Here's an update on my struggling student. He has actually left school early (without permission) twice on the days he knew I was coming. This surprised me since our sessions have been mostly 'friendly.' The two days that he left are the days on which I come and actually get him out of his classroom. The days he has made to our sessions, are the days I just get him from his after-school daycare room. So, my guess is that he doesn't want his classmates to see him get up and leave for help. (No one notices him leaving from the rather chaotic daycare room.) I really feel for him, and plan to have his teacher just quietly release him to my room at the appropriate time rather than having me come get him in front of all his peers. Hopefully that will keep him at school.

The 2 sessions we've had since I last wrote have been fair. He seems quietly satisfied with the 8s-trick and 9s-trick as he no longer needs to count up on his fingers to add 8 or 9. I put the abacus right next to him -- he won't touch it (reluctance to admit he needs it), but looks at it for almost every problem, so I know he's using it. I just pretend not to notice.

A question: where would you go from the 8s/9s trick? Which strategy do you feel would benefit him most? (I thought perhaps the 2 fives strategy, but am not sure he'll be able to visualize that since he has so little time with the abacus.) We did play addition Bingo with only 8s and 9s off to the side and that was some good practice. But I wonder which strategy you think is the most 'universal.' Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. I really want to use my time with this student as well as I can.

Thank you for your update.

As I have read your prior writings and Nancy’s excellent response, I would like to give you my thoughts.

First, though he may find it embarrassing to be called out of a class, most children would be fine if they found it was to be called out for something they are looking forward too. Let me better state this. Children are people pleasers, but only to people they choose to please. Children do not like people who are disingenuous, who talk down to them or who really have no care for the child. Of course, I am not saying that you are doing any of those things, as you barely have enough time to work with him. I tell you this so you can more readily see what you are up against. So, I suggest at the start of each lesson you ask him some questions that make him feel that you are concerned about him as a person. Like what’s your favorite TV show? And find things you have in common to let him know you are alike.

Also, tell him stories that show you have been a child who has been embarrassed before. I always tell kids about the time I worked for over an hour to do the best handwriting ever on my spelling words and when I proudly turned it in the next day my teacher called me to her desk to reprimand me that I had produced the “worst handwriting” she had ever seen. I tell the children how crushed I was and how I never wanted to try to put effort into anything for her again. When I tell that story I have the children glued to the story and their hearts melt with empathy, because they know how it hurts. After this, I change to encourage them about how imperfect we all are, and it’s okay, but we should try to be better, and I know personally what they are going through. I almost always get the response I was looking for--trust and similarity.

Those are only suggestions for the meeting and gaining his desire to meet with you.

As to the actual math learning, I have several suggestions.
I would do, as Nancy suggested, do some multiplication games with him so he can see some quick progress and feel like he is not leaving behind his class.

I would also add that he should be doing games and math problems that work on the ten.
“Go to the Dump”, “Old Main” things like that. I would do partitioning ten, I would do whole and part circles of ten, and other numbers too. Why? Because he probably lacks understanding how numbers are put together, and how to group by fives and tens, and since you only have him for such a short time, you need to give him the tools of knowing how to group by fives and tens and to manipulate his numbers and how place value works. That will be the best gift you can give him in such a short limited time.

I mentioned place value, he must understand place value. Level B does the best job of teaching it and I don’t know if you have that book or not. So let me state that you should be focusing on place value beyond “this is the ones place..” instead he needs to sees, touch, experience that it takes ten ones to make one ten, it takes ten tens to make one hundred and so on. You should be employing the place value cards and the base-ten cards.

You mentioned the abacus. Yes, he needs it! To encourage him you can tell him how some people think it is a baby tool, but they never learned that it is the tool that makes one better than the rest at math. And show him how he can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division using it. Let him know, you know it makes him feel that he is going slower, but point out in higher math if one continues to count by ones and using their fingers they may not make it through higher math. When they use this tool they learn how to use numbers, then they don’t need it any more, and they can go on to higher math more easily.

Here is how I would suggest to use it. You should continue to keep it on his desk as you have, but you need to make sure you are using your own abacus. As he resists it, you use it so he can see how to use it. When he is partitioning numbers, both of you should be doing it on an abacus.

My last suggestion is that you also continue showing him the strategies that will follow him in his math.

This seems like a lot to suggest to do. But it can be done if you do it in segments of small time. I would try,

To do the partitioning first, using the abacus, tally sticks, and whole and part circles. Then play a game like “Go to the Dump.”

Then I would so some work on place value; using games, the abacus, the place value cards, and the base ten cards.

Then move on to a strategy, do a few problems on the abacus, then with abacus and paper, then after a few sessions add in mental computation. After doing those, do another game like, “Addition War” to practice the strategies. Point out what strategy you are using for your play and have him tell you what strategy he is using.

Then I would move on to a multiplication games to learn his multiples.

But remember he is thinking a lot and may tire sooner than with another program, so always make sure you know exactly what your objective is for each meeting and make sure that it is conveyed clearly, so that even if he tunes you out through the rest of the lesson he has walked away with something learned.

Again, this is only my suggestion, only you and the child know what is going on and how it is best handled.

If you feel you need to discuss this further or have a sounding board, feel free to email me personally, at Carissa@alabacus.com, or call our excellent customer service at 888-272-3291 they all have great ideas.

Thank you,
Carissa
Customer Service Representative