I'll Help You Later

My daughter, Piper, and I had this conversation recently while she was completing a Learning Gates quiz for Age 9-11 math.

Piper: "Dad, should I multiply or add on this word problem?"

Me: "Do your best and let me know if you get it wrong."

Piper: "You are so annoying!"

Me: "Yes. Yes I am."

Piper doesn't like to make mistakes, but sometimes mistakes are exactly what she needs.

Learning Gates Never Forgets

Learning Gates is trying to learn what types of questions Piper struggles with. If I helped Piper with this question before she answered it, Learning Gates would never know that she struggled with it. She needs to miss problems that she struggles with.

Every quiz includes review problems that are tailored specifically around problems she misses. If Piper doesn't understand a problem, it is essential that she miss the problem on the quiz. This way, similar problems will be offered on future quizzes -- much to her chagrin.

Here to Help

This doesn't mean that we leave our kids to flounder. Whenever a student answers a question incorrectly, she will see an explanation. If you are sitting with your child, this is a great time to stop and review material that was not understood. If you are not with your child as she takes the quiz, you will recieve an email summary. Use this summary to understand your child's areas of weakness and provide additional instruction as needed.

On Average

You can expect your student to miss about 1 in 5 questions on Learning Gates. This is an average taken over millions of answered questions, so results will certainly vary between different children and even between different quizzes for the same child. If your child learns their mistake quickly, then she can simply move on, but if a problem is repeatedly missed, she may need you to provide an intervention.