My son asked me this the other day, and I had to pull out one of my "Dad answers". Now I want a different perspective (possibly same answer). Suppose we have a rectangle that measures 3 units wide by 4 units long. Thus we know the area of the rectangle is 12 'square' units. BUT...why does it have to be square units? It could just as easily be 24 triangle units (if you cut the unit squiare in half)? By the same token, couldn't any polygon which tessellates be used to measure area? Why was the square chosen?

My son went to Montessori for a couple of elementary years (1st, 2nd). During that time he learned to use many of the manipulatives the school had available, and it helped in its own way. However I had to supplement with Singapore because the school wasn't moving fast enough, and he got bored (yes that sounds like an oxymoron given he was at Montessori, but that was the reality for us). Once I started him full time on Singapore math, I began to realize that, for him at least, which manipulative I used was not as important as the fact that there was one. In other words, it was important to introduce a concept with a manipulative, but the structure and meaning of the manipulative was not. Basically I learned the hard way not to miss the forest for the trees - if my kid wanted to call a rock a frog, it was fine so long as 3 frogs times 3 frogs was still 9 frogs. In fact, later in the curriculum I found that using random objects as manipulatives was a good way to test conceptual understanding. For example, rather than using 1 marble for 1's place, 10 marbles for 10's place, use red Lego for 1s, blue Lego for 10s. Then, if he asked for 2 blue and gave me 20 red, I knew he understood the Why of It.

My DS (7) has this quirk I'm trying to understand. Whenever he encounters a word problem he can't answer right away, he'll mull it over for a few minutes, then give up (sometimes he'll show some work, sometimes not). And when I ask him why he stopped, he'll say 'he doesn't understand the problem'. The thing is, if I sit in the same room when he tries the problem again, he'll magically find the answer to the problem, even though I don't say anything about it. And it's not like he tries any less the first time (meaning he spends about the same amount of time on both attempts). Usually, I just hear him mutter incoherently, scribbling some chicken scratch, then announce the (now correct) answer. I can't understand why my being in the room makes any difference. Does anyone have any experience with something similar? Maybe me being in the room makes him goof off less...

My DS used Reading Eggspress last year. Mostly we used the library to try and improve his comprehension. But we found it didn't work very well. For one thing, he could cheat :glare: Also, some of the questions on the Quiz were so obtuse, even I couldn't say any single answer was correct. It seemed to me a good idea poorly executed.

My DS (age 7) has always had difficulty following oral instructions (written instructions are not a problem). At first we thought he was just not listening. However as the years went on, we noticed that he usually is listening intently to instructions (often he is staring right at me when I give the instructions). Sometimes, but not always, he just doesn't perform the precise actions requested. For example, a few days ago my wife asked him to turn off the living room light, whereupon DS proceeded to turn off every light on the first floor. Needless to say, wife was not impressed. As we dug around the internet, we came across something called Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). Has anyone heard of it? I am wondering if DS might have it, and how one might go about testing for it? We are pretty sure he is not deaf (hearing tests at pediatrician seem normal, and he can often hear us whispering across the room).

Just browsed through the PM4 books and I am glad to see there is some more meat to the geometry material. Maybe this will slow him down :D

We are learning that it isn't just the analogies on standardized tests. It's pretty much any time he is required to rationalize a relationship between sets of objects or ideas. For example, yesterday his vocabulary book had these terms, and he was to write down the relation: [President Senator Governor] I would have said 'government jobs', but no. DS says "rare". Why? Because (and I quote his wisdom on this) "they are rare jobs. Not may people can have those jobs". :lol: I am not sure what to make of this. As long as I can remember, he has always been this way. I think this was why his PS kindergarten teacher was such a big fan of his (we had words with her after school every.single.day. from Feb to June) :D

How's this? [AAAAAAAA][bBB] = 83 [bBB][65L] [bBB][65L][bBB] = 83 [bBB][bBB] = 18 = 9L [A] = 74L I think bar models are taught in Level 3. It seems to me that CWP sometimes includes concepts that are meant to be a stretch at the given level.

We're just wrapping up PM 3B, and up to this point in the series I am not impressed with the coverage of geometric concepts (shapes, area, perimeter). It seems a bit on the light side to me. Is that just me? Will the coverage be more comprehensive and rigorous in later levels? Thanks!

Ruth, thank you for your sage advice. I sometimes forget he still trips over his laces! :D

It was a butter knife... I actually do not have any issues with his answers per se, precisely because he reasons them out. I am proud of his creative thinking. Sadly, however, I am talking about certain tests. Such tests require a specific answer (which I think clearly stifles the creativity of a young child, never mind the irony of the child's incorrect answer in relation to what the test is supposed to measure). On such a test, his answer would be considered incorrect. So really I am just trying to help him find the answer the tester wants to see, but in such a way as not to make him rigid in his thinking. Does that make sense?

I just started working with my DS (7 last week) on analogies. I noticed he has a tendency to "overthink" the relationships. For example, in the following set: [saw, knife, glue, scissors], he says the knife doesn't fit because you can build stuff with the others :001_huh::lol:. I'm guessing the correct answer is 'glue' because you cut things with the others. So...how do I convince him that the obvious is most likely correct? Thanks!

I am looking for advice and experiences from other parents who have BTDT. My question is, what should I be expecting from DS in terms of his ability to comprehend and solve the challenging questions at this level? We worked through CWP2 (finished in June), and the challening questions were easy for him at that time. My son (who turned 7 last week), is now finishing up Primary Math Standards Ed. 3B this week. All through PM3 he seemed to have had little trouble with the concepts or the actual work. He solved the TB word problems with minimum fuss (using bar model as needed). We have been slowly working through CWP3. I have found that he has little trouble with the 'Practice' level questions. However, he seems to have quite a bit of trouble understanding the 'Challenging' level questions. Each week, I pick out one challenging level question. Then he gets an opportunity to work through it by himself, after which we discuss. Every now and then, he can solve one by himself, but mostly we talk our way through them. Most of the time, as we discuss the problem (via Socratic method) he can follow along and answer prompts. Sometimes though he stares at me like I have three heads. Is it reasonable that for his age (newly 7) and math ability (above average) he should be able to follow along?

Having tried the 2nd through 4th level apps, I don't think it is worth $10. However I think the tools are wonderful (and free!). The ability to cut a bar into equal parts makes the fraction lessons very easy to teach (we can never cut in equal parts).

Another vote for eye exam first. My son first started school, he struggled with reading despite knowing all the phonics. Then we got his eyes checked. His astigmatism was very bad (-5). Once he got glasses, he started cruising.

This is a good primer: www.thedailyriff.com/WordProblems.pdf

Why volume 2?

The only thing you really must have is the teacher's manual. Everything else is really just icing. The meat of the program is in those thin little books.

For someone so accelerated, the SM supplements aren't really supplements. If you are not using them with a child who quickly 'gets' math, she is not getting as much out of the program. The CWP and IP would be a great way to challenge her, and show her that math is more than just counting apples (i.e., show her not only the why and the how of math, but also the what for). And there is a bonus: you slow her down a touch while adding the depth that makes SM famous.

Since the PS has her trained to recognize words I would go all the way back to the beginning: insist that she say every sound of the first few words of each phoneme as you are going over it with her. The idea is to show that words are not pictures or shapes, but rather a sequence of sounds strung together. However do keep in mind that as fluency improves, all words ultimately become sight words, so I would not push the issue of memorizing the word as such, but rather focus on her understanding of the sounds and how they come together to mean something. Before you write the word, remind her gently not to say the word or otherwise interrupt you until you have finished writing. Alternatively you could get a tablet or a magnetic writing thingy (Lakeshore has them fairly cheap).

How does he form the 'd'? Does he do the straight line first then the curve? I noticed my son writes d's that way and he confuses d with b sometimes (in print only). I have been trying to convince him that d's should be made curve first (as in cursive format, which he has no trouble doing ?!) to disitinguish from b's being stem first.

Have you looked at AOPS Alcumus? http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Alcumus/Introduction.php

Don't mean to hijack, I just have a short question. Looking at the MW samples, it seems the pronunciation marks are different from what I am used to seeing. For example in the MegaWords 1 teacher's guide sample their word list has all the short vowels marked using a macron, which I often find is reserved for long vowels Are the marks explained in prior pages? Edit: I noticed the student samples of MW1 show the usual breve diacritic for short vowels. Hm....typo in the TG?

The workbooks contain everything you need for each year (method + selections for each day). The text contains the method but not the materials needed for each day. So if you have the time and do not mind looking for your own selections which meet your criteria and those of the text, then the text alone is a cheaper option (one book, four years). I have found the workbook is easiest for us. Less guesswork means more time learning. We combine one copywork and narration into a single lesson,which takes about 20 minutes.

My son uses Legos for everything. Place value? Legos. Fractions? Legos. Weights and measures? Legos. Multiplcation and division? Legos. Sometimes I wonder if he's just using math as an excuse to play with his Legos, especilly when the Leaning Tower of Tens falls over during subtraction.