So we have used Math U See (love it!) the last 2 years. My 6 year old is very advanced in math but reading is coming along slower. He is blowing through his math but we are getting to word problems that he can’t read. How should I handle this?
I should add this is our second year homeschooling and he is my youngest so this isn’t something I have run into before. Thanks!
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If he’s advanced in math is he reading those problems that are geared for 2nd 3rd grade? I saw you say he was 6 so I’m assuming he’s either K or 1st? Is it the bigger words giving him trouble or is it determining whether it’s an addition or subtraction problem? If it’s the bigger words (this may take some time on your part) but are you able to rewrite the words to make it easier for his reading level? This will help both in reading and keeping any major discouragement during math time with these word problems.
Example - harder read- Sally Johnson had 17 frilly sequenced dresses on the hanger in her closet. 7 of them fell off the hangers into the carpeted floor. How many beautiful dresses were still hanging in the closet? (Obviously I embellished here haha)
Vs what you could rewrite-
The cat sat on 17 blue and red mats. If 7 are red, how many are blue? (Now he can do the easier words, with a few that may be challenging but he can sound out most and you could help him with the others and he will see these words a lot during easy reading)
If it’s a problem determining whether addition or subtraction then yes this can be difficult for a lot of children at this stage. My oldest 7 (2nd grade) still has problem discerning them, I have 2 little print outs one for addition and 1 for subtraction that have some “key words” that are used for the different equations and I make her read the problem, try to figure it out and when she has trouble she needs to go find the key words to determine whether to add/subtract. (I can send you a pic if this is the situation)
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Can he read his number words? If so, teach the addition and subtraction words used in the word problems.
Then have him convert the word problems to the traditional numbers and signs by reading for and picking out those words.
My oldest did this for a while and it worked well for him - good math skills, good problem solving skills -sorting for what is truly important in the word problem - and increased vocabulary . . . . .
He is in 1st and doing 2nd grade math. He can’t really read any of it, he is about 1/2 through AAR 1. So he can pick out random words. I tried reading them to him today and he did pretty good picking it the pertinent information. Thanks for the ideas!
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I have a dyslexic who can do math well beyond what she can read in word problems, I just read the word problems to her and then she solves them. If reading is a struggle, I see no need to add stress to something she currently enjoys (math in our case). Someday she will read problems easily on her own, but until then, me reading the few problems to her makes life easier for both of us.
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