jmjs4 Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Can someone please tell me more about the Ronit Bird materials? Which is the best book to start with for an almost 8 year old that struggles with math? I prefer an hardback book to an ebook. I never getting around to looking at or using any ebooks that I buy. I have the Dyscalculia Toolkit and Overcoming Difficulties with Numbers in my shopping cart on Amazon. Are these books a good place to start? Do they offer clear activities to work on? What manipulatives would I need to go along with these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Honestly, having borrowed both of those paperback books and buying the books for the iPad, I very strongly preferred the ebooks.....and I don't normally feel that way. The activities were outlined more specifically in the ebooks. Both of those paperback books have templates for activities in the back of them. In addition, I recommend buying plastic coins, dice, dominoes, a deck of low vision playing cards, cuisenaire rods, and some white cardstock. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 Honestly, having borrowed both of those paperback books and buying the books for the iPad, I very strongly preferred the ebooks.....and I don't normally feel that way. The activities were outlined more specifically in the ebooks. Both of those paperback books have templates for activities in the back of them. In addition, I recommend buying plastic coins, dice, dominoes, a deck of low vision playing cards, cuisenaire rods, and some white cardstock. Thank you. Which ebook would you recommend starting with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Exploring Numbers through Cuisenaire Rods worked for us, we didn't backtrack as far as Dots. Note that this page has printable game boards: http://www.ronitbird.com/game-boards/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 I think both of the paperback books are worth reading, fwiw. You might see if you can interlibrary loan them if funds are tight. Given that math tutors are $50/hr here, though, I found it more helpful to buy a bunch of books and whatever specific manipulatives I needed. I found that reading the books helped me understand dyscalculia, the ebooks helped me remediate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 Thank you so much. I will look into those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 I am curious....if I go through the those two Ronit Bird ebooks....what curriculum would be good to go to after that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 If he has not nailed addition and subtraction, I would go back to Dots. Then C-Rods. Then Multi-. She also has some free ebooks. And take rabbit trails with those to apply the concepts to time, money, etc. Then you'll have done the equivalent of Toolkit, so you'd go into Overcoming. You can use Resource alongside the ebooks. And I agree, definitely go ebooks. Even if you're going to get the print books (which I have), get the ebooks. They're beyond helpful. They have videos and bring it to life. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 If he has not nailed addition and subtraction, I would go back to Dots. Then C-Rods. Then Multi-. She also has some free ebooks. And take rabbit trails with those to apply the concepts to time, money, etc. Then you'll have done the equivalent of Toolkit, so you'd go into Overcoming. You can use Resource alongside the ebooks. And I agree, definitely go ebooks. Even if you're going to get the print books (which I have), get the ebooks. They're beyond helpful. They have videos and bring it to life. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 (edited) Would it be wise to continue a normal math curriculum while also doing the Ronit Bird games/activities. I was looking at either CLE (worked great for my other children), MUS, or Math Lessons for a Living Education (she stated in a FB group that she originally created the curriculum for her daughter that has dyscalculia). We were previously using Math Mammoth. It was going ok, but some of the exercises were just too much for him right now since he has a hard time with mental math. Edited September 20, 2017 by jmjs4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 We went into CLE. I owned MUS, but it did not have enough review, did not include enough drill work, and did not cover time/weights/measurements to the degree that it was needed for this particular child. If you get the CLE teacher books as well (and not just the workbooks), there are additional tests and review sheets in the back that can be utilized if you get stuck on a topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Technically RB is not a curriculum. RB is a tutor in the UK, so it's intended as intervention/tutoring and assumes kids are in school hitting the other topics, etc. I don't use another traditional curriculum. I use a variety of supplemental workbooks from various publishers, with an emphasis on word problems (since of course RB doesn't have those), and I do a lot of carryover myself. My ds, in addition to number sense issues (the dyscalculia) also has issues with generalizing and with the language of math. So, like right now some word problems are asking him to write an equation to show something is more than another thing, and he can't do that. To say something is more than and mean subtract, that just doesn't connect for him. His brain makes the leap sometimes, but he doesn't really get it. So I have to spend time exposing him to that language in more contexts until it clicks in his mind what it means. We play a LOT of games. I get games from RB (of course) but also Family Math and books by Peggy Kaye. Peggy Kaye is AMAZING for my ds, a perfect fit. We do things from her books most days now, and I got most of the books through the library. For kids for whom it's a good fit, well it's really worth doing. That's all to say, do the curriculum if you get one that fits and do things other ways if curriculum doesn't. It doesn't *have* to be curriculum. There are lots of other ways to do this. For the mental math, not only do you have the number sense issues, but you also have the question of working memory and processing speed. If either of those are low, they'll make it much, much harder. You might need to provide intermediate supports like a whiteboard or manipulatives or a hundreds chart or abacus to hold his thoughts and help him visualize. He might need to stay at that place longer, till the bridging, till the trades finally really click. We're playing a lot of games trying to get it at that point for my ds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted September 21, 2017 Author Share Posted September 21, 2017 (edited) I got Dots yesterday, read through the first chapter, and have the first game set up for today. Should I have my ds watch the video first? Or can I just introduce the activity? Also....do you master each activity/game before moving on? ETA: We did the first activity today (dot patterns w/dice & even/odd numbers), and it went really well! He easily did the activity and passed the quiz. It looks like tomorrow for numbers inside we will need to watch the video together. Edited September 21, 2017 by jmjs4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stibalfamily Posted September 21, 2017 Share Posted September 21, 2017 I watched the video with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 I never show my ds the videos. I prepare ahead, watch the video, and just do it with him. But I don't think there's a wrong answer there, just what fits your dc's temperament and patience, lol. My ds would be out of the room if I had him wait for one of those videos, lol. Dots is deceptively simple. Definitely nail it, because what you're really doing there is laying a conceptual foundation for their addition facts. For my ds, we did Dots and really nailed it. Like by the end he had all his addition facts, and we had done them on the whiteboard with equations. I'd just play the RB game on the whiteboard or beside the whiteboard, and as the game got easier (3rd or 4th day playing it) I'd say hey, do you think you could write an equation for what you just did? And we'd write. Or I'd write and not let him write, which left him wanting to write, haha. I'm all about the whiteboard and awesome markers. :D Anyways, once we got to the end of Dots and had nailed addition all the ways (with equations, with objects, etc.), then we played her Postive/Negative Turnovers game (free in her games ebook), which let us nail subtraction in the same way. Totally brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 I used the RB books when DS was late 5th grade. I don't believe they are intended for children in the early grammar stage. I applied RB methods across whatever math curriculum DS happened to be using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 RB Overcoming definitely is not. RB Toolkit and her ebooks are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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