Mommy7 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 We have hit the part where they go through the mult. tables pretty quickly. He does not have them memorized yet. I've started him on Gamma with MUS because that deals with mult. facts. Should we just go through the fact memorization part and then resume TT? I do want him to complete Gamma...I like the two programs together. I know math builds on itself, but I don't want to lose time...we were hoping to start TT5 after Christmas. That will not happen if we can't keep moving in TT. I feel that the goal of getting through TT4 by then is a reasonable one and would really help my 11 yo to feel better about it all because of the "5" on the cover. To him, it matters...maybe a little to me, too. BUT, not at the expense of not having adequate time to learn it and learn it well. So, what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iammommy Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 We're pretty much in the same place. My 10 year old ds is doing TT5, and does not know his mult. facts. I bought him a Kumon workbook (Grade 3 to his horror, but that seems to be pushing him to move on!) and it's helping him. We're also doing "factsfirst .com" online, also a help. We are moving on with TT5. Luckily the lesson we're on now is geometry. Since there's constant review of multiplication, I let him use a multiplication chart. v-e-r-y slowly I am seeing him remember more and more of his facts, and I feel like we're not wasting time by holding off on TT5. HTH! Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I hit the same spot with my 5th grader. He didn't have his math facts down and it was making long division and fractions just horribly difficult. With that in mind I decided to do MUS Gamma this year and in addition got a CD of multiplication songs and "Times Tales" memory stories. Does he love this stuff? No. But he is finally really getting his times tables. I feel this is so foundational that I would rather take the first half of the year and get this solid and then I am sure that we will be able to fly through the other normal 5th grade math. He did well with the ideas last year but always got hung up on the math facts. This just isn't worth rushing through IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbaby Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 My son completed MUS Gamma prior to starting TT5. He's 10 also and we use the Timez Attack game for fun math practice. You can also print the MUS worksheets from the MUS website for extra drill during the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chels~ Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 We didn't stop to master tables. We work on them separately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Chels...so do you let them use a multiplication table or something to be able to do the work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I just gave them a sheet with all the mult. tables on there.....and eventually....they didn't need the sheet. It was really no big deal in my house..... . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Tammy...that sounds refreshingly EASY! So, did you let them use the sheets on tests also? I guess you would have to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 and really....it didn't take them long to 'memorize' them.....it was more trouble looking them up....so I guess they got the point, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I did try that last year, we had a chart with the tables on them but my son has some learning disabilities and he never seemed to be absorbing the information. MUS Gamma has really slowed us down and is doing the trick. Btw, we tried Timez Attack last year as well - he liked it but was frustrated when he didn't know the answers. :P Just today my ds was telling me a "trick" he learned watching his MUS dvd - he really gets alot out of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I was at the same place with my dd. I brought her home from ps last year and ordered MUS Delta before realizing she didn't know all of her xfacts. We went ahead with it and she is getting through the lessons easily. She understands the why's and how's of division she just takes a little longer in coming up with the answers. We did stop for a week to work on memorizing her facts but with little results. She HATES rote memorization. She asked me why she can't get the answers her way as long as they are right. After all, memorizing the facts is nothing more than a time saver right? Isn't our main goal to get them to understand the mechanics of HOW to arrive at the correct answer? Anyway, I started letting her use a xtable chart and she actually started memorizing more of the facts because she began to see patterns in the chart which allowed her to come up with shortcuts for memorizing them. Lo and behold about a week ago I happened across an article that described this process exactly. We are having great success with our facts now but I am still not pushing the memorization and she can still use her chart if she needs to. Here is the article: visualspatial.org/articles/mthstrat.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 My son did MUS Gamma (the first 2/3 anyway) before starting TT5. But see, I thought Gamma wasn't terribly helpful in learning the multiplication facts. It was kind of like Alpha for doing addition facts....mind numbing and boring! ha! I ended up stopping Gamma and doing Times Tales with my son - he learned all his facts in less than a month and then we went from there. I didn't really like the direction MUS was heading at that point so I switched to Teaching Textbooks and started my son on level 5. It's worked out very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Emmy, Congratulations on the twins!!! How exciting. How has your pregnancy been? You must have a beautiful family. We have 7 and I love each one so much. Blessings! Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Thanks Becky - we are really just so excited at this point! Our 4 boys are really looking forward to meeting the twins and very intrigued by the idea that they are girls. It's been so neat honestly - we hadn't planned on more children, so twins were such a surprise - and now DH and I are thrilled and just really looking forward to having 6. Life surprises you lol. My pregnancy has gone fairly well, I'm on partial bedrest right now - my dr is a bit worried I'll go too early but overall it's fine. Thanks for asking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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