zarabellesmom
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Posts posted by zarabellesmom
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4 hours ago, SanDiegoMom in VA said:
I have both Aops Pre-A and Jacobs for just in case... my daughter who worked through BA (with me to help her) is doing very well with Aops. We don't do the challenge problems and she uses Alcumus a LOT and watches all the videos. Its been a big hit so far, once we got past the first two chapters:-) I really chose to stick with Aops for her because the videos are so well done and Richard Rusczyk is extremely engaging and clear. It helps tremendously. So for a kid that is a fast learner, doesn't need much repetition, but still isn't super intuitive with math, it's a good fit - albeit modified as stated above.
I love the videos. I'm scared thinking about Geometry because there are no videos for that text. ? I'm geometry phobic. I had a bad experience. Ok, I'm not really phobic but i am going to need some help with that text. My husband, the engineer could teach it well, but works so many hours. I may outsource that one to Well Trained Mind Academy or AoPs.
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After finishing through 5C, JA was much too easy for my daughter. AoPS prealgebra is a fantastic text. She had a love/hate relationship with it.
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Sent you a message.
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If I were starting over with a kindergartner, (which I would love, but is not in the cards for me) I would probably skip all texts and do Montessori style math activities and play a lot of games. At second grade I would pick up Beast Academy and go from there. My oldest zipped through three grades worth of MIF her first year of first grade after her preschool/kindergarten Montessori experience. In April of her first grade year, BA released their first book and we were in love. It was a slow release schedule, so we didn't rush through it and we filled in holes in their production with other random things, but she's just finished AoPS Prealgebra and is starting Intro to Algebra. She's got a very solid math foundation.
My younger daughter is in 4th grade and working through BA. She also attended preschool through kindergarten at a Montessori school and I love the way they teach math. At home, we did some RightStart, some MIF, Miquon...dabbled in all kinds of things before starting BA. We'll stick with this going forward.
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This is my second fifth grader and I think I'm finally starting to lighten up... Or maybe it's March and I'm just ready for summer so I'm having a hard time caring. We've been working so hard to remediate my daughter's dyslexia that we've lost sight of some of the fun stuff.
Math: continue BA
Reading/Spelling: Continue Barton Reading and Spelling
Writing: continue CAP Writing and Rhetoric
Grammar: Fix-It 2 (I'm not sure why this works, but it's working really well so on we go.)
History: continue OUP World in Ancient Times
Science: GHF Online: Fundamentals in Plant Biology
Lots of read alouds and interest led reading
It seems a lot more put together than I thought. Yay me!
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I just got AoPS Intro to Algebra last week. To be fair, we just finished their Prealgebra book, so I didn't need to feel guilty. But I do have a lot of other math books on my shelf and I'm too ashamed to list all of them. I admit, I have a problem. But I really really like math...
On the other hand, I have a lot of history books on my shelf too. And for the opposite reason. I hate history and I'm still looking for a book I actually like. The search goes on.
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My kids are in college and I bought several life of Fred's last year. I think I have them all now except the beginning ones. Eventually I would like those. I've also been considering BA just because I never got to use it. ;)
No good math collection is complete without Beast Academy IMHO. :lol:
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I have, but he tends to be noncommittal. I did some of the thought experiments from SWB's newest book with him. His ideal day would be spending the whole day outside doing things like hiking and biking. With school, he tends to tell me things are "boring" unless they are exceptionally hard (but then he gets frustrated when his whole day is exceptionally hard). He also tends not to be willing to tell you what he thinks (unlike his sisters). He'll try to figure out what my husband or I am want him to say and then parrot it. This is partly that I'm overbearing (I admit it) but much of it is him (it doesn't stop his sisters from being opinionated).
One thing he's said is that he'd like to spend all day doing math, music, and CLRC homework (not that he likes CLRC so much that he wants to do it again, but that he wants to do well since he's already doing it). But even that was with a lot of prompting to get him to say anything. When I realized how long the homework was taking him, I offered for him to quit the class four weeks in, but he adamantly turned down that option.
He's one of those kids who can be interested in anything you want him to be because he pours his heart into whatever he does (though he may afterwards say, "Please never make me do that again!"). Fads for him have included yoyo competitions, speed cubing, juggling, unicycling, and, currently, harmonica. He's been interested in pirates in the New World and in the War of 1812 over the last year.
Emily
No advice, but... yoyo competitions, speed cubing, juggling etc. He sounds like a really cool kid!
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We just open up where we left off and work until our brains are fried. Some days that's longer than others. It's really hard to schedule by number of pages because some pages go fast and sometimes there are just a few problems on the page but they take a long time. Planning it out for more than a few days at a time would just be an exercise in frustration here because we'd never be where we were meant to be according to some arbitrary schedule. I also don't worry if we are still in a 4th grade book when 5th grade rolls around. The books came out too slowly for my oldest to use them at "grade level" but she always tested ahead in math anyway and in the 95+%.
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And the crying. My daughter doesn't roll her eyes, she glares or cries.
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Tentative at best:
AoPS Intro to Algebra
Computer Science with GHF
RSO Biology 2
Continuing Fix-It Grammar and Finishing Barton Reading/Spelling if we haven't already.
Everything else is undetermined.
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What happens with testing in your state? Here we take a test of our choice and then keep it on file, no one sees it but myself and my husband. We just test when we are supposed to test at whatever level they would be by state cut off and when I get the results, they always show exactly what I expect. I pop them in a file folder and roll my eyes at the wasted time and expense. Except lately... I've started thinking of them as SAT/ACT test prep and that makes me feel a little better.
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First, I don't really think of someone with an April birthday as being young for grade, but that's just me. My daughter is nine and in the fourth grade as well. She won't turn 10 until the end of August, so almost a month into the fifth grade. This is her grade by the state cut off. Is she at grade level? In some things she is. She's dyslexic, and we didn't discover that until mid-third grade so we are in process of remediating that. It's going to take a while, but she's only in the fourth grade so I feel like I've got time. She's also ahead in some things and it would be a shame to hold her back. In any case, I'm homeschooling and even though I have to list her grade on my letter of intent every year and do standardized testing every few years, her grade is otherwise irrelevant until we get to high school.
My older daughter is dysgraphic and so her spelling, grammar and writing (and I don't mean handwriting, though it was problematic too) are just now starting to take off. She's ahead in all other areas. She has a late June birthday so she's young for grade too. Next year she'll be just turning 13 at the beginning of her 8th grade year and she'll be earning her first two high school credits. You can't know what kind of growth is coming. I wouldn't think too hard about a grade level and just continue to meet your child where they are.
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So someone the other day mentioned getting bedbugs from library books. My daughter wanted to go to the library and pick up books today and it was all I could think of. :crying:
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Today we watched the videos first. I went through all the teaching problems with her, which she found annoying because she kept saying, "I get it, OK?" I then cut her loose on the exercises and she did fine. We worked the challenge problem (in this case, there was only one) together. It actually went pretty well. We only had one moment when her eyes started to water and her voice started to creep up (I swear these hormones are going to be the end of me). I feel like I've looked through every book and watched quite a few videos and I'm just frustrated. AoPS needs to create a program specifically for overwrought preteen girls.
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She sounds a good bit like my Mushroom. He really thrived doing some of Jacobs's Mathematics: A Human Endeavor before we fully dove in with Jacobs's Algebra. He does not always love math - but he also did really well with Beast Academy. He's also a perfectionist. M:AHE worked well for him because it was all grounded in the why and the applications and was outside the box. Jacobs's Algebra is working well for him (we're about 2/3 finished) because of the way the sets guide you through easier to harder questions. They're very well constructed problem sets.
Since you have both of these, can you help me compare a bit? I have the Elementary Algebra book. I'm looking at the TOC of AHE. Some of the topics in the Human Endeavor book look really intriguing. Do you feel like the Elementary Algebra book is different enough that it's worth doing both? I mean, is there a lot of overlap? The tessellations on the cover are almost enough to sell it. Which edition do you have? I'm thinking I'd like to buy used. They haven't made many changes across the different editions, I don't think. I could be totally misinformed though.
Also, I'm sending you a PM.
Thanks,
Teresa
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Why not start with the AoPS video and/or work the grey sections using the worked explanations (a perfectly AoPS-approved way to use the books for children who benefit from direct instruction) and perhaps slow down your pace -- maybe cut it in half or something like that?
It's worth a shot. We've thought about watching the videos first, but haven't done it. Don't ask me why. I really don't know. My first instinct is always to jump ship. (Maybe because I like shopping. Ha!)
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I don't know if I have any helpful ideas, but I do have two questions (one is really a tiny idea):
1. Would you consider taking her off the traditional path for the rest of the year? (no judgment on your answer here -- just trying to feel out what range of solutions you think will suit your family)
2. Have you talked to the folks at Rainbow Resource? They are awesome. They often help me think things through more clearly even if I don't follow one of their specific suggestions.
One idea: Math U See Algebra. This totally explains the why. My older is working through AoPS Algebra right now, after he did MUS (for reasons similar, I think, to your daughter's -- he needed to mature on the frustration front and to experience success). I like a lot about MUS. It, Singapore, MEP, AoPS are my favorite programs.
She is young enough that you can stay with Math U See for as long as it works for her (my son is the one who wanted to try switching) and then, if she wishes, do some really challenging stuff. If you get to their Calculus, you are well set up for some higher math or maybe a more in-depth run through Calculus with something like AoPS.
ETA: The "Key to" series is also great, esp. for sticking points of any sort and clear, do-able problems. There is a Key to Algebra set at Rainbow Resource.
I have never actually looked at Math U See. I've heard people talking about the younger grades and the non-traditional sequence and it just didn't seem like the right material for us. I took a look at the Algebra samples on the Rainbow Resource website and it looked intriguing. I'm going to look at them again this evening. I haven't talked to Rainbow Resource. I usually count on the hive here. :lol:
I don't mind taking her off the traditional path for a little while. We do a little school over the summer as well, so we aren't really in danger of falling behind.
As for the Key to series. Is there anywhere that anyone knows of to see a sample of the inside of these? I've been curious about them before but I hate buying sight unseen.
Thanks,
Teresa
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I've uploaded to my website a copy of two pages from my Geometry book that might help you.
http://www.aplusses.com/documents/Area_of_Trapezoid_and_Kite.pdf
This document references the Mdisegment of a Trapezoid Theorem, which was discussed earlier in the book. Hopefully, you've seen that in AoPS, but if not, you need to know that the midsegment of a trapezoid (also sometimes called the median of the trapezoid) connects the midpoints of the two sides that are not parallel. This segment is parallel to the bases, and its length is equal to half the average of the lengths of the other two bases.
Also, you might also find the following videos on my website helpful:
http://www.aplusses.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=page_4
They probably won't help you a lot with Chapters 12-15 of AoPS Pre-Algebra, but they might help fill in a few gaps from the earlier chapters. And they're free.
Finally, please feel free to send me a private message if you want to ask a specific question about why we do something else.
ETA: I'm not sure why the link for the area of a trapezoid and kite didn't work, but I'm trying again....
http://www.aplusses.com/documents/Area_of_Trapezoid_and_Kite.pdf
Christy Walters
Thank you, Christy. The information for finding the area of a trapezoid is found a little while later in AoPS prealgebra. We ended up pulling up one of their (AoPS's) free videos on trapezoid area and it was no problem. I'm more frustrated that the teaching in the particular book we were looking at (Lials BCM) was basically, "Here's a trapezoid. The formula is blah blah blah. Now calculate the area of these three basic trapezoids." That's just lame. I wouldn't count that as instruction at all. We're used to playing with things. We discover the formulas for ourselves usually because of how well laid out the AoPS book is, and failing that, we watch the short video and boom! Then there's no memorization needed at all because to can derive the formula itself using information you already know. It's exactly what we need/love, but we just need a slightly less challenging version while we deal with these other physical changes that are altering brain chemistry. :)
I'll check out your videos. Thanks.
Teresa
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My daughter is 12 and the hormones are hitting hard at our house. She's so easily frustrated lately and then starts crying and then yelling at me and our relationship is starting to suffer from the daily battles over math. The thing is, she's a good math student. She's done BA 3-5 and moved in AoPS prealgebra. We are through Chapter 11 out of 15 and she's done well aside from the drama. Part of it is that she's a perfectionist and is really angry if she can't get the answer right and pretty quickly too. Obviously AoPS is not designed to be that kind of program and we've talked about that too. But you know, hormones and perfectionism and just... She's so angry and I think she's starting to feel like maybe she's not so good at math which is soooo not true. I suggested maybe we take a break from AoPS and we try something else for a little while and she likes the idea. But...
I can't find anything I like. I had a copy of Lials Basic College Mathematics that I thought we'd just fill in the remainder of prealgebra with and move onto algebra. I opened it up to the Chapter on Geometry and we worked a few problems and it is not a good fit for us. This kid wants to know WHY something works and HOW it works which is why Beast Academy and AoPS were a decent fit (thought less so right this moment). We opened it to the chapter on geometry and the lesson for figuring out the area of a Trapezoid can be summarized as: here's the formula. Plug in these numbers and you'll have the area. Here are some problems for you to do. I'm NOT ok with that. And honestly, she's not either. She's not great at memorizing things, even if I were ok with it. That's just not a skill for her and it's never been the way we do math.
So... I own Jousting Armadillos and I gave her all of the chapter tests as a sort of placement and she passed them all 90% or better. I purchased a copy of Foerster's Algebra 1 and I don't like it. It also feels more like memorize this formula, and now plug these numbers in kind of thing, so I'm sending it back. I've already looked at Lials BCM and if the Algebra 1 book follows a similar teaching method, that's out as well. I have Jacob's Algebra and I'm getting ready to take a closer look at it.
I need AoPS but less stressful--Like AoPS light. Does that exist? Please help me. Selling her to the gypsies is out and I can't afford the counseling I'm going to need to get through this as things stand right now.
If you've made it this far, thank you!
Teresa
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Yes to the above. At first, I was like, "Seriously? Why does everyone love this? It's confusing and the interface is SO not impressive." Once I got it kind of figured out, I fell in love. (I say kinda, because I'm soooo not using it as well as I probably could.) I have hundreds of flashcards on it now (thanks dyslexia :glare: )
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Yes for PC and iPhone. It's not the most intuitive program, but other than that, it's safe and does what it is supposed to do.
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What about a unit study meets read aloud ala Five in a Row, but without necessarily doing FIAR. That way you can still sit down and read books - choose one for the theme and the find books that go along with it. So for example, in September you might read something like Marjorie Priceman's "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World" and then check out some other books on things like apples ("Apples" by Gail Gibbons), Johnny Appleseed (Steven Kellogg has a nice one), apple cider, autumn/fall/seasons, the continents, the locations mentioned (Vermont, France, England, Italy), etc.
Then plan a field trip to the apple orchard, do an apple variety taste test, label a diagram of an apple, make apple crisp or apple pie, watch the Reading Rainbow episode that covers the book, make a map showing the journey taken in the book, etc.
Homeschool Share has lots of free lapbook and unit study ideas which might help you come up with more of your own ideas while also giving you craft-y ideas if you need some help.
You can also start with what interests your kid already. You could do a keyword search of the card catalog at your library. If you can limit it to children's books then you'll get a mix of fiction and non-fiction. A lot of times I'd start there and then follow the links to the subject and cross reference from there into related fiction and non-fiction books. Search the book title online plus "crafts" or "lesson plans" and you can see what other people have posted. I did that with my youngest for Kindergarten and first grade. She got a good general overview and we read a lot of books. Plus, she had a blast.
Can you come to my house and homeschool my kids? 😜
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Try to stay awake while watching the videos. If you can do that, you'll be just fine. 😉Can you practice a lesson on your spouse. It was easy once I got the hang of it, but it took a couple of lessons to really be comfortable with it.
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how long does math take your 6th grader?
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
It's like you are describing my daughter.
We set a timer here. She works for an hour unless she's having a "bad math day" and it becomes clear that learning is just not going to occur. Then we just close up shop and work on something else. Fortunately that doesn't happen very often. In 6th, she was doing AoPS Preagebra. As someone else said, it took us about a year and a half.