How much time should my 8th/9th grader spend on math?

[Jackie in NE]

My dd is an average math student. It is NOT her favorite subject. We got behind in math in 6th grade (lots of personal and logistical stuff going on) and we have been playing catch up ever since.

 

Fast forward to this year. Dd finished Lial's BCM around November. Then she went right into Lial's Algebra 1 with a DVT. She just finished section 2.8 today and will start 3.0 tomorrow.

 

I will admit that I haven't given her math schedule the attention I should, and consequently, she has really slowed down. For example, section 2.8 took her a whole week. I think it should have taken her about 2 days. If she doesn't understand something, she just bogs down. She doesn't ask for help, because she doesn't really want to work at it. She just puts it away, unresolved (or unsolved, as it were). At this rate, we'll only be about halfway through Algebra 1 at year end.

 

I'm going to schedule it out for her for the rest of the year, and I'm wondering how much time she should be spending on math each day. I'm thinking at least 1 hour. Sometimes the DVT takes 30 min., and sometimes it takes 50 min. On the days that she watches the DVT (new material) I think she should still be spending 30 min. to 1 hr. doing the problems..... What do YOU think? Also, is it better to schedule a certain amount of time each day? or a certain number of problems (no matter how long it takes)?

 

One more thing.... we're playing with the idea of dd taking geometry next year at the local High School..... Sequence-wise, would it work to take geometry at school while simultaneously finishing Algebra 1 at home? We're trying to avoid math throughout the summer, as there are so many other things we'd rather be doing then.... AND it hasn't worked too well for us to try to catch up during the summer months. On the other hand, dd REALLY wants to take geometry at the HS next year, so should I use that leverage to push her for the rest of the year AND the summertime? That would really motivate her.....

 

Sorry so rambly :tongue_smilie:. Any ideas/thoughts/wisdom are welcome....:001_smile:

 

TIA, Jackie

[Jane in NC]

When I was in junior and senior high school, I had a 50 minute math class and homework just about every night. I was a good math student (now have a master's degree in math) and I probably spent 30 - 60 minutes every night on my math homework.

 

My expectation for my son is high. He spends at least an hour, usually more like an hour and a half, on math daily. I don't expect him to do it all in one go; in fact, I prefer that he work on math for an hour or so, then return to finish the problems in the late afternoon/early evening as "homework".

[Chris in VA]

Similarly to Jane, we required a number of problems, not a set amt of time, so sometimes math took 2 hours--split up, of course.

I'd go ahead and let her take the geometry, but keep her in Algebra at the same time. It's a lot of math--she'll need basic Algebra for the geometry. One tip--make sure she's very good at fractions and solving for an unknown.

I'd also make her go over the summer, but give her a week off at the end of school (June?) then 2 weeks off at the end of the summer, to keep her refreshed and provide some down time.

Oh, and I believe it's up to you as her teacher to keep her accountable--if something is due, it's due. Don't let her get away with stuffing the unpleasant part of her work into her folder--ask to see it and help her deal with it.

[Gwen in VA]

We do about an hour (or more) of math per day.

 

What we did to add variety -- my son just couldn't handle more algebra each day but he was getting steadily more and more behind. So we had him do 1/2 an algebra assignment and 1/2 (or more -- they were shorter) of a geometry assignment. Having him double up this way added variety and made sure that he finished on time.

[Angel]

We use VT. My dd works anywhere from 30 min to an hour. Dd is a good math student but after an hour, she shuts down and it is useless to try to push information into a brain that is unable to absorb it. I chose VT because of the shorter video time and class time.

[fractalgal]

 

Any ideas/thoughts/wisdom are welcome....:001_smile:

 

 

 

Math classes are very important to take in high school [even if she doesn't enjoy math] because to do well in one you have to know how to study. It is difficult to "wing it" so to speak and still get a high grade. This is good training for college.

 

I would explain this to her so that she understands that not only is she learning math, she is developing stong study and time management skills for college (and obviously other areas).

 

The more math, the better.

 

30-60 minutes of studying beyond the DVT seems reasonable to me.

 

Good Luck :)

Edited February 5, 2009 by fractalgal

[Nan in Mass]

Same as Jane. : )

[langfam]

I tell my kids to work about an hour, then stop and continue the next day. I read somewhere, long ago that past 50 mins attention span really begins to wane. So when I give them an hour, I know they'll stop somewhere in that hour to go do something else for a few minutes....get a drink, use the bathroom, bother a sibling.

 

If the DVD takes 50 minutes, I tell them to split it up in 2 days. No DVD watching for more than 25 mins. Then they stop and do the sections covered by the DVD for the remaining 35 mins..

Edited February 5, 2009 by langfam

[Michelle in MO]

We worked through Lial's, and generally speaking my daughters would watch the lesson on the DVT, which usually took 15-30 minutes (at the most) for the lesson; then I would sit down and explain and even read through some of the material with them, which took another 15 minutes or so; sometimes longer. Then, they would do the problems, just the odd problems only, which took them at least an hour to an hour and a half on their own. So, they usually had about two hours of math a day. But, I think it's a good idea to break it up a little bit, because doing that much math in one sitting can be difficult.

 

I generally found that each section took 2-3 days. Have you watched any of the DVT's with your dd? It sounds like she wants to do it on her own, but I would recommend still watching the lessons for yourself so that you can keep pace with her, if at all possible. I know this can be very difficult to fit in with a busy homeschooling schedule! But, maybe watching the DVT's to refresh your own memory of algebra will help, along with showing her a few key problems???

 

HTH!

[Moni]

Two hours.

 

If that's not enough, a bit more.

If it's too much, a bit less.

 

:001_huh:

It's really pretty arbitrary and kind of depends on your goals and priorities (other assignments, other activities, etc.)

 

:seeya:

[LoriM]

I'm a classroom teacher this year, and I spend 45 minutes on math in class, and give a similar amount of homework, four days per week. Then we have an assessment on Fridays. This is almost identical to the routine we found worked best as homeschoolers.

 

The difference I see here is that we have so many "holidays" our routine kerplats, and at home, we even did math on Christmas...LOL!

 

Lori

[Storm Bay]

I was a good math student, and got all my work done in class the first few years. However, I didn't listen to the teacher, just read a lesson and did it. I am not normal in this area. I only wrote out the steps so my teacher would give me a grade on the work.

 

My dd is good at math, and needs about 30-60 minutes to do the work after she's read the text, RARELY on the short end of that time frame. However, she usually takes longer because she lollygags.

 

I would think that after you finish with the DVD, you'd need about an hour to do the work, but that that's going to vary greatly with different students. Some will need longer, and that's okay. My dh took a lot more time than I did to learn math (so much for gender allocation of math abilities ;)) and dh is a smart man. Just a different kind of smart.

[Lori D.]

Very similar to langfam. Older son burns out after 50-60 minutes, younger son after 30-45 minutes. We just continue the next day. Too many other things we want to accomplish in the day to spend 2 hours on math (not that anyone would have the *brain power* to spend that long on math -- I know I couldn't!!). Just our experience and choice. BEST of luck finding a "happy medium" for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.