1. Only dabbled a bit with supplements. MM is cluttery...I like that its cheap and functional. There are just so many maths out there and I've heard pros and cons for all of them. 🙂 2. I really like the whiteboard idea. He would probably like that. I'm planning on mounting a whiteboard in our new place so this would be easy to try. 3. This is something I can work on too. Sometimes I let him doodle characters to "act out" word problems (although can tend to become tedious and distracting)...but I can look into visual aids too. I like the blank table - he would like that. 4. Yes, we've had lots of these discussions. 🙂 It does help that ds9 is super handy, has beautiful handwriting, is a great artist, a skillful entertainer, and is definitely more socially/emotionally mature than ds7. 🙂 He's a pretty secure guy overall. Suggestions? You mean computer games? 🙂 We like Math Playground and Hoodamath, but they gravitate towards the "logic" games and I'm not sure how much math they're actually picking up.

Ah yes, Calvin & Hobbes are great favorites in our family. Taking breaks is good. I will think about this - how to help him with communication & allow for breaks/change of focus.

Handwriting is good. Not sure if he'd get into calligraphy. He likes comics and cartooning. But I'll look into it. Will look into Ronit Bird. Next thing to do is probably to get him tested though and see what I'm dealing with. Yes, they do play at the park - obviously we had an absolutely crazy covid year, but this past school year they've been out for at least 30 min most mornings before school.

You all have been such a help. Thank you!!! ❤️ After much discussion & research (spurred by all of your suggestions), we're probably going to go with Zippy Shell - which will move everything in a trailer straight to MN and hold it there for us for up to 30 days. So we'll meet it there after our IN stop. The PODS idea sounds wonderful - we looked into U-Pack and U-Box as well...but our landlord was giving us some grief with parking lot insurance and it was getting complicated, so this looks like it work best all around. Looks like it's going to cost about the same as our original plan, and save us sooo much headache along the way. Bless you all!!

I don't mind at all! This is helping me to think things through. Yes, he would be able to break a ten and "give" it to the ones... He can do regrouping with addition and subtraction on paper just fine without manipulatives (although he balks at doing more than three or four problems at a time). He can do the same thing with 3-digit numbers even when regrouping twice (323-289). And he could demonstrate that with manipulatives *if I made him. 🙂 7x6 he would explain as seven 6s or six 7s (he gets that multiplication is commutative). He'd probably draw 7 boxes and count them by six (6, 12, 18, etc.)...or maybe just write "6, 12, 18...42" out and figure it that way. *Make* a story problem...not sure about that one. Maybe but I'd have to check. He doesn't like word problems in general. He balks at the extra step of trying to decide what the problem, writing out a number sentence, etc. But if I give him a page of word problems he will get most of them right. So the reasoning skills are there...it's either laziness or lack of confidence or a mental block - either because of a processing disability or just a complex about math. ? Strategy for 8x7 would be to either skip-count by 7s or 8s...or back up to a problem he knows (7x7 is 49) and add 8. I've also showed him how 8x7 is the same as 4x7 + 4x7 and he occasionally remembers to try something like that.

I don't do much with timed drills unless I sneak them in by not telling him I'm timing him. 🙂 Yes, he does very well with place value. And we covered all the 3rd grade multiplication stuff. We did lots and lots and lots of skip counting, and I used Multiplication That Sticks games with him and ds7 (which is how ds7 knows all his multiplication tables). Ds9 can fill in a multiplication chart (0-12) easily. Only recall of tricky facts (7x6, 8x6, 8x7) are really hard. But his attitude is still "I can't do this, I give up, I hate math." Okay, maybe I do need to get him tested. Will look into this once we're move and settled. And I'll look into Beast Academy too.

I think my real concern is his lack of love and joy in math. I want to pull back and give him more time to develop confidence and love of math without pushing him into new things because we've got to get the next math year done... I want him to love math because we learn anything better that we love to do... But I'm nervous about giving him that kind of space if this is just laziness that needs to be drilled out of him. 🙂 Then I'm setting him up to seek out the path of least resistance instead of learning to tackle what is hard and takes mental work. If that makes sense. So...does the love come before the learning, or the learning before the love? 🙂

Yes.

He'll count a problem like 14+8 or 21-5 out on his fingers. If he's in a pressured situation (timed drill) he freezes up and counts almost anything that he would normally have down (5+8) on his fingers.

We're using Math Mammoth.

I'll have a 4th grader this fall who doesn't like math. He hasn't gotten comfortable with reading independently yet...he can read chapters books, but not usually on his own. The other day I caught him reading "My Father's Dragon" in his own free time, and that's encouraging. I'm not pushing him, we read lots together this year. I read aloud to him a lot, and sometimes have him read to me. I'm waiting for him to "blossom" in this area...maybe this next year? I think his math angst is tied to the reading. I'm schooling 5 kids right now, and he's the middle child, but he's the one I spend the most time with, curled up on the couch together, coaxing him to get his problems done. If I leave his side, he's usually drawing cartoons all over his page. He gets uptight if he has to do anything timed. He does much better if I read the problems to him. Maybe there's a touch of dyslexia here? My question is: Can I let him just bloom at his own pace in *math*? Or should I be concerned that we've just gotten comfortable with subtraction to 20 in 3rd grade, and he's still counting on his fingers in a pinch? At what point should I get concerned or try pushing him along? Looking for reassurance or redirection. Part of the pressure I'm feeling comes from my rising 3rd grader (7) who is 2 years younger than his brother, but knows all of his multiplication tables to 12, and I can't. slow. this. kid. down. I don't want my 4th grader (9) to get passed up and get discouraged. Secondary question: Should I give the 3rd grader something more "meaty" (Beast Academy?) to work on that would potentially slow him down a bit and allow me to focus on his brother? Would love any advice especially from anyone in the same boat with younger siblings outperforming/passing up older. I started to browse the forum for thoughts on these areas, I'm sure there's plenty there already on the hive...but we're moving in a few weeks, and I just can't give that kind of time to researching right now--even though it's bugging me. Any thoughts you'd like to share would be much appreciated!! ❤️

Doesn't look like PODS services our part of MN. 😕

Ooh, I will look into this. Thanks!

Sorry, #2 would be hiring movers to drive our stuff to MN.

One vehicle, our family in that. In-laws in the moving truck. Yes, two days to IN, then another day to MN.