TechWife Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Hello all! DS has been working on Chalkdust Prealgebra since August. He made several minor mistakes in chapter two that I think are the result of carelessness. I had him repeat the chapter. He only does the first 15 odd numbered problems in each objective. We then moved on to Ch. 3, where he continuously worked 1/2 of the problems incorrectly. We stopped 3/4 of the chapter through and went back to the beginning of the chapter & worked problems on the white board. He continued to make minor mistakes (not writing negative sign, squaring the numerator of a fraction but not the denominator, etc.). We are at the end of the chapter again. I am going to have him try the test tomorrow, but I don't have high hopes. He completed Horizons 6 with no problems and made an A. He has only been introduced to one new concept so far in the Chalk Dust Prealgebra, so he really does know how to do the work. We also drill multiplication facts daily to keep them fresh (not all of them, just one or two sets). He forgets them easily if we don't drill, but does fine when we drill. We have had a difficult time managing his ADHD this fall and overall his work has decreased in quality along with his attention. We are at the 1/2 way point in our school year and something isn't working. I am wondering if changing curriculum might be in order. If I do that, I have no idea what to use. Teaching Textbooks isn't appropriate, as he places far into their Algebra I course on the placement test. This doesn't give me a lot of confidence in how TT is arranged. I tried to figure out K12, but their website is confusing. I have downloaded their placement test, but ds hasn't taken it yet. I called them & the sales rep. told me he should probably do their prealgebra B, but she wasn't familiar enough with the components to tell me how the program works. How much time on computer vs. textbook vs. workbook. What info. is included each medium, etc. Does anyone understand how K12 prealgebra works? We haven't looked at Life of Fred Prealgebra, but I wonder if there is enough practice in there (we have other Fred books, so I am familiar with the setup). Does anyone have any other ideas for me? Oh how I wish Horizons went on beyond 6th grade!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildiris Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 I do not know about K12, but I do know about Chalk Dust. Do you have the DVDs? Has your son worked through the example problems before tackling the exercises? Has your son made note cards of the concepts introduced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 I do not know about K12, but I do know about Chalk Dust. Do you have the DVDs? Yes - we watch them together. Has your son worked through the example problems before tackling the exercises? yes Has your son made note cards of the concepts introduced? yes, he takes notes. I don't think it's a matter of whether or not he knows the material, but whether or not he can follow the format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted December 18, 2009 Author Share Posted December 18, 2009 New info: I just gave him the Chalk Dust Ch. 3 test. I read the questions orally, he wrote the question on the white board, I checked to make sure he wrote it down correctly then he worked the problems. He did the first six, then the odds 7-31 and 32 for a total of 20 problems. He got all of them right!!!!! It's making me think its the setup of the textbook that is giving him problems. What says the hive?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSDCY Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 I waited a while to respond because I didn't quite know what to say. But now that he got every problem right, your provious concern probably has more to do with the setup than anything else. I've never seen Horizon books before, but I suspect they are set up in a more child friendly way--larger print, less problems per page, etc.. The textbook Chaulkdust uses has small print and has a lot of problems per page, and it is a textbook rather than a workbook so it feel completely different. That might throw your son off. I also find that if I require ds to work on lesser number of problems at a time, it usually yields better results. Of course if I sit right next to him and ask him to do the problems right in front of me, then the results are even better. So maybe just keep doing what you did today from now on will do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 I finally gave up with my daughter doing her Math by herself.... got a program I like (Singapore) and sit down and do it all with her. I don't do her work... but I read the teacher's part... and check every couple/few problems. (she does it on her small whiteboard... or the large... on the wall one.) I'm planning to do VideoText with her, too:-) Carrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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