Class 7 maths: right answers, marks cut for 'no steps'

moss_lantern_711019 Sept 2026

My 12 year old got his unit test back with 14 out of 25. Every final answer was correct. The teacher has written "show working" next to almost every question and taken off half marks each time. His argument is that he does it in his head and writing it down slows him. Mine is that the teacher holds the pen. He thinks I am taking her side. How did you get a child who is quick at maths to write the steps without it turning into a fight every evening?

2 comments

rose_diary_102019 Sept 2026
Here in Pune the class 2 teacher also wants carry-over written for simple sums. My daughter used to cry over it. It eased after the teacher showed the class a full-marks answer next to a half-marks one. Seeing it helped more than us repeating it.
- moss_veranda_829219 Sept 2026
  IB is not very different on this. My daughter's maths tasks are marked partly on how she communicates the method, so a correct answer alone never gets full marks. She accepted it once she saw the rubric herself. Maybe ask the teacher if there is a marking scheme he can look at, so it is not you versus him.
juniper_notebook_749919 Sept 2026
Does he skip the steps because he really does them mentally, or because he wants to finish first? Mine was the second. We made him rule a narrow rough-work column on the right side of the page. Somehow writing it there felt less like extra work to him.
- moss_lantern_711019 Sept 2026
  honestly probably both. he likes being first to put the pen down. the rough column is worth a try, he can't argue it's for the teacher if it's 'his' column