algebra but this actually reads as I was completely fine to phrase it the way I did. And my point was correct. I'm baffled by some of the responses and the wave they came in tbh.

Drill and kill, when I was in school they had these cards that had 40 or 50 questions on them and we did them over and over. Get a couple of lists together and race her through them.

Go read the diner thread and then yell at your kid really loud.

I think flashcard memorization or the equivalent on a smartphone or iPad is the way to go. Or while in the car, ask her to clench fists to avoid finger-counting and start quizzing with 2+1, 2+2 and work your way up. Can she do those without finger-counting? Idea here is to build confidence by showing her there's stuff she can do, then getting her to understand that 8+8 is the exact same principle.

I would be woefully embarrassed if I counted on my fingers or had to mouth words or read them aloud to understand them, and I think it's perfectly appropriate to be.

Fundamentals would've been a better word, but it's still nittery and was a derail from the point of the thread

Finger counter apologists abound tho

tread lightly