Please help me with math for my DD

[Roxy Roller]

I am not sure what to do. My DD11 is struggling with MUS Zeta. It is not so much the decimals(we are on Lesson 12 of 30), but she doesn't seem to remember how to do any of the fraction work from Epsilon that is in the review work.

 

I have to be honest here, I am not sure if it is that she can't do the work or that she is being difficult, as we seem to be at 'that' age, and attitude has become a factor.

 

I think that she is a auditory learner, but I have never found a test that would help me discover exactly how she learns. She is bright and doesn't have any LDs that I know of.

 

I was really wanting her to go on to Saxon 7/6 next year for 7th grade, but now I am doubting whether or not she can handle it. Do I need to go to something like Teaching Textbooks? Should I switch now, or plug on through the year? Or, do I switch to Saxon 5/4 or Math Mammoth 5 right now, and try to have 5 and 6 completed by the end of 7th Grade. Will that put her behind? Could she go into a Pre-Algebra in 8th Grade after Saxon 6/5 or MM6? I wasn't planning on doing Pre-Algebra before 8th.

 

Thank you for letting me think out loud. I am not strong in math, and I get a little apprehensive when I think about the high school years.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Roxy Roller

[i.love.lucy]

I'm not sure what to offer other than a :grouphug:. My dd is struggling too. We're using MM and it's challenging for her. I am slowing her down some and consistently working on math facts and checking every single problem for errors. Her mistakes are careless. I also work with her pretty closely so I can say "remember how we solve this step in the problem?" And help her through it. I don't know if a switch in programs is right for your dd or not but I'm sure you will get some good advice.

 

FWIW, MM6 is basically prealgebra. You can find lots of posts by Jackie (Coraleno) about that. So if you do go with MM you can rest assured she'd get prealgebra topics by the end of 6.

 

BUT, it's quite a different approach to MUS. I'd be concerned with switching her to a whole new method this late in the game. Do you think she'd be able to do the mental math style?

[SarahKate]

I suggest maybe Teaching Textbooks for maybe a semester or a year to solidify some of the concepts. I'm currently in 8th grade, but in 7th grade I hit a wall in Saxon Algebra 1 so I switched to teaching textbooks algebra 1 for the second semester. It was easier than saxon algebra but it really helped me understand it and not be afraid of doing Algebra. Now I'm back in Saxon Algebra 1 this year and it is tough but I don't dread sitting down to do Algebra anymore. I don't know if this relates at all to your daughter's situation but I hope this helps a bit!! :)

[Roxy Roller]

I'm not sure what to offer other than a :grouphug:. My dd is struggling too. We're using MM and it's challenging for her. I am slowing her down some and consistently working on math facts and checking every single problem for errors. Her mistakes are careless. I also work with her pretty closely so I can say "remember how we solve this step in the problem?" And help her through it. I don't know if a switch in programs is right for your dd or not but I'm sure you will get some good advice.

 

FWIW, MM6 is basically prealgebra. You can find lots of posts by Jackie (Coraleno) about that. So if you do go with MM you can rest assured she'd get prealgebra topics by the end of 6.

 

BUT, it's quite a different approach to MUS. I'd be concerned with switching her to a whole new method this late in the game. Do you think she'd be able to do the mental math style?

 

I don't know if she could do the mental math style. She definitely doesn't like the round-about-way that Mr. Demme teaches. She just wants to be taught how to do something and then go and do it. I have purchased Dana Mosely's DVDs for elementary subjects and she does prefer to watch him. The only problem is that not all of the lessons will correlate.

 

She is having a tough time realizing that now that she is in 6th Grade, she will be doing more work than all of her brothers. They are finished and off playing, and she is still plugging away for another hour or two. I have told her that she will have even more work in 7th. I was looking at some of the Saxon samples, and she could do the 6/5 work now, but I am not sure that MUS is going to prepare her to do 7/6 next fall. It seems that 7/6 jumps up in difficulty.

[Roxy Roller]

I suggest maybe Teaching Textbooks for maybe a semester or a year to solidify some of the concepts. I'm currently in 8th grade, but in 7th grade I hit a wall in Saxon Algebra 1 so I switched to teaching textbooks algebra 1 for the second semester. It was easier than saxon algebra but it really helped me understand it and not be afraid of doing Algebra. Now I'm back in Saxon Algebra 1 this year and it is tough but I don't dread sitting down to do Algebra anymore. I don't know if this relates at all to your daughter's situation but I hope this helps a bit!! :)

 

Thank you, Sarah Kate. I am still considering TT7 for next year. My DD is not extremely mathy, but I would still like her to get on track to do Saxon Algebra 1 and 2 and Advanced Math by the end of 12th. I am just trying to figure out the best way to get her there.

[Storm Bay]

I am not sure what to do. My DD11 is struggling with MUS Zeta. It is not so much the decimals(we are on Lesson 12 of 30), but she doesn't seem to remember how to do any of the fraction work from Epsilon that is in the review work.

 

I have to be honest here, I am not sure if it is that she can't do the work or that she is being difficult, as we seem to be at 'that' age, and attitude has become a factor.

 

I think that she is a auditory learner, but I have never found a test that would help me discover exactly how she learns. She is bright and doesn't have any LDs that I know of.

 

I was really wanting her to go on to Saxon 7/6 next year for 7th grade, but now I am doubting whether or not she can handle it. Do I need to go to something like Teaching Textbooks? Should I switch now, or plug on through the year? Or, do I switch to Saxon 5/4 or Math Mammoth 5 right now, and try to have 5 and 6 completed by the end of 7th Grade. Will that put her behind? Could she go into a Pre-Algebra in 8th Grade after Saxon 6/5 or MM6? I wasn't planning on doing Pre-Algebra before 8th.

 

Thank you for letting me think out loud. I am not strong in math, and I get a little apprehensive when I think about the high school years.

 

Why not simply add something to help with fractions, etc? My middle one used some of the Key to Fractions books, and my ds has done LOF Fractions.

 

Personally, I wouldn't choose Saxon (not a good fit here) or TT (same reason plus I prefer math books written by math grads for the most part), but I have had dc who needed extra work in Fractions. There are other math programs with DVDs out there, as well. While Saxon has many review questions, it flits from one topic to the next from chapter to chapter (it's incremental) rather than taking an entire chapter to work on one concept. I also didn't think that it's coverage of fractions was as clear as Key to fractions, LOF or MUS (well, some of MUS we found downright confusing in fractions, but that was at the time, not in recall, so we didn't do it the MUS way there.)

 

We have MUS, and my middle one did Alpha-Zeta minus Delta, but she did it along with SM and the supplement for fractions. If you choose LOF, you can always read it aloud with her if you think she learns auditorily, or else discuss it with her after she reads it.

 

I have made a point of being sure that my dc are very strong in fractions before ever getting to Algebra.

[Roxy Roller]

Why not simply add something to help with fractions, etc? My middle one used some of the Key to Fractions books, and my ds has done LOF Fractions.

 

Personally, I wouldn't choose Saxon (not a good fit here) or TT (same reason plus I prefer math books written by math grads for the most part), but I have had dc who needed extra work in Fractions. There are other math programs with DVDs out there, as well. While Saxon has many review questions, it flits from one topic to the next from chapter to chapter (it's incremental) rather than taking an entire chapter to work on one concept. I also didn't think that it's coverage of fractions was as clear as Key to fractions, LOF or MUS (well, some of MUS we found downright confusing in fractions, but that was at the time, not in recall, so we didn't do it the MUS way there.)

 

We have MUS, and my middle one did Alpha-Zeta minus Delta, but she did it along with SM and the supplement for fractions. If you choose LOF, you can always read it aloud with her if you think she learns auditorily, or else discuss it with her after she reads it.

 

I have made a point of being sure that my dc are very strong in fractions before ever getting to Algebra.

 

We do have LOF Fractions. My DH is supposed to be working through it with my DD, but it hasn't happened as often as I would like. My DD doesn't love it, like I had hoped she might.

 

I do have the Key to Fractions book in my Rainbow Resources cart, maybe I had just better purchase them and work through them over our Christmas break.

 

I am also considering ChalkDust Basic Math, but I don't know anything about it. I have posted on the K-8 board, asking questions about it. We have been using Dana Mosely's DVDs for elementary math, and my DD prefers to watch him, but his DVDs don't correlate to MUS at all.

[Storm Bay]

We do have LOF Fractions. My DH is supposed to be working through it with my DD, but it hasn't happened as often as I would like. My DD doesn't love it, like I had hoped she might.

 

I do have the Key to Fractions book in my Rainbow Resources cart, maybe I had just better purchase them and work through them over our Christmas break.

 

I am also considering ChalkDust Basic Math, but I don't know anything about it. I have posted on the K-8 board, asking questions about it. We have been using Dana Mosely's DVDs for elementary math, and my DD prefers to watch him, but his DVDs don't correlate to MUS at all.

 

Chalkdust has the added benefit of support, but I think you need to use their books. I don't know of anything that correlates to MUS. Sometimes dc just need time and learning it different ways until something clicks. My dc love LOF, but not all dc like the story & style.

 

I hope it goes well.