That’s ok, we have other games like that which fall into “math games”. That is great info, and likely how my kids would treat it too.

Has anyone tried Math for Love’s Prime Climb game? If so, did you find it fun, and what ages/skills does it require?

Kate Snow’s Addition facts that stick (the demos with 10-frames and the games, more so than the worksheets) was a useful supplement for my Gr.2 child in improving recall while doing something she enjoyed. This could be used alongside another program that kept working on conceptual learning.

That would be super challenging! My youngest wants to be around people all the time, but doesn’t need to talk all the time, fortunately. I wonder if you have other extrovert, or even extrovert-tolerant kids? Especially as they get older they can pair off and amuse each other. That might not be realistic yet, though. Thank goodness for books! Does he like to read out loud? Maybe he could read to the preschooler while you were doing a bean counting demo with your other son?

It sounds like you are doing everything and then some with games. I think this will get a bit easier as he matures, but I don’t have any good suggestions. I’m an introvert but so are my kids.

We tend to do our games at other times besides “school time” so as not to distract people, and also because I’m only home in the evenings, but even easy games are open to all and I try to make them feel like actual games, even if they also give math practice.

Maybe play math games with both together, it will be easier for the older but still practice & exposure? We’ve used Kate Snow’s games that way (Addition Facts that Stick) for my 7, 9 and 12 year olds all together, and I think Math for Love would have some that could work for mixed ages. It’s hard being the oldest!

We do the books, yes. I haven’t tried the online version. We use other resources like games and Kate Snow books and sometimes “newspapers” that I write up with goofy bogus news and a Puzzle of the Day that is related to whatever needs more practice at the moment. I think BA has a new book of puzzles based on Gr. 2 concepts that could be used occasionally.

Not sure about Greek, but in German/Welsh/French the accents sometimes distinguish words from each other, and tell how to changing the pronunciation, so I do encourage my kids to use them and I use them myself. It gets them more used to how the words look. If it was the last straw, though, I wouldn’t insist at the expense of making progress in the language.

Changing methods midway does seem to create gaps, because they approach things in a different order. The books I know best are Beast Academy, because that’s what we’re using. From what you’ve said about your kids not liking frustration, BA may not be a good match, because a degree of frustration is designed in. As well, a friend who wasn’t so mathy found that Math Mammoth worked better for her because when her son got stuck with BA, she wasn’t sure how to solve it herself to help walk him through it, and with MM, it was more straightforward.

We tried this in my household (I did the math after work instead of my husband doing it along with the other subjects during the day, since I am more enthusiastic about math than he is). We got behind schedule a lot because the kids were tired or I was busy. So I think your instincts are right about this in my experience. But I think you can learn all the material you need to!

I think we’ll play around with this for a bit, he knows it to a degree but not to the point where it’s really obvious. Thanks for the examples!

Thanks for this mental image, that makes sense to me as a useful way to think about teaching. There aren’t any particular math concepts that are causing me difficulties right now. I’m trying some new ideas for showing the distributive property to my 9 year old following this discussion and I think it’s going well. 😀

Yes, that makes sense, and is a helpful way to think about it. Thanks!

Hmm, I think I mean in a way that continues to stretch the student, to keep looking for ways to understand what isn’t simple for them. But the question you’ve asked suggests that there may be a more useful way to look at things. Do you find that most of your students learn more/better with less challenge?

Thanks for responding with such a detailed description of your family’s experience with various math curricula. I agree fully that there is a wide range of worthwhile possibilities besides AOPS. I was actually just using it as an example of a program that I was familiar with the approach (at least at BA level), and I’m sorry that it came across as a comparison. My question was more about teaching philosophy, I think. Do you strive for having kids who learn the concepts to a challenging degree right through high school maths, and even when maths isn’t their passion?

I’ve done the same comparison with our provincial standards, and year 5 covers almost everything in that grade range here too. Graphing is the exception, I think. It’s easy to get twitchy about saying you’re doing “Gr. 5“ into early Gr. 7, though, even though I know the material is reasonably equivalent. What has been your experience with doing AOPS/BA or other challenging-type math programs with kids for whom math is not their passion and their primary interest? Do you have this situation in your family? Would you emphasize it less or choose more procedural approaches based on interest, or is it worth digging into for all your kids?

I feel better reading this, because we are about on track for the first half of 7th grade with finishing BA here. I don’t want to rush and push when I can see she is steadily learning and has a good attitude to math. It’s been helpful reading your “waffle” and the responses to it, thank you for sharing it! I am inspired to play more games and to step back more readily when something isn’t clicking to look at it from a different perspective. 😀

Would you say that you use a similar mix of resources for each, according to what works best for you to teach and what you have the most enthusiasm for, or much more individual according to what seems to best suit each child? The biggest picture is probably helping your kids develop adult math skills and interest, which can go in a lot of different directions. How to get there - just thinking it over, and since you have so many resources, and are comfortable using a variety, would choosing a table of contents that makes sense to you from one of your resources work as an outline? AOPS, say, or MEP for an intertwined one as used in Aus/Can? Then you could choose material to cover that objective from wherever you felt it was best covered. This is just a random idea I got from your description.

Thanks, @LMD, for describing your path so well! It gives me lots to think about and some ideas to try, as well as a better understanding of what led to your question. I’m in the elementary to middle transition with my oldest, and observing how different math people interact with math styles, so I can see there will lots going on in the next few years. I am with you in wanting to see the big picture to move forward.

How did you get to this point, @LMD? I’m thinking about some of these questions too, so I’d be interested to hear what your approach has been so far, and what has been important along the way.