Singapore and/or Miquon. You might also like this for over the summer or in addition to a regular program... [url=http://http://www.educationunboxed.com/][/url]http://www.educationunboxed.com/

:iagree: with the above! We did CWP 2 while doing SM 2 and once we got to the end and I looked at SM 3 where they actually teach the bar method. I realized that we didn't need to push so hard to get through CWP 2 because we had already learned what SM 3 was going to teach us! So, a grade behind works fine, but I like the above advice of starting at CWP 2 and going at a comfortable pace. When we started, we did every problem and she needed my help for every problem. By the time we finished CWP 2, she was only doing the challenge problems and only needed my help about 25% of the time. YMMV. We didn't do CWP 1 and I don't feel like we missed anything important! (Though we also did Miquon so I'm sure that helped them understand number bonds very well.)

I see that my videos have already been recommended to you, but I just wanted to add that, if you work on mental math this summer, you can have her retake the placement test and she will probably be able to start at 3A. As far as I remember, the mental math is the only thing in SM 2 that is not in most other curricula. And when I say mental math, I am NOT talking about fact drill. Watch the videos on this page to see what mental math "the Singapore way" is.... http://www.educationunboxed.com/mental_math.html

You're welcome! Yes, backing up a bit will probably be very helpful - especially getting some mental math in there if she doesn't already know how to do that!

Have you tried having her do each step individually with rods and then on paper? What I mean is, don't have her do it with rods and then do the same problem with paper, but have her borrow from the tens place with rods, then move over to paper and borrow from the tens place.... then subtract from the ones place with rods and then do it on paper.... then subtract the tens place with rods, then on paper. Maybe that will help her connect it better to break down each individual step....

Try this.... http://www.educationunboxed.com/explaining_the_subtraction_algorithm.html You may need to watch some of my other videos and play with the C-rods for a while before attempting to explain the subtraction algorithm!

I've read How the Brain Learns Mathematics, but haven't heard of the other authors. Thank you!

Thank you, Ramona! I actually have already read The Dyslexic Advantage - I don't even know why!!! - and I thought it was really good. I should look up stuff on dyscalculia. Any book suggestions?

Thank you! That is the kind of info I need to hear! I want to be able to confidently recommend this method to teachers and parents of special needs/struggling kids. I'll check out Ronit Bird books....

Are you all finding these helpful for your special needs kiddos? (I'm not sure if the above responses were regarding special needs kids or those without special needs.) I've been tutoring at a local school for the past few months. I have six 2nd graders who are at a preschool/Kindergarten level of understanding. Part of why I volunteered was to see if these C-rod ideas would work just as well with kids who struggle in math as they have for my kids. After about 5 hours with me I noticed it all began to "click" with the group. (It may also have been because I started meeting with them for an hour each time instead of a half hour like I had done the first 10 times.) All but one child in the group have A LOT of behavioral problems and that takes away from the amount of time I spend instructing them, but even in spite of that, they began to make connections recently and move forward in their understanding. They are beginning to understand place value and number bonds. They LOVE making the towers. The teacher even told me she's beginning to see a difference. Anyway, all that to say that I'd love to know if this helps with your kids. My intuition is that it will be especially helpful to kids with special needs - especially the visual and kinesthetic learners. I'd like to have some actual confirmation of that, though, beyond just my experience with these six kids at the school....

I posted about this on the K-8 forum and it just dawned on me that it might be appropriate (maybe even MORE appropriate) here! My girls and I have been making videos for about 3-4 weeks now about how to use Cuisenaire Rods in teaching math. I don't know much about dyscalculia, but it seems like this would be a good way to teach children who struggle with math. It is visual and kinesthetic, and concepts are introduced with manipulatives - not symbols. I'm curious to hear what you all think about whether and how much this would benefit special needs kids! http://www.educationunboxed.com/

Here's a video on which rods to buy... And here are links to where you can buy what you need... http://www.educationunboxed.com/resources_and_product_links.html

Absolutely. Please do. The only reason I made these was so other people could have the information without spending the countless hours I have researching. So, please pass it along!

WE NOW HAVE A WEBSITE UP!!!! It is organized by category, and within each category the videos are organized generally in the order you would teach them. Please refer people to this link and NOT the vimeo page linked in the original thread... http://www.educationunboxed.com If you are just starting, visit the first four categories to start out with. Then you can start at the beginning of any other category, and pick and choose what to do from there! I am still adding videos. I'm sure the pace will dwindle down soon, but there are currently 79 videos up so they should keep you all busy for a while! These videos show you how to teach math CONCEPTUALLY. They will work with any math program. Just look ahead to what you will be teaching next and introduce the concept with C-rods first, then move on to all those worksheets!

Just wanted to let everyone know that THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE IS UP!!!!! This link will take you to a more organized place to view all the videos. If you are referring people to my videos, please use this link... http://www.educationunboxed.com

I'm going to make videos on this eventually. They will be here... https://vimeo.com/educationunboxed/channels ... but for now, you might want to check out Crewton Ramone's videos. Mine will just be replicating what he does, just with C-rods. I'm going to put a thin strip of tape along one side of each C-rod to represent the negative of that number. His blocks actually have a "negative" side.

Oh, my goodness - I don't know why but that really embarrasses me! Beth, I'm sure you're an amazing teacher!!!! Your girls are blessed beyond belief to have you as their Mama!

Again, I like everything Lynnita said!!! As far as I know, the Miquon books are usually $9 each. The Lab Sheet Annotations is the TM and the 1st Grade Diary just gives you a feel for what the teacher did in her classroom. I liked the Notes to Teacher, too. If Miquon freaks you out too much, you could always just get the orange book and Lab Sheets (from paperbackswap.com or boomooch.com) and see how that goes before buying more. No, you don't want to get the B10 set you listed. Those are interlocking. You want flat ones. All you really need along with C-rods is a set of B10 hundred flats, though, if you want to do Algebra, too, then buying some extra B10 rods (the "tens") is helpful, but for now all you need is what I linked up above. I agree with Lynnita that you shouldn't worry about cementing facts yet. Focus on CONCEPTS by doing the activities in my videos. Watch through the channel about Multiplication and Division and notice how I'm not "drilling" facts with my girls. They are figuring them out with various strategies (mostly the distributive property and mental math strategies). This gives them lots of addition practice, too. They are understanding the WHY of it all instead of just memorizing 7x8=56, etc. You haven't ruined her. I learned with a completely formula-driven approach. I got A's and B's in math, but never really understood what was happening and what I was doing. I just memorized well. I am learning all of this stuff along with my girls, trying to stay a step ahead of them but they are often a step ahead of me! It is not impossible for someone to "go backwards" and learn the concepts after memorizing the facts. I do think they need to WANT to learn the concepts, though, so I'd really try to make this worthwhile in her eyes....

I agree with every word Lynnita wrote above. Please reread it all! As far as using the rods, start with the "Learning the Rods" channel. Then you can move on to the first few videos in any other section. I'm trying to keep them in a pretty sequential order as far as difficulty of skills. Some videos are for you to watch and then teach her the info. Some she might want to watch, too - the ones with my girls! If you are confused about how we do something in a video, get out the rods and try it yourself. It's often not enough to just see it. You have to touch it! I'm having to do this right now as I'm learning more about 4th grade and up concepts and how to teach them. Just yesterday, I worked on a couple videos explaining the addition and subtraction algorithms. They will be posted this week sometime. You also will want to watch the first video on my fractions channel to help explain why 1/4 of 20 is 5! Here is what you need... http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/015319/9fce8738c77f5c4d1f0bb3f2 And ONE of the following. Wood stacks better. Plastic is more durable. I'm thinking wood might be good for your dd because they line up more perfectly and she sounds like she might need that. The plastic ones bubble out a bit on the side so they don't work EXACTLY perfectly to show the commutative property of multiplication and some other things. I should post a video on this! Plastic: http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/006380/9fce8738c77f5c4d1f0bb3f2 Wood: http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/008265/9fce8738c77f5c4d1f0bb3f2 As far as curriculum, we've used Miquon and Singapore - that's where I learned most of the stuff in the videos! BUT... I'm wondering if Math Mammoth along with the C-rod videos would be best for you. MM has the same approach as Singapore but with more practice/drill. You could get the Blue topic books for her to do on areas she needs work on, and then move to the Light Blue series once you feel she is solidly at a particular grade level (doesn't have to be the grade she's actually in!). Maybe Miquon could be a supplement? Working through my videos this summer would probably be the best immediate plan. Then you can reevaluate in a few months what curriculum you want to go with. Miquon would be great for your 1st grader! (And your older dd could join in periodically!) No matter what, make sure to learn mental math with your kids. It really makes a difference in their understanding of numbers!

This should be helpful. You may not even need another curriculum... http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=384062

No, she's not too old for Miquon!!! If you need more practice with Singapore Math, there are Extra Practice books, or Intensive Practice books if you want more challenging practice, or Challenging Word Problems books if you want more word problems. Here is the thread with the videos. They would be helpful for a VS learner!!! http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=384062 EDIT: Whoops! Sorry, I just looked at your user name. I think you might already know about the videos - your name looks recently familiar. Maybe the link will help someone else, though, so I'll leave it up!

That's wonderful! I'm not sure why there aren't many videos out there about C-rods or mental math strategies (at least, I haven't been too successful at finding them which is why I made these). I've seen plenty of posts on here and blog posts about this stuff, but something so visual seems to almost require video format in order to understand it fully. The fact that the rods are a visual representation of numbers is what makes them so useful - especially to visual learners like me!

I feel like we have a great learning environment here during the school year. I tend to slack during the summer - I'm kind of an all or nothing person! Here's what's worked for us... - No TV Mon-Fri and they must earn TV time on weekends by doing chores during the week. - Computer/iPod/iPad use is same as above except they can use them for school use during the week. - 1 hr. silent reading before bed each night. I tell them their bed time is 7pm but they can stay up until 8pm if they'd like to read! LOL! - Changing how I talk about "school work" - this is HARD. The tendency is to make comments about school "work" and implying through tone of voice and comments that school stuff is not fun. I try, try, try to change that kind of talk to something more positive whenever possible. I call our history/geography/science/grammar (and anything else we sit on the couch together to read) our "reading time." I don't call it "school." It's even separated by a few hours from their seatwork. - Working hard is also a big thing for me and so, yes, in spite of the above paragraph, I do make my children do some things they don't like. BUT, I often remind them what it would be like if they were in school - lots of busywork, sitting at a desk all day, not able to go out to eat with the fam or play outside a lot, and I especially like to focus on the fact that they would not be LEARNING as much. I want them to see how special it is that they have the opportunity to learn so many and such a variety of things. That would not be happening at PS. We talk about how much we've enjoyed learning about ancient history and that other kids their age have to wait until jr. high to learn this stuff, and when they do it's in a boring textbook. And we also talk about how doing hard things is great for their brains - it makes their brains stronger and faster and they will be able to think for themselves when they are adults instead of just nodding in agreement to whatever they are told without thinking it through. - We use C-rods for math. (https://vimeo.com/educationunboxed/channels) We often take a break from the workbooks (sometimes once per week, sometimes for a few weeks at a time) and just work on tricky problems together using manipulatives to find the answer. It breaks up the tedium of doing the SAME THING over and over. - When we go out to eat or when I tuck the girls in bed at night, they often ask me to give them words to spell (that is their only spelling program!) or math problems to do! I'm sure we sound weird to the people at the next table over! - I place just as much importance on playing outside and doing creative things as I do on academics. I think this makes them less likely to view "school" as the enemy of play time. For instance, the weather has been perfect for the past couple weeks and I've let most of school slide and just let them play outside most of the day. They know their friends are all stuffed in a school room longing to be outside like them! Also, we'll be reading and maybe doing some math during the summer. I just don't worry too much about keeping up or staying ahead or whatever. They are always learning. They'll be fine. Playing out side is good for them! - We have books EVERYWHERE. Sometimes it looks like a library exploded in our house, but I'd rather have it that way than have a house without books. It's obvious to them and anyone who walks in our house that books are important to us! - We do have a "school room" in the basement, but it's not just a school room. Our TV is down there, all the games and art supplies are down there. LOTS of educational toys are in bins along the wall. And for some reason, the fact that there is a white dry erase board on the wall makes every child who comes over want to "play school" down there. Seriously. Every child. They are all jealous of our basement! LOL! I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of for now!

Thank you for sharing that, April May! when I hear stories like that it makes me feel like all this time was worth it! I actually might consider making a DVD one day! We're pretty entrepreneurial over here!!!

If you haven't seen this thread yet, you'll want to look at the videos linked there. They should be helpful!!! http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=384062 I plan on eventually adding videos on integers, too,... and more on fractions, decimals, and percents.