I'm rather tardy in my response, but I want to thank everyone who chimed in. I've started being more hands on in his math lessons by using the Singapore guide and using blocks, beans, cards, etc. It has made a world of difference. He is enjoying his lessons more, arguments have reduced significantly and he appreciates his math computer time when he gets it. I'm no longer hearing the "fun" issue so thanks again! krw

I have to confess....Math was not my strong subject all throughout my school career....in fact for my entrance exams into college I failed the basic math exams like three times (but I passed the English exam the first time around and everyone else I knew was struggling and it was a piece of cake to me!) so they finally put me in the remedial math class. I took that over the summer and barely passed with a "D" (I admit that I was very preoccupied by my first serious boyfriend and cared nothing about the class, only him. I digress...) And I finally met my major prerequisites by taking "Math for Non-Math Majors". So what in the world am I doing homeschooling??? :lol: I haven't really used the Singapore HIG other than to to correct problems. I glanced at it quickly in the beginning of the year and thought "too much extra stuff to do" so I just avoided it. I honestly have had him working independently and then if he gets stuck I pull out the beans, beads, sticks, etc. We have the Frank Schaffer Publications Singapore Math Practice and 70 Must-Know Word Problems workbooks that I also add into the mix. We don't have the actual IP or CWP books from the Singapore site. I've stalled on math all day and here it is 2 p.m. and he's still waiting on me to do math because I'm not sure what to do. I think I'll have him do some stuff online for today and tomorrow and then spend the Thanksgiving holiday figuring out what we're going to do going forward. Thank you for the clarity around adding depth vs. drills and basic knowledge/memory. I think making the online math games as a reward for doing a good job with his core work is a good idea.

Lots to look at and consider....thanks Ladies, I knew you guys had some great answers! We've tried some of the TT samples online and he really liked them, I may have to revisit that...especially since we're almost finished with this set of Singapore text/workbooks and it's time to move up. I wish I had known about MEP before I purchased all of my Singapore stuff He is a visual learner....I took an online assessment of his learning style last year and he is 38% visual and evenly tied at 30% for auditory and kinesthetic. But from my own mom observations, his auditory skills are wonderful, he remembers and can repeat back just about anything you tell him. And visually he likes when I pull out beans, beads or popsicle sticks to demonstrate math problems....it just seems to make more sense to him with actual objects in front of him even if the same demonstration were on a page in his textbook right next to the "live" demonstration. I asked him what his teachers used to do in PS and of course he said "games on the computer" but I know that was not 100% the way they taught. There had to be some kind of written exercises...and in fact there were because I used to see the work when it came home, so I don't know where this whole idea of only wanting to do "fun" math is coming from. To MomOfOneFunOne: I admit that I have slipped on going over practicing "mental math" daily, which I think is important because I want him to get out of the habit of using his fingers. Also what do "cwp" and "ip" stand for? I call myself adding to the depth of his program by adding the online math games and doing flashcards, but you're suggesting more right? Do you think it matters that I add more in order for him to truly grasp the concepts and that right now I'm just skimming the surface? I really want him to understand what he's doing and why, and the moment he's having "fun" doing that it is no longer boring and tedious. I really want math to make sense to him and be something he enjoys and whatever that looks like in terms of curriculum and supplementation I'm open to it. I guess based on how I was taught I have concerns that if I don't teach him the old school textbook/worksheets and workbook way that he won't learn. I'm going to look more closely at all of the suggestions you guys gave me. Thanks again! krw

You guys have given me such great advice so I'm back with another question! I am using Singapore Math with DS8. In public school last year his teacher said he was at the top of his class in math, but now we battle daily over all of his assignments....right now we're learning multiplication and division. After one too many battles and his plea for something "fun" I started switching things up....text/workbook one day, flash cards the next, online math game like Math Man, Super Maths World, Timez Attack, Addition Attack, etc. one day, back to text/workbook or a different worksheet on Thursday and then a board game like The Allowance Game on Friday. Of course however on our text/workbook days he still complains and procrastinates and acts like he can't do the work. But on flashcard days and online math game days he's able to do the problems with ease. I explained to him that the answer to 6x2 for example is the same no matter if it's on a worksheet, a flashcard or in an online game, yet he still is craving for "fun" ways of doing math. I told him we can't do math games everyday for math, but I'm wondering if that's not completely true? Sites like Time4Learning.com offer math programs and I'm sure there are others out there. Could I take advantage of some of these free or low cost online math games/programs and still have an effective math curriculum for my son and feel confident knowing that he is learning the concepts, or do I still need to keep using his core math program, Singapore, and supplement with the "fun" stuff? Or, could it be that I need to look into a different math program for him? My concern with that is that this kid is a bit of a video game whiz....he can finish a brand new video game without any type of instruction manual in one day so my fear is that any type of traditional math curriculum/program is going to bore him because he's so naturally prone to the challenge of pulling apart and figure out video games. What do you guys think? Is anyone out there using an online math curriculum or games as their primary source for learning? krw

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I like the idea of condensing binders, but binders for ds8 don't seem to work too well. He's so rough and careless with the papers as he turns the pages or is taking them in and out that they easily tear and they're either sticking out of the binders or have fallen out and are missing. I think something like those composition notebooks would work well for him. Before reading all the posts I actually looked at some at the 99 Cent Store today but couldn't figure out what I'd use them for. :001_smile: I think I'll revisit that idea but check out Target or Wal-Mart....I remember during back to school time they were selling them for $0.50 a piece....if not less than that. krw

Didn't say it before, but thanks ladies. :)

My head is spinning from all this good stuff! :w00t: I'll be up half the night looking at all these blogs and then filling my head with more ideas than I can humanly accomplish. :D

Oh, to Allearia, I forgot to mention this earlier but I see you're in Berkeley. I grew up in Richmond and went to high school in Berkeley. This information adds zero value to our topic conversation:lol:, I've just only been away from home for a couple of years and miss it! krw

ND293 I'm kinda diggin' your year round schedule! :thumbup1: I was planning to go 3 months on one month off....but during that month "off" we'd do really light weight stuff outside of the normal lessons and schedule. With doing one week off it can truly be a week off with NOTHING planned but resting. It's a long enough break to enjoy being off but not too long to get out of the normal habits. Don't public year-round schools go something like six to nine weeks on with three weeks off? And you're right, four weeks is plenty of time to test drive different schedules until something fits. Something else to consider.... What do you do when your family takes vacations that are longer than one week? Do you readjust or just take a lighter version of school with you? Thanks for the tip! krw

You Mamas Rock! You all have given me so much to think about and consider. The goal of our day is to start at 7:30 and by noon we're completely done. I admit that most days it doesn't happen for one reason or another. We do take breaks, but I still find that I feel overwhelmed sometimes as the teacher with doing each subject daily and imagine he must be feeling the same way. I tend to over analyze and I think I'm taking the guidelines in WTM way too seriously and end up making things more difficult than they need to be. I like the idea of splitting things up throughout the week without being married to the idea of having to do the same subjects each and every day with the exception of history and science...and poor art which we haven't done at all.:blush: I also like that he can still get all that he needs without having to do it daily (something from PS that I need to detox out of my system). I can't remember now who suggested it, but I had already planned to go year round - just makes more sense to me. I'll definitely be doing some reevaluating over the next several days. Perhaps I'll do most subjects daily but will just cut down on the actual lesson time, or perhaps I'll alternate days for certain subjects. I don't know yet, but you all have given me some great ideas to consider. Thank you! krw

My son HAS to be a part of what's going and doesn't like being left out of anything. But, he has rare moments when he "acts" shy but he really isn't. ETA: My son also has a HUGE need for approval and recognition. He needs to be validated constantly and we try to do that when truly warranted, but I don't want him to grow up thinking and expecting that as an adult everyone he comes across is going to pat him on the back for every little thing. He'll be sorely disappointed. Angela, I think our sons could be twins as far as the personalities go. On the work-front, uh, not so much. He's my baby and I love him but he's a procrastinator and lazy. Drags things out much longer than need be. He can't seem to see how much time he wastes toodlepippin' around. He's easily distracted and I'm constantly having to reel him back in. I look forward to the day (if ever) when he'll settle down and focus. I like the idea given by K&Rs Mom that perhaps if I just fill him up with a bunch of attention on the front end that maybe that will buy me some time on the back end. I'll give it whirl. Thanks for all of the great responses! krw

Thanks for asking this question. We have a dining room that we're using as an office and I want to completely turn it into an office/school room. Need to do a lot of purging and reorganizing in order to pull it off. Right now we're using the kitchen table and counter - ds8 at the counter, dd4 at the table - I can't have them together. I have workboxes for them but it still doesn't eliminate the amount of clutter that seems to accumulate throughout the day. We try to pick up as we go so that by the time I need to start preparing dinner I'm not looking for empty space to work. I like the idea of keeping everything contained in one space. I have a plastic bin in the dining room/office that keeps my instructor things as well as the "good crayons" :) and some other things that I don't want them to bother. In our playroom which also serves as our guestroom with a futon which is why I can't convert that to the schoolroom, ds8 puts all of his subject binders when he's finished with them and I really don't want them in there. I want to be able to have a contained and designated space for schoolwork so that if the rest of the house is in shambles, school-related work is not to blame. :laugh: Like Lea in OK, I'm looking forward to hearing how homeschooling pros are creatively handling their school spaces. :lurk5: krw

Funny....I guess Pisces are not that unique and obvious as students after all. We use a timer as well but that doesn't stop him from wanting to have me attached to his hip joint. If anything if I forget to keep the timer with me when I leave the room he tries to sneak and wind down the time. :glare: krw

Following TWTM I went out and bought 3-ring binders for all the subjects but they seem to be taking up a lot of room and getting in the way. If you don't use this method, what do you do? krw

When he is not rushing and really puts in some effort, ds8 has nice handwriting. Unfortunately, the flavor of the day, everyday, is to just hurry up and write it down no matter how sloppy it is. I've even noticed lately that he writes some things backwards....not backwards in the final product, but backwards in putting pencil to paper, for example when he writes the number 5 he writes it from the bottom up if that makes sense. :tongue_smilie: We use HWT Cursive Writing along with their lined paper. Since beginning cursive writing I have found that his cursive penmanship is FAR BETTER than his manuscript penmanship. He's picking it up easily and enjoys it. He's anxious to move quickly through the lessons so he can learn how to form all of the letters so he can start writing in cursive exclusively. We're not rushing the subjects, but I'm okay with him switching to cursive over manuscript because the HWT program states that successful cursive writing can help correct poor manuscript writing. So for us, since it's working out well so far it's worth making the switch. And once he starts writing in cursive exclusively, I'll still have him practice manuscript writing here and there just to see if there are any improvements. Not sure if that helped you, but perhaps you should give cursive a whirl and see if there's a difference in penmanship overall. If there is, you might want to go ahead and encourage cursive writing for now and hopefully that will help to correct some of his manuscript problems. Good luck! krw