My sixth-grader seems to understand math and know how to solve story problems easily. The problem is that he often gets them wrong because he commits silly errors in adding, subtracting and multiplying. Is there any way I can help him? - Baffled
Answer: It's great that your son understands math concepts and knows how to solve story problems. We are wondering, however, if his careless errors are due to sloppy handwriting, using incorrect numbers or poor recall of basic facts.
Why don't you and your son study some of his recent papers and try to locate exactly where he is making mistakes? If the problem is sloppy handwriting, he might try using graph paper to keep the numbers aligned. If the problem is using wrong numbers in solving a problem, he will need to get in the habit of rechecking the accuracy of his numbers before starting to solve problems. These two problems might also be related to rushing too fast to get a problem done. If the problem is a weakness in knowing the basic facts, try to isolate the number facts that he doesn't know, and work on them with him.
There are four steps that are typically taught in the classroom that students should follow to solve problems: (1) understand the problem, (2) devise a plan to solve it, (3) carry out the plan and (4) look back. Just getting the answer to a story problem doesn't mean it is done. Your son needs to start using the last step and look back and check that the answer he arrived at is really the solution. He should ask questions like: Does the answer seem reasonable? Is it close to what I expected? Can I verify the answer by checking it against all the conditions? Are my calculations correct?
When your son learns to look carefully at his solutions, he should be well on his way to solving most problems accurately, because he will know how to recognize and avoid silly errors. He also should use this step to figure out where he went wrong when he misses a problem.