Timed Drills and Flashcards

Yesterday, a friend called me asking about supporting her son through timed addition drills in his first grade class. Now, I have been a longtime proponent of timed drills, but the idea of this particular situation didn't sit well with me and I could not figure out why. My friend was exceedingly patient as I rambled on exploring the reasons behind my intuition long after I had answered her question. Still, it bugged me. Despite a nagging feeling that my inner protest comes partially from a dislike of this teacher's overall style, I believe that there are some solid reasons I would not drill a six year old in addition facts.

1. Timimg a test is added stress. In grade 1, they have only recently introduced addition in the classroom. They just started to go to school all day. There are more demands in many areas of schoolwork already. Will adding even more stress benefit learning? 
2.  Grade 1 is too soon. Again, they just presented addition. Students should still be in the stage of exploration with respect to addition. They need to have sufficient time to contemplate the intricacies of combining numbers from 1 to 10. What patterns do you see? When you add the same two numbers, do you always get the same result? What context is there for addition outside the classroom? And for goodness sake, showing a person a pattern or concept is not the same as a person seeing it for himself. The child needs time and opportunity. 
3. 6 is too young. Six year olds still have a lot invested in pleasing the adults who care for them. 6 is too young to put a number how well they are doing (and for some of them, how much better they could be doing) in our eyes. 
4. 6 is too young, part II. 6 still needs to be about fun. Even if a 6 year old has addition down pat and is ready for the increased skill level of beating the clock, why not make it into a game? Drilling is too serious for most kids this age. 
5. Do the addition facts from 1 to 10 need drilling? There is so much opportunity to practice adding single digit numbers (Think adding double digits, reversing subtraction, learning multiplication, everyday life...) I would argue that a child who does not build automaticity in adding single digits needs help learning how to add, not help memorizing facts. In fact, drilling might encourage memorization, masking a more serious problem. 

And what about flashcards? I think flashcards are what you make of them. They can be used as a drilling tool, a game, or a test. There is a big difference between using flashcards as a way to practice and loading them up with expectations of perfection. Mistakes have got to be okay no matter what kind of tools we use.

So what if your child has to do timed drills at school or as part of a tutoring program?  I know this is an unschooling blog, but for the friend who inspired me to write this post in the first place:

1.  Communicate that drills are no big deal.  Bluff your way through it if you have to.  Don't ask about them, or ask about them as an aside during a conversation.  Don't linger on the topic.
2. Focus on the process.  How did you like it?  Did you feel nervous?  Was it fun?  I saw you concentrating so hard!  Don't ask, "How did you do?"
3. Take it for granted that 100% is not expected.  Your child complains, "But I never get it all right!"  Respond with, "Of COURSE not!  It's a drill."  "But Gracie gets it all right all the time."  "Well then, she shouldn't be taking these drills anymore."
4. Get process out of result.  Your child still talks about their drill score?  Graph it.  Graph the results over time on a big wall chart.  Don't connect the dots or draw the best-fit line in.  Instead draw in the trend with a finger so that it is easily changed whenever you look at it.  Not visual enough?  Tape a piece of string on the graph so that it can be moved whenever you want.  Talk about improvement, or changes in trend and what sparked them.

I hope that helps.  I would love any input in the 'comments' section.  Math drills are a loaded topic.