Math problems....Maybe Developmental Math??? Ideas?

[Gini]

I have a 11yod who struggles terribly with understanding math. I've tried different workbooks with her, plenty of hands on activities and did R&S until she was lost. I finally said, stop...this is enough. I switched her to Miquon and have taken it nice and slow. She has improved quite a bit, though, still doesn't have a good grasp. She's got 2 more workbooks to finish. After that, then what?

 

Are any of you ladies familiar with Developmental Math? From what I've seen, it looks like it might be right up her alley, but I'd rather hear from someone who's actually used it. My daughter just dreads being put back in R&S, and frankly, I dread it, too. So, any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[deeinfl]

I think DM is worth a try. There are a few ladies on the Homeschool Review forum that use it successfully and love it! You can test for placement of this program here http://www.mathplace.com/mpass/download.asp

 

I'd also recommend School of Tomorrow new revised math paces. My son loved these. You might want to have her take the placement test at schooloftomorrow.com and place her exactly where she places on the diagnostic test.

 

I think both of these are great programs and geared to the student and can be almost fun!

 

HTH,

 

 

Dee in Sunny FL!:D

[Guest NatureinFL]

Hello,

 

I have 4 children ages 4-11. These are some suggestions from the struggles my 11 year had in math. When falling behind, I read in Teaching the Trivium, to give them an addition chart & multiplication chart to learn the facts by looking them up. This also helps when learning a math skill, not to be held back by not yet knowing all the math facts. I also drill with flashcards & have built up to 2/4/8's, then 3/6/9, then 5/10/7/11/12's. I have backed that up with Qtr. Mile Math (race against your own times) and Calculadder drills.

 

Miquon was too time consuming for me (mom), Singapore no repetition. I like and will continue using Horizon Math. It teaches a topic and keeps reusing skills as you go along. It lists activities and additional worksheets that you can copy from the teachers book. I have bought older TM's and it coincides with the 2 student books I bought new.

 

Also, Ruth Beechick's book "Teaching Your Child Successfully" (4th-8th grade) helped me also.

 

Also, from what I saw, Developmental Math only covers 4 basic areas, not all areas of math. You would then need to supplement or postpone.

 

I hope this helps some!

 

Still learning,

 

Cindy

[Guest Lori in MN]

I use Horizons Math for the main program in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. I'm on my fourth child doing it this way. At times, Horizon moves too fast and I need to take a break and supplement with Dev Math. You could use Dev Math as your main program, but you would have to supplement with other sources to get a full math curriculum. It doesn't cover money, time, calendar, measurements, etc.

[Wee Pip]

Hi, Gini - I am using DM successfully (thus far, knock on wood) with my 7yo. I really like the series. It really does simplify math by focusing on one thing at a time. I know many say that DM isn't "complete", but I think one of its strong points is that it isn't taking you on a wild goose chase thru measurement, time, calendar, fractions...we found that changing pace in other math books to be quite dizzying. DM gets positive reviews as a standalone program from Cathy Duffy, Mary Pride, Timberdoodle, & Rainbow Resource. Many unschoolers seem to like the series (but maybe that scares you off? It did me, at first! LOL). It gets a positive review from the current edition of TWTM, but (as others pointed out), not as a complete program. I, personally, think it is complete, if...1.) measurement is something that happens naturally in your home (cooking, building projects in the home), 2.) if calendar & time discussions come up in a hands-on way in your home (my dd keeps a calendar, we discuss & mark days, etc. She likes to ask what time it is & we discuss time & figure it out, etc.), 3. if you don't mind waiting a long time to hit certain subjects (fractions won't be introduced until much later in the series, for example). DM does teach money, and teaches it in a very natural way right along with the focused skill. I have been very happy with the way it teaches money. It is incremental; my dd has only done books 2 (adding within 9), 3 (subt'ing within 9), and 4 (tens), therefore, she has only done work with pennies, nickels, dimes, dollars ($1, $5, $10, $20, & $50), and won't learn about quarters until book 5 (tens and ones). In some ways, I feel very impatient because the skills are taught so slowly - but I am used to the typical curric that rotates you through 20 different topics, drops you off suddenly, and then repeats next year with hardly anything retained. With DM, it is very step-by-step, precept-upon-precept, that you are slowly building up. Our math knowledge may not be complete now, according to the typical school standards, but it will be within the next 4-6 years (maybe even less!). It uses a very "mental math" way of doing things (I think similar to Singapore's), goes slower than Singapore, and I believe it has more drill than Singapore. Even so, my 7yo still struggles with math facts (I just think she always will. She's just not a "facts" girl), so I do let her use a chart, abacus, or numberline to fill in her answers. The story problems are real life and more thought provoking than I've seen in other math books. Read this thread here. I had asked whether or not I should keep using DM with my dd because it does not follow the typical scope & sequence of other maths. The answers I received may be helpful to you. Hope this helps!

[islandmama]

Also, from what I saw, Developmental Math only covers 4 basic areas, not all areas of math. You would then need to supplement or postpone.

 

 

I've looked into this too... We will be starting this with my 7 yo as soon as I get my order in the mail! I found that it does cover measurement, ratio, proportion, percents, fractions, money, and more! You can have your dd take a placement test available on their website, Developmental Math. Anyone I know that has used it, really likes it. They also mostly say it can be used as a stand alone program.

 

For my high schooler who had trouble with math, we are using the Key to... Series and liking it alot! My other daughter that just completed MUS Algebra is using it for review, and thinks it explains things so she "gets it." I don't know what level of math you stopped at, but you might want to look into this if your dd has mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Or consider using it after DM.

 

Some say that these math programs aren't rigorous enough... Well, if she is not going into a profession that requires use of advanced mathematics, then I'd say it would be just fine. Hope this helps!

[Wee Pip]

Those of you who plan to order DM - there has been some issue about some stores having certain levels in stock. I did a lot of calling around & ended up talking to the son of the person that developed Developmental Math at gpasmartstore.com. Anyhow, more about that on my blog:

 

http://teachafish.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-02-22T12%3A53%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

 

In review (if you don't want to read my blog), check with your store of choice FIRST before ordering a DM level to see if they have it in stock. If not, order from gpasmartstore.com - they are currently rewriting levels 7, 9, 10, 17-20 - they will send you a DRAFT copy of this level for you to use, and then they will send the official workbook when it is ready. Thought I should say something before people made orders and found they couldn't get the workbook that they wanted!

[Susan in TX]

Also, from what I saw, Developmental Math only covers 4 basic areas, not all areas of math. You would then need to supplement or postpone.

 

 

It is not necessary to supplement Developmental Math. I have used it with all of my children and two finished level 16 and went straight to Saxon Algebra 1/2 with no problems. My 2nd daughter went to public school in 8th grade so she went into public school pre-algebra, and I don't think she even finished level 16. She also had no problems. The only supplementing I did was drilling multiplication facts and some extra help with fractions.

 

I know that Developmental Math isn't very popular but I wouldn't use anything else. It is one of the few curricula that has worked with all of my children.

 

The one downside (if you can call it that) is it follows a very different scope and sequence than other math curricula so if you were to put your child in school in the middle of elementary school, they would be ahead in some math concepts and way behind in others.

 

Susan in TX

[Wee Pip]

Susan in TX, can I ask a question? I love seeing that you successfully used DM with all of your children...how fast/slow did you go through the books? Was there a # of pages per day assigned, or did you quit for the day when dc seemed to have enough? I'm assigning 2 pages per day for my 7yo, unless its a drill page, then we do 1/2 page per day. I'll probably start my 5yo on this series (she's finishing up BJU K Math soon), but 2 pages seems extreme for a little one. So...what age did you start DM with your dc? How many books did you usually complete in a year? And how much work did you usually assign per day? I sound like an uptight newbie, don't I? LOL. I'm still trying to get the hang of relaxing & going with the flow;)

[OnTheBrink]

I'm so happy to see this discussion. My dd did Miquon for 3 years, with some Singapore mixed in, then we tried Making Math Meaninful and I then got fed up and bought R&S. Like a dunderhead, I forgot somehow that she doesn't do well with traditional math books and has issues with visual clutter (she to this day laments over not being able to continue with Miquon. Too bad they don't go past 3d grade!). Anyway, long story longer, I looked at DM and was wondering if others use it and if they like it. I showed her the pages in the sample and she seemed to be ok with the layout. Tomorrow, I'm giving her the placement test.

 

I've pleased to see people are happy with it, and I'm especially pleased that this program isn't labeled with grade levels. If she needs to repeat some "4th grade" skills, she won't be depressed about going "backwards."

[Gini]

I am not a stickler about grade levels etc. I only want my girls to really understand math. I actually pulled both my girls, 13yod, 11yod, out of R&S because they weren't really grasping the concept, just would work the problem according to the formula. Both are doing Miquon and they love it. Best math they've done so far. NO more complaining about math.

It's nice to hear from you who've used DM. That's really what I was leaning toward anyways, but hearing the positives really confirms it. Again, thanks so much for the help.

[Susan in TX]

Susan in TX, can I ask a question? I love seeing that you successfully used DM with all of your children...how fast/slow did you go through the books? Was there a # of pages per day assigned, or did you quit for the day when dc seemed to have enough? I'm assigning 2 pages per day for my 7yo, unless its a drill page, then we do 1/2 page per day. I'll probably start my 5yo on this series (she's finishing up BJU K Math soon), but 2 pages seems extreme for a little one. So...what age did you start DM with your dc? How many books did you usually complete in a year? And how much work did you usually assign per day? I sound like an uptight newbie, don't I? LOL. I'm still trying to get the hang of relaxing & going with the flow;)

 

What I have done for awhile now is set a timer for 15 or 20 minutes and the children do however much they can get done in that time. I have also, in the past, assigned pages. The number of pages assigned depended on the difficulty of the work, so in the easier parts of the books they might do 3 or 4 pages but on the drill pages and some of the more difficult story problem pages, they might only do half a page or less.

 

I start in first grade with level 2. I have found that level 1 is really easy and can be skipped. My children complete 2 to 3 books a year. Some books are harder than others so some take longer to get through. My children who are good at math finished the series (level 16) at the end of 6th grade, and the slower ones by the end of 7th. Right now my current 7th grader is in book 16, my two 4th graders are in book 9, and my 2nd grader is almost done with book 3.

 

Susan in TX

[Wee Pip]

Thanks for the answer! That is very helpful. It sounds very similar to the methods I came up with (sometimes using a timer, sometimes assigning pages - cutting drill pages down in size). Book 4 has gone much slower than Books 2-3. I am also giving us a week break once we finish a book. We're due for a break next week and I'm really looking forward to it:)