Dear Mom,

How are you feeling through this pregnancy? I pray that you are doing well and that everything is progressing along without a hitch.

Boys are wonderful and their attentions are normally on a million other details other than the tasks at hand. However, it is important to help your little guy to learn to focus and to work in a timely fashion. Perhaps you could look at the problems that he is doing and determine if there are problem sets that are more repetitive than necessary. It can be very frustrating when a child is facing a mountain of tedious work. Though it may seem reasonable to an adult, it can at times seem daunting for a child. I would suggest that you review the amount of work that he is doing.

As far as the amount of time that it takes him to accomplish his work, here again it may be that a reward system would be of help. Many times when children realize that they can be rewarded for finishing their work in a timely fashion they are more eager to get down to the business at hand. This reward can be either a privilege or some other appropriate reward.

A school teacher told me that children oftentimes think that the most difficult math problems are those that are at the bottom of the page. Doesn't this sound odd? She suggests that children start at the bottom of the problem set, thus eliminating the fear that the more difficult problems are towards the end of the set. I tried this 'reverse psychology' with my own children and found that they did indeed do better thinking that the more difficult problems were 'easier' than they thought.

As far as the multiplication tables, this is a skill that just has to be memorized. This skill is an important foundation and naturally it must be mastered. I would set small goals for your son and reward him as he finishes the goals. Post the tables everywhere that you can think of. I like to put reminders on the bathroom mirror. Just keep encouraging him to master this very important skill. Daily drill is vital.

Let us offer up our prayers this evening for all those children who struggle with the very basic of academic skills. We will ask the Lord to inspire and empower those persons responsible for their education to use loving guidance to increase the amount of knowledge that they are able to attain. Amen.

Sending out a prayer,

Rita Munn