My first grader is a great math student, but he is struggling with XtraMath. He did well with the addition portion, but once it went to subtraction, he started to miss a lot. He needs an extra beat to do subtraction in his head, and then to input it correctly. When he doesn’t get it right, he gets increasingly upset until he is crying and screaming. He has pandemic stress that I’m sure is contributing, but he didn’t love XtraMath last year before March, either.
His school seems to be using XtraMath and similar programs to make sure remote/hybrid students are on track. His teacher is aware of the issue and they worked with him on entering the numbers with his fingers on the touchscreen rather than use the keyboard, which takes him extra time. When that didn’t solve the issue, they asked me to make flashcards.
He does pretty well with the flashcards, although he still has some trouble with 9-6 and 7-2. However, if he is doing that subtraction in his school workbook, it’s no problem!
I’m at the point where when they give him XtraMath, I’d like him to work with me on flashcards instead. I’m wondering if there are other techniques I should be doing or other options.
We do not tolerate traitors
