macmom28 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I'm not sure what to do with DS this year for math. He completed Singapore Math 5A and 5B last year and did well and didn't have any trouble, but now I'm not fully confident that he retained some of the material well enough. He is really difficult for me to figure out. He is highly advanced overall (and especially in language) and advanced in math but doesn't seem to retain anything "process" oriented. I tried to supplement with Life of Fred thinking he would love the literature aspect but he recently said he doesn't think it is adding much. He said he enjoys the story but that he needed something else. So, I thought maybe we could add in Beast Academy as a supplement? I'm not really sure how the Singapore levels might pair up with the various levels of Beast Academy? I thought he could take a break from SM before moving into 6A and do something else. He could/should be moving into pre-algebra (6th grade this year) but I don't know that that he is solid enough yet on his fractions, decimals, and percents. I would like him to really know his math and feel comfortable with it before just pushing him ahead. I am trying to move him at his pace rather than just push him ahead. I guess it all comes down to the fact that I am not confident that I know what he needs. Supplementary materials? Drilling? Move ahead anyway despite my concerns? I am not an intuitive math person so this is really hard for me to figure this out!! I conceptual never "got" math (unless it was geometry). Would appreciate any input! cross-posted to Logic/Middle School board Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I would spend a couple of months making sure he really is solid on his math concepts before moving on. Beast Academy wasn't written when we were at the stage you are at but I have gotten great reviews on it from a friend with a younger child. Has he already done Singapore's Challenging Word Problems? If not I would have him run through the books for 4 and 5. The problems really are challenging and will allow him to apply his knowledge beyond the initial Singapore books. We always did them a year behind the level they were doing in the Singapore coursework. Reinforcement. Another idea might be a quick run through something like the Key to.... books in your areas of concern. My son liked the fact he could finish the workbooks fairly rapidly. I had them all for travel. They are roughly 40 pages long, newsprint, easy to carry and great reinforcement of concepts. The fractions, decimals, and percent courses cover pretty much everything you need to know in an easy to use format. Their Algebra workbooks were also used as an easy introduction while they were finishing up Singapore. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macmom28 Posted August 26, 2015 Author Share Posted August 26, 2015 I would spend a couple of months making sure he really is solid on his math concepts before moving on. Beast Academy wasn't written when we were at the stage you are at but I have gotten great reviews on it from a friend with a younger child. Has he already done Singapore's Challenging Word Problems? If not I would have him run through the books for 4 and 5. The problems really are challenging and will allow him to apply his knowledge beyond the initial Singapore books. We always did them a year behind the level they were doing in the Singapore coursework. Reinforcement. Another idea might be a quick run through something like the Key to.... books in your areas of concern. My son liked the fact he could finish the workbooks fairly rapidly. I had them all for travel. They are roughly 40 pages long, newsprint, easy to carry and great reinforcement of concepts. The fractions, decimals, and percent courses cover pretty much everything you need to know in an easy to use format. Their Algebra workbooks were also used as an easy introduction while they were finishing up Singapore. Thanks so much! He hasn't done the Singapore WPs, so that is a great idea! I need to check out the Key to books. I haven't seen those before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I did a year of LOF between SM 5B and AoPS Pre-algebra-fractions,Decimals and percents, PA 1, and PA 2. DD was a lot younger, though (7-8). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted August 26, 2015 Share Posted August 26, 2015 I'm not sure what to do with DS this year for math. He completed Singapore Math 5A and 5B last year and did well and didn't have any trouble, but now I'm not fully confident that he retained some of the material well enough. He is really difficult for me to figure out. He is highly advanced overall (and especially in language) and advanced in math but doesn't seem to retain anything "process" oriented. ... He could/should be moving into pre-algebra (6th grade this year) but I don't know that that he is solid enough yet on his fractions, decimals, and percents. I would like him to really know his math and feel comfortable with it before just pushing him ahead. I am trying to move him at his pace rather than just push him ahead. Would appreciate any input! cross-posted to Logic/Middle School board Technically, I can't understand why a child who understands base-10 and place-value would struggle with decimals--its the exact same thing. We used Math Mammoth as our spine and we also did the books in the Keys to Fractions, Keys to Percents and Keys to Decimals series. From MM the boys had the concepts down and were pretty good about it, but I wanted their process/computation/algorithmic execution to be quick and accurate so we used those books almost like timed drills. If you don't like MM or Keys to...then look on Amazon for something that catches your eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GThomas Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Why not give him a test on 5th grade math concepts and see what he knows and doesn't know? Then you can just work on what he needs practice on. Another option is to use Khan Academy. Set up a 5th Grade mission for him. The program will give him some problems and see what he knows and doesn't know. Those that he knows, it will move on and those he needs practice on, it will give him the practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 A traditional prealgebra program is going to review fractions, decimals, and percents. My son used Derek Owens prealgebra with great success after Singapore 6A (I'm not even sure if he finished 6A). ETA: And my son sounds like your son--advanced but tends to forget things about math. I think the reason is that he gets things so quickly and solidly when they're presented and then gets cranky about what he considers too much practice that we tend to move on before he has had enough practice to make it stick. I've found over that years that distributed practice (sort of like what Saxon does but with a much longer period) works well to get him to retain things long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slackermom Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 AOPS has some short and free "are you ready" tests on their website, so you could pull up the pre-algebra test and see how your son does. I have generally allowed my dd to move at her own pace, and she dislikes repetition. AOPS has been a good fit so far. Prior to starting pre-algebra in the middle of fourth grade, I was a little concerned that she might not be solid enough in fractions, etc, but I found the book covered each concept with good depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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