Make it personal By dlynneteacher

I think math should still be concrete even in the fourth grade. I am going to assume your fourth grader is not learning disabled, but instead just does not "catch on" as fast as the other students.
I think you should make

it personal for him. Use lots and lots of manipulatives-no I am not telling you to run to the teacher's store and buy a bunch of expensive stuff. Use what is handy. Have him divide pencils, utensils, paint cans for members of the family (immediate and extended for more numbers). This becomes practice when it is repeated as opposed to mindless numbers that he gets frustrated over because

he can't remember how to manipulate them.
Another thing you can do to make it personal is to find out-if you don't already know-what he wants to be when he grows up or what he is interested in. There are numbers in everything.
Even if he wants to be a rock star-"make up" problems for him-your latest CD sells for $968. To make the CD, you had 8 people in total working on it, if all of you get an equal share of the money, how much does each person get?
Have him think in personal terms when he is doing homework-with each problem, that way it is not just mindless drill and kill!
I am sorry this is so long but I hope it has given you some ideas. Best of luck!

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