Holly IN Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Ds is bombing out on this chapter 2(mulitiplying and dividing fractions). He always have struggled with fractions. We already did the key to fraction books and Math u see Epsilon (Fractions). He is bombing out big time with Lial's BCM. I am really upset about this. He did fine in Chapter 1. Anybody have any good ideas to help him get over this chapter. I know the next chapter is Fractions (adding and subtracting) as well. I am not sure why they are having the mulitplying and dividing chapter before the adding and subtracting one. Help! Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 I allowed my oldest dd to use a multiplication chart when she was working these problems (BCM) because her fact retention was low. The reason why multiplication and division is taught first is that when you add or subtract fractions that have different denominators you have to multiply in order to get common denominators. Jann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 What kind of errors is he making? Is he forgetting to reduce? Performing the algorithms correctly but making arithmetical errors? Difficulty with word problems? Blanking completely? Knowing where the errors are could help people give you better advice. Also, ditto what Jann said about teaching multiplication/division first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherLode Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 (edited) Perhaps making it real will help. Is he into sports? Spending money? After months of drilling the tables, numbers seem so 'out there.' Helping him see how they are used in real life can make it more useful. Batting averages, parts of dollar...anchors the spatial idea to something they know. Does he help in the kitchen? How about helping to make breakfast and doubling (or halving) the hot cereal? Or altering the size of the fudge recipe? Or using a toast & jam (or a sandwhich) as a learning tool? Making it concrete may make all those numbers have some meaning when it comes to multiplying/dividing or adding/subtracting the fractions. As soon as you get past fractions, you'll be dealing with decimals, and the same 'real world' applications will apply! ML Edited December 27, 2008 by MotherLode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 Is he working the problems incorrectly? Using the wrong algorithm? Doesn't know his multiplication facts? Doesn't understand that "of" means multiply? There are so many ways students make mistakes with fractions. Danica McKellar's book Math Doesn't Suck is a good resource on fractions, and is written to the student. You might borrow it from the library. It's okay for your student to make lots of mistakes, you know. That just means he needs more practice. He needs to rework the problems he gets incorrect, and he needs additional problems to try until he sees the pattern or understands the logic of fraction math. How old is your student? It's possible that he needs a tutor who can show him multiple problem-solving approaches. Multiplying fractions is much easier than adding or subtracting (particularly with different denominators) mathematically, but less intuitive, except with very easy fractions like one-half of one-fourth is one-eighth. The challenge I see with students who try to multiply fractions is NUMERACY, that is, they aren't familiar enough with multiplication in general (factors, multiples) to recognize common factors for simplification. He probably needs lots more multiplication practice. HTH, Lori Ds is bombing out on this chapter 2(mulitiplying and dividing fractions). He always have struggled with fractions. We already did the key to fraction books and Math u see Epsilon (Fractions). He is bombing out big time with Lial's BCM. I am really upset about this. He did fine in Chapter 1. Anybody have any good ideas to help him get over this chapter. I know the next chapter is Fractions (adding and subtracting) as well. I am not sure why they are having the mulitplying and dividing chapter before the adding and subtracting one. Help! Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 While I think that Mr. Demme does a fabulous job with some parts of fractions, he confused my 10 yo dd in some areas. But I've also learned that my 10 yo needs a lot of review and reteaching with fractions, and may need it for some time. She's doing Keys to Fractions now, but I'm not totally impressed by it, although she likes doing it. In some areas she is so very, very mathy, but with fractions not so much, at least not yet. This same dd took a long time to get the rules of division down once there were multiple numbers (divide, mulitply, subtract, carry down...) although she did eventually get it. We also do Singapore Math, and I like what they do with fractions a lot, however, I don't know that you want a whole new math program!!! I'm going to get that book recommended about math not sucking (can't see the title, but I'm going to look for it in our library) for my dd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherLode Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 Interesting...maybe its a 10yo thing. After a week w/o math, mine decide to subtract two fractions by a) making the numerator (top number) the same, and b) taking the larger number out of the smaller number, which blows holes in at least two math concepts...at least he knew that reversing the problem didn't prove his answer was correct! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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