Help Screen on Systematic Practice, Math Foundations 2.0

Help Screen: Systematic Practice

What if your child cannot learn the math facts at the book's pace, even with extra practice? Various options include trying another book, slowing the pace (which means taking more than a school year to finish), and creating an independent system of practice for learning the math facts.

This help screen addresses creating an independent system of practice. As an example I outline how we did this for my son.

My son could not learn at the pace of either of the two books we tried (one of which was at a lower grade level). He became increasingly frustrated and angry about his math. "I hate math!" was a common complaint during math time.

In response, at the start of 3rd grade we created an independent system for practicing the math facts. This allowed him to progress at his own pace. Going slower for a while is not a problem, as there is plenty of time during the elementary years to learn the math facts.

Tracking Progress

The first step was to create a table for tracking his progress. The table contained a row for each set of addition/subtraction tables (1's, 2's, 3's, through 12's). We also made a row for "doubles" (3+3= , 7+7=).

   Addition/Subtraction Tables




Date Passed
Passing Time


1's

2's

3's

4's
...

Later we created a similar table for multiplication/division. (My son particularly enjoyed the doubles in addition, and also squares when he got to multiplication.)

Target Time

Next we established a target time for "passing" a 15-problem addition/subtraction test. The time limit was something he could reasonably achieve. We chose 90 seconds, although most children can probably do better than that.

My son practiced 1's addition/subtraction and easily passed the test. Then we wrote down the date he passed and his time. The 1s table was below his level, but at this point I wanted to build confidence. Next we moved on to the 2's addition/subtraction tables. We built these up starting with 2+1, 2+2, and 2+3, then gradually worked up to 2+12. He practiced them until he passed that test. Then we moved on to the 3's tables. We practiced at a slightly slower pace over weekends and straight through the summer.

The tables don’t have to be mastered in order. You might do 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, then skip to 10's which are easy, then do 6's, 9's, 11's, doubles, 7's, then 8's. He did a review sheet every day as well as sheets practicing the current table. To discourage dawdling I timed him on practice sheets at first. Later he timed himself using a digital kitchen timer with a count-up mode.

Other Math Activities

We also did other activities to reinforce the math facts. These included flash cards (made with 3x5 index cards), skip counting up and down by 1's, 2's, 3's, and so on, verbal math, and practice at writing numbers. We tried manipulatives, but he didn't like those. At the same time he did a "light" version of his math book, which filled in topics like telling time, counting with money, estimation, and the mechanics of carrying and borrowing.

We ended up going through the addition and multiplication tables all twice--once with a 90 second time limit for passing the test, then a second time with a 45 second time limit.

Beyond the Basics

After mastering the basic math facts we used the practice sheets for gaining proficiency with larger problems, negatives, and decimal operations. The systematic practice finally paid off--part way through 5th grade my son started Saxon 76--and with a much better attitude than two and a half years earlier.

Every child will be different. I hope this brief account can give others some ideas for how to handle systematic practice. A key point is to be observant and to be willing to experiment until you find a system that works.