My step daughter (14) just started highschool yesterday. She is struggling in math badly and loosing confidence as well as really beginning to hate math. She has been PS'd her whole school career and though I have been afterschooling her it was mainly in english ect which she used to struggle in badly as well. My hubby tried going over a few things with her tonight as she brought up just how much she hated math and how she was "no good at it" He now understands just how badly she is struggling and in need of help. Problem is though that we have joint custody with her mother so they are with us every other week for the whole week. Hubby also works a lot. Weekdays we have maybe 1/2 an hour between dinner and bed and weekends hubby has said he can devote maybe 1-2 hours between saturday and sunday. I tried teaching textbooks with her over the summer and she HATED it. It was not engaging to her and she still felt kind of lost. I have MUS pre-algebra on hand but with how bad she is struggling should I go back even further in levels and just try to accelerate through it until we hit rough patches where she can slow down and focus on? Should I buy a copy of Lial's for hubby to use with her over the weekend when he has time to actually sit down and teach? My oldest is 5.5 and halfway through RSB and I am learning right alongside him as my math knowledge was limited from my bad experience with horrible curriculum growing up so I just don't feel I could confidently sit down and help her unless I caught myself up to speed :tongue_smilie: I am just at a loss for what to do and I don't want her to slip through the cracks and fall further into the hatred of math especially when she wants to someday go to medical school. ETA one of her roughest spots is fractions

my newborns are easy peasy (watch now that I have said that this one will be the holy terror :lol: ) Pregnancy is way harder for me because I have hip problems to begin with compounded by SPD however this pregnancy I have be working out like crazy every other day which has really helped my physical condition as well as my energy. I am currently taking a break for a protein shake before I get up and finish the extreme overhaul of our main floor greatroom I get bad nesting urges which usually end in moving furniture and huge organizational undertakings :lol:

MONTESSORI!!!!!!! http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Math if you look at the memory work section there are a good amount of montessori activities that help learn math facts. A lot of them have printables and directions for making them yourself without buying them :D Also leapster games like cosmic math and sonic the hedgehog drill math facts in a more fun way. If you can grab a leapfrog turbo wist math on ebay they are another fun way for learning facts.

We do not "drill" facts. I kinda hate flashcards and have horrible memories about drilling facts. :lol: Here is what we do for math facts...... MONTESSORI!!!!! Stamp game Addition strip board Subtraction strip board addition snake game subtraction snake game addition working charts - easy to make Subtraction working charts - easy to make Bead material Other things we do: Leap frog turbo twist math Math missions for leapster cosmic math for leapster sonic the hedgehog math for leapster So essentially we kind of are drilling math facts but incognito in a fun way that is enjoyable to all and involves no card type mediums :lol:

here you go :D http://saxonpublishers.hmhco.com/HA/correlations/pdf/p/Phonics_1_Lit_Extensions.pdf

I would start with 1 honestly for a child that can read CVC and some digraphs. There is review in the beginning of level one and you can always slow it down if needed by breaking up lessons and doing the backs of the worksheets instead of just the fronts. K starts at the very basics and might be way to boring to a kid who is already far past that.

Hands down no questions asked. Logic of English followed by Saxon Phonics I firmly believe that O-G based programs are the way to go and anything less is incomplete :tongue_smilie: Especially after having to go back to square one and remediate my younger stepdaughter I don't think teaching reading is something to take lightly. O-G based programs teach encoding (spelling) and decoding (reading) simultaneously and to mastery. Kids taught this way will have a very firm foundation and will usually not have to go back later and reteach spelling because they will already know and understand all of the rules and principles.

Yes that is exactly what I was wanting to know thanks for the explanation!

I am curious as to why not teach each phonogram with all of it's possible sounds to begin with? Is it better for kids with language difficulties like dyslexia to learn only one set of sounds first and then move on later to say oh but A can say different sounds too? trying to get a good grasp on all of this :lol: I'm using LOE with my olders and LOE teaches A says 3 sounds right from the beginning rather then waiting until later on. However we've used saxon phonics in the past and it teaches only one sound at a time as well so I am curious to the why behind the different approaches within O-G based programs.

How does Barton introduce the sounds of the phonograms? Like when /a/ is introduced is it just the shirt a or all the sounds of a? Also does barton rely on memory words like A says /a/ like in apple? still trying to get my feel for the different systems while I am watching the Wilson reading DVDs :lol:

I would seriously consider an O-G method of phonics! It is not worth making her and yourself miserable!! :grouphug: Saxon Phonics is a fantastic O-G based program that is multisensory and has been around a long time with great reviews!! I used it for my Step daughter and it took her from being a miserable speller who just couldn't understand to understanding and getting straight As in school! :D Everything you need to teach it is included in the kits for each level! Other good O-G programs for struggling students are: Barton - great tho considerably more expensive Wilson - great, cheaper then barton but steep learning curve with less hand holding. LOE- fantastic although needs adapting due to being written for 8 years old up remediation. Spalding - just couldn't wrap my mind around it I think i need more hand holding :lol:

We HATED and quickly sold OPGTR it was way too bland and just didn't click.

LOE but it has to be adapted for younger students as it is written for 8 year olds up for remediation. LOE is also brand new so hard to find used unfortunately. She is releasing a learn to read program though next spring that is currently in beta testing :D Saxon Phonics!! We loved this program and it is very complete and open and go!! http://cathyduffyreviews.com/phonics_reading/saxon-phonics-k.htm it is another O-G method which IMHO is the best method to teach a child to read! Saxon has been around for a while so is easier to find used. It is very complete in that it gives you everything you need in the kit with no need to make or add on anything.

TONS of montessori :D I am constantly making new trays and such and new activities for him to work on while we school. I just have a bunch of small bookshelves with lots of various montessori style activities that he can cycle through during the day. Then when big brother is working independently I will break out a rug and we will do some montessori demos which gives him something to work on throughout that week. He loves it and it works very well for us! I have the montessori at home book and there are a ton of montessori resources on the internet. I also have a few other books I got from amazon that were fantastic! You can make a lot of montessori stuff on your own or you can buy stuff from places like montessori outlet, allison's montessori, kind advance and so forth.

not straterra specifically by my 5.5yo takes intunive (guanfancine) and although we were very apprehensive at first I would never turn back at this point as it has made huge improvements in his quality of life! He is able to focus and sit still long enough to do something over 10 seconds. :lol: Where before he would tell me that he felt like he was "ripping out of his skin" he now feels calm and in control. He takes a combo of that and lexapro to help his really bad anxiety issues, ticks, self abusive tendencies and sensory overload. This combo has been our miracle!!! I no longer have to watch my baby suffer and withdraw from the world :D I would think about it good and make a list of pros and cons and give it a try. If you do try it make sure you journal daily about his moods ect. it will give you a good picture of what is going on with him and how it is affecting him and his life. good luck mama and HTH!

talked with the CS from the seller today and they are processing my refund for me and I don't have to return the broken crayons woo free box of broken crayons! :lol:

when our worksheets are done they get filed into the file box. Once a month I pull out papers for that month, 3ring punch them and put them into our portfolio binder.

I have a kiddo with artic problems and honestly I would not go OPGTR with them. I would use an O-G method with him. Some good ones are spalding, Saxon phonics, Logic of English, Barton. I have used and loved Saxon phonics with my ASD kiddo after many failed attempts at OPGTR. We had tears with OPGTR but with Saxon everything just clicked and he gained so much confidence and skill so quickly! My kiddo is workbooks so it really helped him to have the workbook pages to fill out each day.

you can just get a normal base ten set if you want to go that route and IMHO they are indispensable. Base ten are used heavily in montessori and used in singapore later on as well. And you can teach place value to a kindergartner with them and have them really understand it! :tongue_smilie: here are some examples of montessori using the bead material (their version of base ten) http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=The_Exchange_Game http://www.montessorialbum.com/montessori/index.php?title=Bead_Layout

You know I wonder if we could co-op them?:tongue_smilie: It would probably be up to figuring out what their minimum order would be and such but it could always be possible lol

I found the coolest green school supplies store! AND they carry the Soybean Prang crayons AND they are far cheaper then amazon's cost! So I loaded up my cart and then blogged about it like a good little homeschooler :lol: http://rivendelacademy.blogspot.com/ seriously though check them out! I never knew it was even possible to get non-toxic dry erase markers :tongue_smilie:

well in the meantime I found a pretty darn cool site and sunk in some PP for crayons and markers I mean who can pass up non-toxic school supplies :tongue_smilie: http://greenapplesupply.org/store/index.php/art/crayons/prang-soybean-crayons-box-of-64-colors.html

For the large flash cards I got large index card cases and put them in that. http://www.amazon.com/Filexec-Closure-Dividers-Assorted-50095-2022/dp/B0036W89UW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1345075618&sr=8-4&keywords=index+card+case for the game cards I am using the plastic trading card game boxes :lol: http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Pro-Card-Deck-Box/dp/B0002TT3AM/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1345075593&sr=8-22&keywords=magic+card+box We don't have a binder specifically as we have the spelling journal as well.

I ordered mine a few days ago, it came tonight and..... There was only ONE box of crayons AND it was opened inside of the larger shipping box. Ugh the crayons were everywhere and broken!!! I am super unhappy as I paid 20 dollars for a CASE of 12, 64 count boxes and got one box of broken crayons that were poorly packed.

Watch out for that amazon order!!! I ordered it a few days ago and it was delivered just now and....... they sent me only ONE box and not only that the box was opened inside the larger shipping box and the crayons were everywhere and broken. I am NOT happy! :glare: