the only advice I was given was repetion on learning their number facts. We made it fun, and I even made a chart for my son. Every one he gets right, I add a sticker -which he loves !

Can she come up with every combination of two numbers which add up to be 10 in her head quickly?

Can she solve problems like
9 + 8 without couting 9, 10, .... 17 (with her fingers or even in her head)? She should be doing 9 + 8 = 10 + 7 or a mathematical operation of some sort instead of counting.

Can she quickly (like in 2 seconds) get an answer to an equation such as 7 + 3 = ? + 4, whether given as a math sentence or as a math story (preferably as a math sentence written on paper)?

I noticed that although my child is doing math at school with a pretty good curriculum, because the teacher is not mathematically inclined, the kids don't learn important key points to basic math.

I make worksheets at home to both explain mathematical principles and help him practice algebra. You might have to do the same.

You may want to try math story books.
Like your daughter, my girl loves reading, but not math. My daughter is 1 st grade and think math is boring, even she is good at it. So, Kumon or approaches (which I like) does not work for her.
So I recently introduce her some math storybooks. It works. She loves challenges in this way, trying to solve things even a little difficult problems for her.
We used mission addition, and some mathstart series,.. By themselves, story books may not provide enough practice, but they will help them understand concept and chance to practice a little bit while she is enjoying what she is doing.

My son is in 4th grade going to kumon for 4 yrs and he is doing advanced math in school . Kumon is an afterschool program where they give practice work everyday and moreover i like their structured method. May be you can try for your kid , I am sure that you will see the difference in few weeks or months.
www.kumon.com/

@mariacge, My 1st grader tried your SmartyMath website and loved it so it's bookmarked. Thank you.

@leigh08, My first grade son's school started the year off with Everyday Math alone and it was not good for him. Too many of the kids just don't know their math facts which is the subject backbone I think. Sometimes it really isn't your kid, it's the way they are being taught. We had practically stopped doing the school math homework and were doing our own because it was setting him back! They have quickly moved to old fashioned worksheets of math facts along with the everyday math to shore this up for everyone. My son is great with math facts (not so much language arts but we are talking math now) so this was very welcome.

I say, work on the fundamentals whether the school is doing them or not. That should help in all grades. If their homework isn't helping, consider substituting your own, in 1st and 2nd grade, it's not that big of a deal I feel. Then you'll know that he's getting the principles. Plus, although my son is not in Kumon, I hear it's great for math. A friend of mine whose son was getting really low math grades in 2nd put him in Kumon and he soared. We are considering it for our first grader just to make sure he doesn't lose what he already has while the school fiddles among different math approaches. If we do that, we will probably drop their math homework altogether because the goal is understanding the subject, not doing elementary school work. Good luck!

Hello, I am a mother of a Second grader who is not having problems with math because my husband made a Math site for him to practice. He enjoys the math games and learn in the way. There is also a Money game. Hope your son like it. Here is the link
www.smartygames.com/math.php
there is also a new Halloween math game at
www.smartygames.com/igre/game.php?dir=math&file=halloweenMath
Your comments are welcome!

Thank you for sharing your experiences and ideas. I will also try to my daughter use real money so she can buy something and using counters.

Word problems are tough to grasp because it seems like there is no good transition from equations to that. My 2nd grader had a real hard time last year when his teacher would change up the format of the equation to be either up and down or across. He just refused to do it one way. Then the word problems he was okay with. My 4th grader still struggles with word problems. I try to teach him key words like AND mean to add and things like that.

My 2nd grader was struggling with math until about 2-weeks ago when I poured some dried beans on the table and told him to do his math homework with those as "counters." He uses them every night for homework and I sent a small bag to school with him as well.

His biggest problem is that he really could care less about the academics of school - he's much more creative and social. So with the counters he enjoys putting them in different patterns and shapes and breaking them apart to do his subtraction. It takes a lot longer to do his homework but I think it is helping him recall his math facts because he sees a shape associated with it in his mind.

Also, I take my kids shopping with me all the time and they always have their own little bit of money. So they try and help tally up the bill or calcualte how much change I'm supposed to get back. My little guy has grown leaps and bounds in his money facts becauase I make sure he always has a pocket full of change before we go to the store. We always hold up the lines because of it, but everyone is usually very patient when they see his cute little face counting out his coins.

Hello,
Yes, my son is a second grader with everyday math, and is having trouble with money, to remembering number facts, but understands some of the harder stuff like addition. The teacher sais repetition, and number cards I picked up from the dollar store helped, plus making it a game to learn has helped him.

My daughter loves school and is a good reader. She is having trouble with subtraction and word problems.

my son is in 1st grade and is struggling with it all. He simply does not like school. I hope it changes..soon! does your son likw school?