My husband finished a round two weeks ago and swears he will never be the same human being again. There really is no description for the misery which started about 36 hours from when he started. We are hoping for improvement.

Just got it!!!! Thank you so much. I am just now hopping back online after a crazy week. I am going to print out all of the ideas and suggestions and come up with a plan of attack for this guy. I appreciate the information and support.

They just did the quiz on Chapter 7.1-7.3. Next will be the chapter 7 test. Heaven help us all!!! Lol.

I cannot TELL you guys how much I appreciate the thoughts on this issue. I have come to a few conclusions. He thinks it is test anxiety and the fact that math is the last class of the day makes the "fear" more intense. He does seem to be struggling with quickly and efficiently dealing with some of the fractions, even though he is fine with the algebraic concepts. He pulled the latest quiz out of his backpack and I am seeing a combination of things. Out of 7 problems 1 was significantly harder than the homework but he tried and 1 was not covered in the section being quizzed, but he should have tacked it and figured it out. The other points off were for things that I can easily address. We will come up with a plan of attack, but I am trying to figure out if now is a time I should pull back and let him figure some things out, or keep on plugging because he has potential to make some good progress with more help. I may have him repeat the class over the summer. I know he will be sooooo excited about that. Lol!!

It's 0-395-93776-0 Thank you all for the insight. I think it's a combination of factors coming together. It's the last of 7 classes in the day and I think his stamina has not built up yet. I really hate to make him do more problems when he is clearly understanding but that might be necessary. Maybe that will help him with speed and confidence. He will definitely be reminded to write down every single thing that comes out of the teacher's mouth.

I need to get the tests back so I can give some examples, but the best way to describe it is that the homework problems work out neatly. This gives a kind of a reassurance along the way that you are on the right track. But, the test questions aren't like that. One of the exams was so tedious that it took me 2 hours to complete. Lol!!! But, he needs to be able to tackle it, if this is the expectation. It's just such a bummer to see his grade in the red, when I know I sent him in with the skills to do what had been assigned.

Thank you so much! This is very helpful--I will look into it.

I wish I knew the grade distribution, but the teacher did send out an email today offering tutoring for those who made below a 60 on the last test. She mentioned that students were seeing this topic for the first time that and some had struggled with it. They are solving linear systems using graphing, substitution, and combining.

He leaves home thinking he's ready and then comes back crushed. It's so hard to see. I would get a tutor, but I feel comfortable doing it myself. And if it's something like testing anxiety, I don't think tutoring would help. We can't figure out how to move forward.

I brought the tests home and redid every single question with him and some of them he should have gotten but many of them were significantly more difficult than those assigned as homework. I think he may look at the first few that don't work out as he anticipated and then he just kind of gives up on the ones that he could have done. Being the independent spirit that I am, I just want to pull him out and take him home, happily doing math togetherness for a few more years, but I'm thinking since I work there that might not be the best idea. Lol!!! Sorry--meant to add by homemade I mean, either she made them herself or another teacher made them. And I'm on my phone so maybe lots of typos. Lol!! Thanks

My kiddos have always homeschooled, but this year I took a position teaching in a great classical school in our area. I love teaching my sweet little fourth grade class, but my own children have had a huge adjustment!!! The main issues have been math and Latin. I will spare you all of the Latin drama, but I am hoping to get some insight on the math issue. My 8th grader placed into Algebra 1. As a homeschooler he did Singapore 1-6A. Then a year of AOPS pre-A. He has mathematical reasoning abilities and of course has the mental math down. The school uses holt mcdougal (Larson) Algebra 1. I love working with him in the evenings because we have done math together for over a decade. Every evening I do the homework with him. He gets it. He knows exactly what to do and can tell me what I did wrong when we get different answers. We race. Sometimes he beats me. (I have a pretty strong math background). I have no concerns whatsoever when we are doing the homework assignments. He demonstrates mastery of the concepts that are assigned. And gets 100s on homework. Then he makes a "D" on almost every single test. I requested a look at the previous tests and they are homemade. He does better on the quizzes which appear to be from the publisher. We have got to get a handle on this as he certainly can't move forward with a "D" in Algebra. Last semester he pulled off a C because of his homework grade but his test grades were abysmal. Any thoughts or ideas??? Thx

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Aww! Thanks for checking. He went to school for 3 hours this morning and needed to head home. I spoke with the school and they said no worries at all. We could do whatever we need to in order to get him feeling better. I was offered a leave of absence if necessary. So we are going to get him back in to see the surgeon, who only sees patients on Thursday and then make some decisions. Im hoping his is just one of those little bodies that takes a little more time to heal.

Wow! If my guy makes it to school this week, I am sure he will be doing absolutely nothing else--he will be too wiped out. And the make up work!!!! I can't even imagine.

My goodness--how scary. I will keep watching closely!

Thank you all so much for the info and ideas. Our plan is to hang out around the house until Monday morning and call the surgeon's office at 8:00am, unless things get worse. It's been a real mess. He still looks really pale, but has not been as miserable this afternoon. In a strange twist, we realized that the surgeon is the same surgeon who recently did a lumpectomy on my mom. He told her she could go back to cross fit training 3 days later. She ended up having the procedure done multiple times with a drain placed in weeks later. Her recovery ended up taking 8 weeks. 😱 So I'm thinking although he is a surgeon, perhaps he has never actually had surgery. :)

I think you are right. In the past three months he's had a major respiratory infection that flared his asthma, a concussion and appendicitis. As well as a new school and routine. So maybe he's just going to be a slow recovery.

This really helps. That's not been his experience at all, so must be something else going on. I was expecting a "no big deal" recovery so what he's going through has really thrown me off.

My husband took him to the post op with the surgeon and was told he could "do what he felt like doing." I guess to us that meant he was ready to start getting back to normal activities. Being a man of few words, hubby just took that and didn't ask any questions. We knew he was getting an additional week because of fall break, so didn't really have any concerns at that time. On Wednesday, I started realizing that he wasn't improving steadily after we went for a walk and he was miserable. On Friday, I thought it would be easier and quicker to go see the pediatrician but was intercepted by the nurse. :) But, after how things went last night, I will call back and insist. :( it's so hard to get off from work!!!! Makes me really miss homeschooling!!!

My 8 yo ds had an open appendectomy almost 3 weeks ago. The surgeon could not do the laparoscopic procedure, so he has about a four inch incision. At 10 days post op the surgeon released him to do "whatever he feels like doing." The problem is he feels like doing absolutely nothing. After being released, he returned to school for a half day and it went horribly. He left in extreme pain and tears after 2 hours. I was not too concerned because that started a week long fall break and I assumed surely after an additional week off he would be up to returning. Unfortunately, he is still not feeling well and Monday the break is over. He does ok for about an hour and then is completely wiped out and in tears. Ive never dealt with absences and stuff because we've always homeschooled, but this year I am teaching at and he is attending a small classical school. I called the pediatrician about his lack of stamina and asked for further clarification. I was told by the nurse that, I didn't need to come into the office (or talk to the doctor) and that there was no reason whatsoever for him to miss any additional school over the issue and therefore no excused absences. I am completely at a loss. We tried getting out yesterday and he lasted a few minutes before he was aching all over with a headache and chest pain from asthma. He could barely get back to the car, pale and shaking. His surgical sight was still hurting. He's a very healthy, fit athletic child, other than asthma and allergies (which are at their worse). I just don't know how to proceed. He certainly doesn't seem like he can make it through an 8 hour school day which is extended by 2 hours because he is a teacher's kid. :( Is this in the realm of a normal recovery? If I compare it to my only abdominal surgery (a c section) he would be due a little more time. He really doesn't seem to be "milking it." Any thoughts? What he describes sounds just like the flu, but no fever. Thanks for listening.

Very gentle stretching with lots of ice packs. Ice can be a miracle when applied early and often!

We may end up going that route just through PreA then he can do the WTMA algebra course next year. 😄

Yes! I will be available to help nights and weekends and we could hire a a friend of my husband's, who teaches high school math, as a tutor.

January will bring some major changes in our homeschool as I transition back to working outside of the home. We are working out the details for my 7th grader using a combination of online, independent, and in-person classes at a local classical school. The only hang up is math. He is currently using AOP Pre-algebra and loves it. He's not a math genius and does have to work at it. Right now we do it together. Step-by-step: textbook section; videos; exercises; alcumus. It works with me right there, but I don't know if he would manage all the pieces without me. Ideally, I could find a self-paced AOPS course for him to follow. That doesn't seem to be available. I would LOVE to place him in the WTMA AOPS class, but it's full for spring registrants. 😞 I only see three other options. The first option, I could put him in the AOPS online courses. There are a few starting in January. I hate that the courses are at night and I'm concerned whether it would move so fast that he would be discouraged. He's VERY good at math and enjoys the strategy/logic aspects, but might be a little slow compared to a student who is gifted in math. The second option would be scrapping the whole idea of AOPS and doing another online course (something like Derrick Owens maybe). The third option would be putting him in the math class at the classical school, but it's saxon with kids who have done Saxon since kindergarten and I just don't know if that would be in some ways soul-crushing as he's always had short and sweet math assignments. Any other ideas? Could he possibly handle AOPS online, especially since he will be reviewing the first three chapters? Are there any other good live online classes or self-paced courses for kids with a singapore math background?