What do you moms think about the Math Mad Minute? I hate it! My second grader is good at math and likes it, but he just doesn't do well on the mad minute (30 problems in one minute). He gets very nervous and chokes and then doesn't do well at all. He gets graded on this once a week. Do any of you have any thoughts or tips? Have you experienced a similar situation? And why do the schools push timed math so much anyway?He knows how to add and subtract fine but this mad minute business has him (and me!) very discouraged. I would love to hear from any of you who have taught this as teachers too. Any help appreciated, Thanks!
I remember doing those in elementary school---I hated them! I would get incredibly nervous and do poorly, even though I was a good student.
I think they are fine for homework practice or to do as a game in class (ungraded), but in my opinion a student should not be graded on speed, especially when they are practicing new skills.
I am a 6th grade math teacher. I applaud your son's teacher for doing the mad minute.
The teacher is teaching the students to become automatic in their thinking of basic math facts. So many students do not memorize +, -, x, and division facts. Therefore when most students go on to middle school and high school where they have to know the basic facts to be successful in more difficult topics they struggle tremendously.
Keep encouraging your son and he will get better. As he gets more familiar with the facts his confidence will increase on the tests and score better grades.
The US has to start somewhere to increase out countries math standings and it has to start with our youth!
Wow, I thought I was the only one who hated those! My son is in the second grade as well and he doesn't do well on the Math Mad Minute either. I think it stresses him out so he rushes and then in turn doesn't do as well. I'm afraid it makes him feel upset sometimes too that he doesn't do so well. I haven't ever discussed it with the teacher though so maybe I should. Our teacher however does not take a grade on them. I guess they're are just more for practice. Hang in there!
Morning Crystal;
I personally would either go to the school or to the PTA
and get this practice thrown out of the school!
There is no sense or reason to put any child thru this kind
of punishment!! 30 problems in one minute would give even
an adult nerves!
I think the Superintendent of the system should be fired if
that is what he is allowing his math teachers to do! Go to
the school board, demand this be removed!
Barbara P below is what is know as educated dummy!! Children
do not need that pressure!!
Bill C.
I don't think your second grader should get a grade on it. That's wrong to me. It should be about personal growth and "beating" one's own time, not whether or not you get all of them in time for a grade.
I was a first grade teacher and did the Mad Minute. The most current findings in Math have found that memorization of addition and multiplication (times tables, yay!) is the best way (they thought this when I was young, too, and then went to other methods), and children need to have automaticity with it (where it's completely automatic, not added on fingers). Automaticity in math is on par with reading fluency, and very important. Later on, children need to be completely automatic with those simple math skills when working on higher math skills, KWIM?
Memorization and Mad Minutes should not take the place of teaching math skills, but I think it's a valid way to increase automaticity. It should NOT be graded, though. It shouldn't be about that. Just like increasing one's fluency in reading, it's about being your personal best.
I am a fourth grade teacher, but I've taught other grades in elementary school. The Mad Minute program is awesome. Your child will benefit greatly from the repeated, timed practice. It's a personal hurdle that you need to look at as a lesson to grow from. He's capable, and it sounds like you work with him at home, so he's got support. Don't deny your son of this knowledge; help him attain it! I've been teaching for 18 years, and it DOES lay solid foundations of math.
I agree with you. Neither of my kids ever did well on those timed math tests. I simply told my kids not to worry about them and downplayed them as much as possible. I acted as if they were no big deal and let them know that I wasn't upset if they didn't do well. By showing my kids that I wasn't bothered by them it helped my kids not to stress so much either. We would practice at home often because we also talked about how the more you practice something the better you get and the more comfortable you get with it. That also helped ease the anxiety because they got used to doing them. I would let the teacher know that the tests are causing your child anxiety just so she knows. Luckily, those tests didn't count much in terms of grades at our school so even though my kids never did well it really never affected their grades.
they are trying to prep them for TAKS. They are trying to prepare them for the timed tests and added stress of timed tests.
I had my son tested this summer for learning disabilities and all they could find was that he :chokes: on timed tests. So much so that they game me a letter to exempt him from the timing portion. They will still give him the same tests but not be allowed to time him.
I like the math mad minute, I even use it myself. So I know the stress my kids are under.
If they are using the site to "test" them once a week, it is most likely a very small portion of the overall grade.
You can have your son use it at home to get more acquainted to the timing, as when he gets in the class situation he might get more nervous hearing all keys typing on the other computers and think he is not doing as well as he really is.
My son is in 2nd grade and they have timed tests as well. At first he did not do well and got really frustrated. We used flash cards and worked everyday on them. Any that he did not readily know he had to say the problem and the answer 5 times. I am bad at math and I learned it by memorizing. After 25 years, I still remember it. Don't allow him to give up or give him an out. There are alot tougher tests in life that you can't opt out of and learning to deal with the stress now is better. Practice, practice, practice
My daughter, who will be 18 on Monday, hated timed tests at that age and would get so stressed about them she would cry. She always did beautifully, but the pressure she put on herself was intense. I talked to her teacher and they are not required to take these and many kids react badly to them. Talk to the teacher. My daughter quit taking these and still does beautifully in math without having had the stress of a timed test.
He gets graded on this in the 2nd grade?!?! That is nuts! I think it's fine to do as a drill, but not for a grade. It teaches a useful skill, but to add in the pressure of a grade at such a young age I think is counterproductive. Right now school should be about developing a love of learning. I would talk to the teacher. This sort of thing has the potential to make a kid hate a subject he/she previously enjoyed.
Hi Crystal,
I have had struggles in the past with my own two with the system. I have learned from many teachers and parents. You will get a lot advice from teachers for this and against this and the same from parents too. It is good for kids to know math and I say know and understand. In my personal opinion the TAKS testing is out of control. Kids are not learning they are memorizing, not understanding the process no phonics just memorizing. Memorizing is good to a point and should be backed up with the know how,why, and when. Speed math has been around for sometime, to help kids think quickly when handling money for example either at the checkout line or as an accountant. Either way to know is better than to memorize. It helps the thinking process. Kids need to understand how and why. There is online math www.aaamath.com he or she can practice math anytime for free. If your kids know the process it will be easier for her or him to think quickly enough. If the system is all about testing, ask yourself what are they learning if all they are doing is memorizing for testing how to be faster in math? Yes, math is important, but speed has nothing to do with it. I wish you the best and all parents who are going through the same thing. There are many websites you can use online for free to help your children in this process and help them understand not just memorize. Good luck and I hope this helped.
Hi Crystal,
I used to work at a school for 8 years. We did Mad Minutes and it was so much fun!! I think it's to get them to know there addition, subtraction etc.... quicker. Like look at the problem and BAMM!!! the answer should be right there! We did not grade them on it rather we looked at their papers, corrected them and gave it back to them to show them which are the ones they need to know better. I personally took it with them sometimes and we just had fun with it. We even had the principal come in and try it with them too! If he knows his Math then Amen it's just to be able to know it better and have him be able to answer it within seconds. It's also for teachers to know who is strong in Math and who needs more help in certain areas. That would also help us determine what kind of Math areas to work on with them.
Good Luck!!!
My son loves the mad minute. He thrives on the challange of beating his time from the last time. I think it's wonderful for teaching them to do the work without thinking about it. The education system is getting so watered down anymore that kids are relying too much on computers and calculators and can't do simple math in their head. I work with a person who can't add 4 one digit numbers in their head without writing them down. To make a long story short, help your child out in the long run by getting them used to doing things the old fashion way, learning.
I teach middle and high school math, and I am SO excited to hear that your son has a teacher who is stressing this type of instant recall. The purposes are many. It builds confidence in a sound knowledge base. It keeps students from counting on their fingers. Some schools give national tests that are timed for math, and that requires good, fast, recall. It is easier to plan a solution to a problem if you do not have to worry about the adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing that go with it. I could go on.
Practice at home. Use flash cards. Let him go to www.coolmath.com and play the math games there. Some are timed, some are not. I promise, the fluidity that he gains will serve him immensely when he begins learning multiplication facts and already KNOWS he can remember math!
Hang in there!
Michelle
My youngest is 17 so it's been awhile but I didn't care for the mad minute either.
He eventually got over the nervousness at mad minute time but he got so used to doing the math as quickly as possible and just writing down the answers that he ended up getting marks off on regular tests for not showing his work in third grade. We were called in for a conference with insinuations being made that he cheated. He told the teacher that he could see the tables when he closed his eyes and, after a little verbal quizzing, she decided that he was telling the truth and told him to just write in the margin "can see tables".
I think they should stick to one way of teaching things. Either they want it fast or they want it detailed.
I would say 90% of math nowadays are about problem solving. Very little time is actually spent on drill and kill. Round Rock ISD actually discourages timed tests. When students are taking TAKS, they have as long as they want. For a test that should take 2 hours, some kids stay after school just to finish it. If you don't want your child to take the minute math test, just write a note to the teacher and she will probably let you opt your child out of it. If she doesn't, write a note to the principal and your child will definitely not have to take the test because all the educators know they were told they should not give those tests anymore. And I do agree with you that some students even when you emphasize growth instead of competition still do not do well on the test. I've had TAG students that were great problem solvers that never finished half of the problems.
Now saying all that, let me just say that understanding math concepts is more important than memorizing but some memorizing is needed to help you solve math problems efficiently. Before Round Rock, I worked in a school district in California and they actually banned teaching math facts and instead just taught teaching kids problem solving techniques. This was fine but starting in 2nd grade when the number got bigger such as adding two digit numbers, a lot of kids would actually draw pictures for each number and when you are drawing 49+28 objects, there are more chances of counting these objects incorrectly and also using a whole hour for a problem that should be solved much faster. Now, numbers would be more efficient. Knowing your math facts allows you to complete problems more efficiently. Like fluency in reading helps comprehension, numeracy (yes, there's a word for it) is also useful in math problem solving. Some students take so long doing calculations that they never get to actually solving the problems. This gets progressively worse for them as they approach multi-step problems in the higher grades. Also, it's hard to teach parents how to help their children at home with problem solving because many were taught using the drill and kill method. It's easier to ask them to work on math facts. If you want to work with problem solving at home, I would suggest reading some Marilyn Burns books. You can probably check them out at your school library. Schools usually have a Professional Development section for teachers or a parent resource library. Math is fun and anything that hurts your child's view of math now will affect his effort later so do what you think is best for him!
I definitely feel your concern. My son and I went through this every week as well. He is very strong in math as well. His teachers use to send home the sheet with the math problems every Monday. So, I use to make several copies of them and every night he would do two timed sheets. It worked very well cause although I timed him, just like he does in class he was not stressed cause his goal was to just do as much as he could. By Thursday night he would be able to complete the sheet in just under a minute. Then on Friday, when he was tested, he would not be stressed and confident about his problems.
He is now in the 6th grade and although those mad minutes were a pain in the rear, his math abilities are pretty strong because he knows those basics extremely well. Compared to my daughter who did not do this cause we changed schools at the time she would have been exposed to this and her new school did not do mad minutes. She has to first take the time to think of her basics, then begin her problems.
I hope you try this technique out and if the teacher does not send home the sheet, request that she send it home with your son. It is worth the time especailly if they have to do it anywy.
Good luck!
My daughter takes this test too. It is part of the curriculum and requirements for 3rd grade promo, I think. Anyway, it was explained in detail to me how they grade it. So, you might want to get more specifics from your teacher right now. As far as I know, if they can get it in 2 min - that's an A, less time - B, etc. Right now, they are limited to 10 minutes. I can't remember how this all changes toward the end of the year. But, when practicing with your son, I would give him the 10 minute time period and tell him to relax because he has plenty of time (since you know he's good). Then, praise him when he finishes in less than 10 minutes and challenge him to cut it by 1 min or 30 seconds the next day. Praise him when he does cut the time shorter, etc. Make sure his teacher knows he's getting sick with time crunch and that she (at this stage) doesn't push the timing on him so much right now. But, work slowly toward the mark. He's panicking and you and his teacher need to adjust how the test is given at this point to give him some confidence. If the teacher isn't aware of his panicking, then she can't help him. But, I would make sure that you are calming him down about it and tell him not to worry about the teacher right now. She's trying to make sure everyone can do this in 2 minutes - too soon maybe. You know he has 10 minutes now. You know he has to work up to 2 minutes. So, you slowly work with him. I'm looking at my daughter's last test right now (and she does math for fun!). She took the whole 10 minutes for add. and sub. She got an S+/87 for Add. and S/77 for Sub. She does not do well when feeling pressured and she loves math. You just have to work with them in an unpressured environment right now in order to give more confidence, then with practice, he will work up to a shorter time and will be fine! My husband and I personally believe (at least in Northside) that the curriculum is way too advanced for the developmental stages they should be in. But, Northside has great test scores and seems to know what's going on. So, my approach is a little in the middle. Don't push too hard, no matter what the school thinks, but don't slack off too much no matter what you're child thinks.