ssavings Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I've read places that it's not a full curriculum, then in other places that it's sufficient for a dyslexic who seriously struggles with math (likely dyscalculia).I'm wondering if I add something in addition to it - DynamoMath on the computer? Shiller Math? I can't do Math-U-See... it just doesn't work for me as a teacher. RightStart is a great program, but from what I've seen it'd move WAY to fast for my struggling DD. This is for 1st grade. I'm not opposed to spending money to give her a good foundation, but Shiller would be at the max of my price limit I can reasonably afford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I guess you have to decide what you mean by "enough." You mean enough that if you take a standardized test your kid is going to score appropriately, without discrepancy relative to IQ, on the grade leveled test? Uh, that would be a long shot. My ds sorta does surprising things, because he does have some strengths to balance out the weaknesses. No, RB is not a complete, grade-leveled curriculum to allow you to get the scores you need to please your state or your husband on standardized testing. The real question is whether that is even your goal. Because if your goal is to create a foundation with a child who actually understands the math, then YES RB is great for that. And if you're asking for some promise on how it will turn out beyond that, fat chance. No promises. But my kid has a way better chance WITH a foundation than without. I'm reading this book Mathematics for Dyslexics: Including Dyscalculia: Steve ... right now, and it's a worthy slog. The first chapters pull together a bunch of things I had sort of figured for myself but hadn't actually seen anyone SAY, all in one place. Take all the separate weirdo things you see happening and suspect and wonder about (or haven't connected yet) and they parse it all out. And then when you do that, the weird advice you get from people with dyscalcs who are farther down the road starts to make a lot more sense. What do I hear from people down the road? -Do LOTS of hands-on. -Do LOTS of hands-on. -Do LOTS of hands-on. And by hands-on, they mean exploratory math, where you feel it and use it and break it and half and pour it and feel it and measure it. And I think it's because of all those reasons in these first chapters of the Chinn book, because the spatial is off, because the numbers have no meaning, etc. So when you actually HANDLE the math, you're creating meaning for the number 3 or 1/2 and you're letting them FEEL it to establish spatial. I don't see how pushing paper math really gets that. So we spend lots of years going my stinkin' lands, my kid can't do computation on paper... and did it really matter? I definitely think what matters is that they start to understand the math and feel it and that some aspects of it have meaning to them and are useful to them. I think it's important that they have enough experience that they can estimate. I'm spending a lot of time these days with my ds talking about estimating time and rounding. That's a pretty sophisticated skill! But it's REAL to him and in context, not some thing on paper. So I think it depends on what your goals are. My goal is to see how far we can go doing math without paper. I'm just saying it. And I think we can go crazy far, way farther than people like to think. But do what you want. I wrote RB and asked, and she said in England her materials are what she uses in tutoring and those kids are going through a standard curriculum at school. Now you've got to remember that if a kid is in their equivalent of whatever grade and supposedly "doing" math but he's struggling so much he's 10 and getting RB tutoring on subitization and basic stuff, PROBABLY that school curriculum isn't going very well. And as homeschoolers, we don't like to set our kids up for failure like that. So then the real question is what would it take for you to use RB *and* do a standard curriculum and could that work? And I think that just depends on the kid. I looked at the BJU 1-3, new edition, recently to decide, and I decided that for the first couple years my ds probably *could* do the curriculum, mainly because there's less writing and less emphasis on heavy computation and slogging and more on number bonds and introducing a variety of topics. But I decided that wasn't totally worth it to us to spend the time there, because in fact we've been covering in RB all those skills (in other words, it looked within reach because he already knows them) and that doing those pages would distract us from moving forward in RB. RB will allow me to build an interconnected foundation of understanding across more topics, where doing grade-leveled math would slow that down. I'd rather get that foundation and THEN go back and fill it in. But seriously do what you want, what calls to you, what seems right for your dc, what makes you comfortable. In our state we can use a portfolio review instead of testing. My ds is asynchronous anyway, so I feel comfortable letting him be all over the place with math and letting it pan out in the end. Ok, I don't feel totally comfortable, or I wouldn't have been looking at the BJU, lol. I'm just saying you have choices and you can understand the nuances and make your best choice. :) And yes, I liked RS with my and was SHOCKED when it was like greek for ds. So much of what I liked of RS is within RB, so it's really not a big deal. In fact, shhh, but I actually like RB more. I like that it uses more tools. The concepts are the same, but I like that we're using more manipulatives rather than JUST the abacus. It gets the generalizing my ds needs, because we explore the same concept lots of ways. Um, Shiller. Again, why are you adding it? Have you started RB yet? I just don't see the point if RB is working. (very similar goals, but expensive and not dyscalc-specific) If you're going to add anything, maybe a Horizons workbook (done at half pace) or BJU... 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PeterPan Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 The hands-on people are telling me to do? TOPS lentil science and get a grip--haven't bought this yet but am meaning to Family Math (the books)--elementary and olders Math Quilts anything Marilyn Burns, especially the By All Means series anything GEMS --Frog Math is really cute Klutz books on things like telling time--I got this from the library and it's cute! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 RB is the remediation you do to get to where you can do on-grade math. If the dyscalculia is so severe that that is all you get to this year, then that is enough. The concepts in the book are many of the same concepts done in 1st. Ideally you'd be using her techniques and making enough progress that you are doing first grade work that way. If you are confident enough in your teaching that you can provide the learning using her techniques, then yes, that's enough. If you need something else, that's ok too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 FWIW, I'm liking Singapore Math using cuisenaire rods more and more for first grade. I'm teaching first grade math again right now, and for a lot of things, I am having her build the equation using cuisenaire rods and either she or I scribe it over onto paper. It simple, fast, and surprisingly effective. If you haven't watched the education unboxed videos yet, I'd recommend that as a next step in teacher preparation. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 We are using Rod and Staff 1 alongside the Ronit Bird materials. This works very well for my dyslexic ds. While he learns his facts, he uses the little glass "dots" we use with the RB games to set up the patterns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted June 29, 2015 Share Posted June 29, 2015 FWIW, I'm liking Singapore Math using cuisenaire rods more and more for first grade. I'm teaching first grade math again right now, and for a lot of things, I am having her build the equation using cuisenaire rods and either she or I scribe it over onto paper. It simple, fast, and surprisingly effective. If you haven't watched the education unboxed videos yet, I'd recommend that as a next step in teacher preparation. I am doing this with my non-dyslexic DD. I take other math curriculum and use the problems sets to solve them in a manner consistent with RB/Singapore and rods. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssavings Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 I think I'm going to buy a math book, just to use as a scope and sequence. Then pull out games/manipulatives/whatever I can find to make the topics in the scope and sequence "real" to her. Plus, that'll be easy to add review, we'll just add games or ideas we've used into our rotation of things to review occasionally. Also, thinking pre-K DD will be able to tag along with a lot of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 The S&S for each publisher will be available online for free. Some to get you started... You'll also be able to see the toc for each book online usually. http://www.bjupresshomeschool.com/store/product_2015-Scope---Sequence____2258731 http://www.singaporemath.com/Scope_and_Sequence_s/120.htm Alpha Scope and Sequence Beta Scope and Sequence Horizons Scope & Sequence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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