So after a week of tough love, the twins are passing math again. We spent many hours at the table doing makeup work. I've also learned that they do not know their multiplication tables. Yes, it does make me a failure as a mother that my 6th graders don't know their multiplication tables. And since the work that their doing now is all about factoring, it is a major handicap for them. So this weekend we are taking the guerrilla approach to memorizing multiplication tables. It will be all flash cards, all the time. I made them make their own. And when they don't know one, we do a little chant, so that we can assault all of our senses in the quest for memorization. I don't think there are a whole lot of things in this world that have to be memorized, but the multiplication tables are on the short list.
PS is having her own struggles. I don't think she was prepared for how much harder high school was going to be. We leave the house at 7:30 in the morning, and she's staying at school until 6 for robotics most nights and then doing homework until about 10. The poor kid hardly has a free moment. I've pretty much eliminated her chores, and bumped the twins' allowance for picking up the slack.
We are now well into the fall frenzy--where our weekends are filled with the kids' activities. I limit how many activities they can participate in, but with 3 kids, it still adds up to a lot of running around. The twins had girl scouts last night, PS had to be at school at 7:00 this morning for robotics, and the twins have conflicting softball practice and volleyball games this afternoon, followed by volleyball practice tomorrow. It's ok for now, but if there is a wrench thrown in, it will be hard. I've heard that my mother might be coming back, but she hasn't bothered to actually tell me this. So for now I'm just holding my breath and hoping for the best.
2 comments:
When my parents found out I didn't know the multiplication tables they made me memorize them in one day. There was a lot of tears and tantrums, but now I'm so thankful they took the time!
I remember enjoying learning the multiplication tables! But it wasn't easy. Good luck. From reading your posts, it's very clear that you're doing such a good job with your kids :)
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