Reassurance that we're doing ok?

[calihil]

So my daughter just turned 7 and we are doing 1st grade work. We started out the year with CLE Math 1 but a few months ago realized that she really wasn't *getting* her math facts or really understanding the concepts of adding and subtracting. So I stopped CLE, got the Miquon Orange book (and come C-rods), and the Singapore 1A books, and I have her doing XtraMath for 10 mins a day to try to solidify this more and work on the concepts more. Well, it's going ok, but very slowly. I read about how some kids on here pick this stuff up so fast and things we've been going over for a long time she is still struggling with. I was reading on a 1st grade website that they should be adding and subtracting within 20 at the end of the year. There's no way that's going to happen!! If you get behind in math, how do you catch back up??? Do I need to work on these addition and subtraction facts to 20 until she knows them quickly and THEN pick back up in the curriculum? How will I know where to pick back up at, especially if I change curriculum??? ahhh.

 

I'm sorry, I know I sound really ridiculous and silly. She is my oldest and first homeschooled kiddo and I just dont want her to fall behind. If we switch to Singapore, do I need to start all the way at the beginning? I stress myself out about these things. 

[MerryAtHope]

I don't think you sound ridiculous--I think you sound like a loving mom. 

 

Honestly, it's going to be okay. Kids learn things at all different paces. I'd spend time playing with manipulatives. Edible ones are fun too. If she has 2 raisins, and you give her three more, how many will she have? Then let her eat them :-). We did this with things like peanuts, cheerios, chocolate chips sometimes...as well as manipulatives like base 10 blocks, cuisenaire rods, counting bears (my dd loved the counting bears. She'd put them into families by size or color--lots of adding and subtracting you can do with them). 

 

Count lots of things, and play board games that incorporate counting. If you usually set the table for 4 people, but tonight 2 friends are coming for dinner, how many napkins do you need all together? Things like that. 

 

My kids also loved problems that involved them pretending to steal my food. For example, "Let's pretend I have 5 cookies, and then you EAT three of my cookies! (use sneaky/joking tone and look--that made mine giggle!) How many cookies do I have left?"

 

Work with 1-10 first and then expand up to 20. Make it fun and don't worry about how quickly she gets it. The important thing is to lay a solid foundation. 

 

There isn't one "right" progression for math. Some kids are ready for algebra in 7th grade, some in 8th, some in 9th, some maybe not until 10th. All of them could get in enough math to be "college ready" (doing alg 1, geometry, alg 2). 

 

Also, sometimes kids hit a plateau, and then jump ahead at something later--while others just improve slow and steady. It's all okay. Enjoy your charming and wonderful daughter. 

 

Miquon didn't resonate with my oldest (he liked to be directly shown things). Sometimes it takes a few tries to find just the right program; that's okay. She'll get there. 

Edited February 14, 2016 by MerryAtHope

[sweetpea3829]

Merry already said pretty much what you need to hear...that it's ok and she isn't really "behind".  My oldest child has some LD specific to math (she is a "weak" student overall, but math is her kryptonite).  She is 10 and working in MUS Gamma book...so she would be pretty far behind her contemporaries.  

 

I just wanted to touch on the math facts aspect.  I'm not bought into the idea that a student must completely master the math facts to 20 before moving ahead in math.  I haven't taken that approach with any of my four and you know what happens?  As they progress, they usually master the math facts all on their own, simply because they are using those facts daily!  Just keep adding practice in to her daily work while you continue on to the next lesson.  

[Tumbatoo]

I also didn't require mastery of math facts before moving on. It comes with meaningful practice. We did this with multiplication too. For dd (3rd grade), we alternate working on times tables with other topics like time, measurement, area, Fractions, etc. Seeing why it is helpful to have the facts memorized is also a motivating factor for her. I think it's also good to see that some parts of math are fun to avoid complete frustration.

[FriedClams]

I always thought kids learned on something of a slope - a constant slow climbing.

 

I realized pretty quickly that my kids progress looked like more like a staircase - steep climbs up with seemingly endless plugging along followed by another surprising step up. And, unlike normal stairs they were at odd intervals and random (no building codes here!). Once I figured that out i got less frustrated by lack of "progress".

 

Don't get discouraged yet. Keep plugging. Avoid jumping curriculum. Slow and steady. A little every day.

[LisaKinVA]

Another suggestion:  Kitchen Table Math.  This is recommended by the people at The Art of Problem Solving/Beast Academy (considered one of the best math programs around).

 

I've always been fascinated by it, but don't have first hand experience with the books (although, we did a lot of these types of activities...my kids were ready for formal math earlier and demanded it).

 

Also, it is absolutely not necessary to "master" math facts on some sort of time table before moving forward -- assuming concepts are being grasped.  Facts get mastered through use. I've only had two kids (out of five) who have really worked on math facts at all.  The others either learned them as we went, or learned them very quickly when we got to pre-Algebra/Algebra 1, because they were finally motivated to know them (longer problems with multiple steps takes a lot longer when they have to skip count,or go up or down from a multiple of 5 or 10 ;).  

 

Lastly, your first grader is not behind in any way you need to worry about *right now.* She is struggling to move from concrete to abstract -- which is still normal at this age.  Consistent work, making it part of your day will go a long, long way!  If you are still concerned, I had put my 1st grade dd into the public school one year...they skipped her into second, where she still wasn't actually learning any new math, when I brought her home, we were "caught up" to where she would have been at home in 18 months (meaning, we went through 2 "grades" worth of math in 18 months).  This was not done through hours of extra work, just one extra lesson of math each week.  Assuming there are no underlying learning issues, elementary math is fairly easy to move through -- especially if you are consistently working.

[wendyroo]

My son is at about the same level.  Eventually I will start him in Math Mammoth 1, but first we are taking some time to solidify the fundamentals.  I have experience with Singapore 1A and I would also hesitate to start him in that because it ramps up pretty quickly.  I have Miquon, and I like some of the ideas in it, but my son does not like that format.

 

So, this is what we are doing.  My main goal is for him to understand addition and be able to accurately tell me two things about the numbers 0-10: 1) what combinations of numbers would add up to the target number and 2) what number do we have to add to the target number in order to make 10.

 

We tell a lot of number stories.  We'll focus on one number at a time...like 6.  Six frogs were friends and they decided to play in the pond.  They all jumped in, but 2 of them landed on lily pads.  The rest landed in the water with a splash.  How many splashed?  They all started to get hungry and wanted to have a snack.  One of the frogs tried to catch a dragon fly, but all the other frogs wanted to catch mosquitoes.  How many frogs were catching mosquitoes?  Okay, kiddo, now you tell a part of the story about the 6 frogs...  At the end I always introduce how to make 10 with that number.  After their day at the pond the frogs went to a party with some toads.  There were 10 animals at the party...the 6 frogs and how many toads?

 

Miquon has pages that focus on adding up to each of the numbers, and we do a similar activity with the c-rods even though my son doesn't like using the Miquon pages.

 

At this point I don't care if he memorizes the facts; the goal is simply for him to be accurate, not fast.  I also have not introduced any sums over 10; that will come once he is comfortable with place value and making 10s and can change 7+4 into 10+1 and instantly know via place value that the answer is 11.

 

Wendy

[HomeAgain]

We are working on facts 0-20 right now.  The beginning was slow going, up through 7 facts, but once a kid gets it they start to pick up pace.  One thing is we really stressed visualization.  REALLY stressed it.  I have double-sided counters that we use in an egg-carton 10-frame, flipping them over to show subtraction and addition.  We taught Roman numerals with the hands, drawing lines on the three fingers in the middle and a V from pinky to thumb to show it encompasses all five (and two Vs stacked make 10 ;) ).  When he gets stuck, I have him break numbers into 5 + X.  11 was a hard number, until he could remember that it was 5+(5+1), or one more than five plus five.  We do the same thing with tens for bigger numbers, always giving a reference point that is easy to get to.

 

I firmly believe there is no being behind in math for a working child.  It is just where they are.  They may grasp some concepts slower, some quicker, but you just keep meeting at their spot as they move through the milestones.

[Freedom]

You've gotten great advice so far! I echo the fact that your kiddo is not behind...no worries. I do want to second math mammoth though. I have used Singapore and MM is much more straight forward for kids who need simple...I also was a former math teacher. So much is about the right curriculum to match your kiddo.

 

Bottom line, you love your kids and that's of supreme importance in this educational journey! 😀

[KSinNS]

I agree, don't panic and don't hurry. With math, it is all about foundation. Number games, lots of counting, manipulatives, etc. Kitchen Table Math is a great resource. I actually restarted math with Miss T in grade 3 (she had really just missed the point) and this year she is now a strong math student.

[FO4UR]

Are you doing the activities in the Miquon Lab Sheet Annotations?  If not, do those!

 

Have her build stairs out of the rods at the beginning of every lesson for a long while.

 

Ask her, "If we put purple red together, what color will it match?"  (Slowly move your vocabulary from "together and match" to "add and equal.")  "If we start with Orange, but take away light green what will we have left?"

 

Do those things with only the rods on a clear table.  AFTER she is confident with a concept, pull out lab sheets from Miquon and the Singapore wb.

 

Do plenty of real life math with her.  Cut an apple into 8 pieces.  If she eats 3 pieces, how many did she share with mom?  

 

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Merry already said pretty much what you need to hear...that it's ok and she isn't really "behind".  My oldest child has some LD specific to math (she is a "weak" student overall, but math is her kryptonite).  She is 10 and working in MUS Gamma book...so she would be pretty far behind her contemporaries.  

 

I just wanted to touch on the math facts aspect.  I'm not bought into the idea that a student must completely master the math facts to 20 before moving ahead in math.  I haven't taken that approach with any of my four and you know what happens?  As they progress, they usually master the math facts all on their own, simply because they are using those facts daily!  Just keep adding practice in to her daily work while you continue on to the next lesson.  

 

This has been our philosophy too. If she gets the concept, and she is beginning to master her facts, we keep moving. Especially in Singapore, those facts get used and used and used. They became rote before long. Now we're in multiplication and it's the same deal. Does she understand the concept? Can she solve the problems? Is she coming along on having the facts committed to memory? Then we're good. 

 

We find that car rides are a great time to throw in random math fact practice. 

[SporkUK]

As others have said, you just sound a normal concerned and loving parent, we pretty much all have wobbles particularly with our oldest, and you aren't behind - maths skills in kids covers the whole spectrum and the list many curriculum and governments give for each grade tends more towards the faster either because it is more impressive or the fact some can do it means it should be a standard. 

 

Along with some of the great ideas others gave you on ways to do maths now and that they do not need to completely master 0-20 before moving on, I just want to comment and give you reassurance on something you brought up on -- on how you catch back up. You aren't behind, but even if you got behind or they felt behind, there are plenty of ways to 'catch up' in maths. Some are child-led: they'll have a burst or it'll just click and you can cover more because they get it. Sometimes it is parent or curriculum based - one may help a child cover more quicker than another because it suit them more or such or the way something is set up compared to what you are using means they'll be 6 months to even couple years 'ahead' purely because of how each programme is designed. Many school years and programmes have plenty of review. Also, around the middle grades of 5th-8th depending on a lot of variables, there is a lot of cushion and a lot of people take an extra year or so there to get more review and foundation in before moving onto algebra or other higher level maths. Even if you take more time now, there is still plenty of time to get it all in. 

[Garga]

My oldest picks up math concepts easily. My youngest does not. I can't really give advice about how to teach a kid math because I barely do anything to teach the oldest and I have floundered and struggled to teach the youngest and probably did it all wrong.

 

But I can tell you this: right now my youngest is one year behind in math. He's doing 4th grade CLE when he's in 5th grade. But, he started this year in 3rd grade CLE and he's in book #8 for 4th grade, so we're moving ahead. I decided that for this guy, he'll just have to do math on all his breaks. 5 days a week, every week of the year, not just during the school year.

 

Slowly....slllooooowwwlly, he's catching up to grade level. I anticipate that by the end of 6th grade, he'll finally be finishing up 6th grade work. It will just take all his summers and other vacation days to get him there.

 

So, again--no advice for how to teach math, but don't forget that there is always the summer if you're feeling behind.

Edited February 14, 2016 by Garga

[carriede]

If someone hasn't mentioned it already - since you're going to use C-rods, look up EducationUnboxed.com - all of the early elementary concepts are on there, all hands on. DS does great with workbooks, but when he does get bogged down we "take a break" with education unboxed and it makes all the difference.

 

I agree with others, fact memorization will come later - focus on understanding how things work first.

[rlestina]

Just to reassure you - I homeschool a friend's son, who is very smart, 15 years old, working on college algebra and discrete math, and generally being very successful in academics in general and math in particular.

 

He still is not solid on his times tables.  He often forgets basic multiplication.  He occasionally messes up basic addition.  Note that I'm not saying this is a good thing - it does make his life harder - but it has not in any way interfered with his ability to progress academically or to master higher math.  And he loves math!

 

So don't sweat it - just keep it fun!

[fourisenough]

Kate's homeschool math dot com (she is on this board frequently and has just published a book with Peace Hill Press). Use her Addition Facts That Stick course (it was free on her site for a while). My DD6 just wasn't 'getting it' until we stopped our math curriculum for a few weeks and instead did Kate's course. It worked magic for my DD!