Math Drills

I am feeling a little guilty after all that trashing of math programs (though hopefully you got the picture that it's not a program issue, it's a user issue:). To balance it out, I am going to share with you my favorite math resource. I mentioned Math on the Level previously, and while I don't know if we will go back to it or not as a whole, I love, love, love their math drills. These are a series of books (or PDF downloads - which is what I got) that approach math drill in a new way. Instead of starting to drill your kids on the 1's or 2's tables (you know, the easy ones!) they begin the drills with the 9's. Once a child understands the process of addition or multiplication you can begin giving these drills. They are timed, and come with a nice page for recording results. The child does the same drill sheet every day until he is able to do it in the suggested time frame (designed to develop an instant recall speed), then he moves on the the next one. It gradually adds new facts, while maintaining practice with the old facts. This way, when your student completes the sheets, he has practiced the hardest ones the most, instead of the other way around. Such a basic concept, why hasn't someone else come up with this before! So, if you are struggling with flashcards, or have a 4th grader who still doesn't have all of this facts memorized :), these are great. I am already seeing a difference in both of the kids recall of math facts.