Nice people thread 2 - now even nicer

SingleSue

Eldest has also got GCSE Maths today.

He finds maths awkward, not because he isn't any good at it (he is not bad at all) but because the other two are so gifted in it, he feels as if he is absolutely hopeless at it. I keep telling him that it is not a case of him being deficient but more that the other two are way over average.

He doesn't quite believe me though, especially when he asks me a question to help him out and his 12 year old special needs brother replies! Or while he is still mentally working out a complex question, youngest got there 5 minutes ago. The truth is, youngest would beat most of eldest's peers as youngest was already working at GCSE level in year 6 (but can't cope with exams so they haven't put him in for it).

SingleSue

Davesnave wrote: »

She likes working on her own; little bit of aspie in there, I think, and motivation is everything!

I am the same really. Sometimes it would be nice to work with others on the degree as I never quite know if I am reading the TMA questions correctly but on the whole, I have always worked best alone.

At school, I would be the one who would race ahead in the work book as I found the pace too plodding and boring.

PasturesNew

I used to (occasionally) win drinks in pubs for being able to beat a calculator in maths. People got bored of it though as they kept having to buy me drinks.

Peculiarly, the gift left me suddenly when I was about 23.

elona

LIR

I suppose sending them a copy of "Emotional Intelligence" would not help. Sounds as if he or she could sorely use it.

lostinrates

elona wrote: »

LIR

I suppose sending them a copy of "Emotional Intelligence" would not help. Sounds as if he or she could sorely use it.

:D

I'm totally calm this morning. I still have to decline an invitation but I think I can manage that with a simple ''I'm so sorry, as x suggested to you that I might, I do indeed have previous commitments''.

The test of good manners being to tolerate the poor manners of others I feel attending a situation where I'll be tested to the point of failure to be a bad idea....:o

fc123

silvercar wrote: »

Mine's got maths GCSE today. His mates turned up last night for a last minute revision session that ended up with them throwing random past exam questions at me!

I think its so much harder to learn a subject you find difficult on your own, as you have no-one to tell you when you go wrong as you learn, its all a question of finding out at the end.

Doubly frustrating to have to pass a subject that bears no relation to your future studies.

Mine is doing her GCSE's too. She seemed OK after the maths calculator paper this morning though....still thinks she's going to fail as mock was C/D borderline.

She doesn't seem too wired about them though, just going in and getting them done. I thought she would be more worried than she is.

She's also now thinking of doing A levels instead now (then post 18 legal secretarial) so I have put in a late app to a local sixth form college in London.

fc123

PasturesNew wrote: »

I used to (occasionally) win drinks in pubs for being able to beat a calculator in maths. People got bored of it though as they kept having to buy me drinks.

Peculiarly, the gift left me suddenly when I was about 23.

Are you still good at math?
I am totally rubbish at it, my mind just doesn't work out boxes/charts etc at all.
Adding up in my head is good though

silvercar

fc123 wrote: »

Mine is doing her GCSE's too. She seemed OK after the maths calculator paper this morning though....still thinks she's going to fail as mock was C/D borderline.

She doesn't seem too wired about them though, just going in and getting them done. I thought she would be more worried than she is.

She's also now thinking of doing A levels instead now (then post 18 legal secretarial) so I have put in a late app to a local sixth form college in London.

Late applications shouldn't be a problem for sixth form. Places aren't completely allocated until the GCSE results are out.

lemonjelly

fc123 wrote: »

Adding up in my head is good though

This is a dying art.
When I was at university, I had a bar job in a local. The LL had the prices on stickers on the backs of the pumps.

After a refit, the brewery installed new tills, with individual buttons for individual drinks.

Prior to this, all the staff would add the prices of 2 milds, a bitter a lager & a cider in their head. After 6 months of the new fangled till, I was the only staff member who could still add the prices in my head.

The LL then declined to update the stickers on the backs of the pumps. So I did it myself. I feel you need to keep doing mental arithmetic in order to maintain the skill.

The young people I see now in the college will reach straight for the calculator on their phone. Take that off them, they don't have a clue...

SingleSue

Amazingly, eldest just rang and said the Maths Calculator was easy...but then it was the calculator bit of the GCSE that he only dropped 2 marks in, in the mock.

My maths skills have had to remain honed, for a long time, the only way to keep youngest settled was by throwing maths questions at him, which of course meant that I had to be at least one step in front of him at all times. This included while I was driving a car, doing my other study or cooking meals...and not just simple one stage problems but multi faceted and complex maths solving questions working into the millions and beyond.

He doesn't need it as much now as he has found different ways to calm him down but at least it kept the old brain cells working!

Both him and middle one will do the maths part of Countdown, correctly and in the time allowed and have been doing so for a number of years.

One thing that left me but has recently come back, is my memory for numbers or information. In my youth, I had virtually a photographic memory (I passed O level chemistry because of it!), it only lasted for a few hours or so after I had seen the information but it was blooming handy. Since the breakdown, I have been unable to retain the information and would have to constantly check phone numbers, bank account numbers etc but in the last few months, I have found it reappearing again...and the information is not going after the few hours either.

So, now I see a phone number once, even a glance and I can remember it days later, or an account number and it is there for instant recall, even my 16 digit card number is remembered....pity the old gift for text hasn't quite returned though, would have been blooming handy for the exam this year if it had!