Oy

[yendi]

I just checked Elayna's math homework. She got 13/30 problems wrong. There are 1x2 digit problems (3x86, for example). It would be one thing if this was too hard for her. But almost all of her mistakes are careless. She's either forgetting to carry the tens digit, or just plain making a careless addition mistake. The problem isn't that she doesn't know it; it's that she's overconfident and sloppy. When I told her how many she got wrong, she told me, "At least it wasn't that many." I explained that this would be a failing grade, which shocked her.

Anyone know how to motivate an incredibly smart but also not very careful child?

Edit: Upon redoing the ones I circled, she still had six wrong. Again, all sloppy. She's got another one of these assignments on Wednesday. We'll see if she puts in a better effort then.

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[dydan.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew!
My stepson is extremely bright. Every parent/teacher conference I have attended sounds the same. "David is the smartest child in the class (pause) ...but he never turns in his homework."

This has gone on since ummmm...kindergarten. His problem is that he is bored and not challenged in school, so he blows off the homework (usually by ditching it or burying it in assorted places in his bedroom).

Some days I want to beat the boy...but then I remember how anylytical he is. He's so busy being in his head that everything else falls to the wayside.

I have yet to come up with the Magic Parental Cure for that little "phase".