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6th grade, can't do math. Help!


Cindy in FL.
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My 11 ds who is in 6th grade this year is really struggling in math. If I were wanting to "start over" and bring him up to speed as quickly as possible, what would you recommend? I feel like he needs to go all the way back to the beginning, but I don't want it to take 6 years to catch up!

 

Cindy

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I put my daughter back into Rod and Staff (after 2 years of Singapore). It is set up as mastery which makes it easy to break it down by the various concepts. Each chapter is a different skill (measurement, fractions, etc). We went through the 4th grade book over the summer and through chapter 4 of the 5th grade book. I just gave her the tests to see if she could pass them. If she got a 92 or higher, we moved on. When she got less than that, we covered whatever material she didn't understand (going back and doing those specific lessons). She should be able to finish the 5th grade book and get well into the 6th grade book this year.

 

She is turning 11 in Sept and is going into the 6th grade.

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He certainly wouldn't take 6 yrs to catch up even if you started with basic addition. Kids pick up things quickly and can usually cover years of "traditional" school material in a matter of months or maybe a year.

 

I happen to like Teaching Textbooks and you could look at the pretest on the lowest level of grade 3 and see how he does. The lessons can be quick so you could do more than one lesson in a day to "catch up" if needed. But it could get pricey if you had to do 2 or 3 programs in a year.

 

But if you just want to go a traditional math route you might pick a basic math text like MCP or Spectrum and look at samples/pre-tests on line to see where he'd start. He might whiz through the early stuff just to get refreshed with it. You could skip lessons in areas where he was comfortable and cover 2 or maybe 3 books in a year depending on his ability and motivation.

 

The "Key to" math series is really great for the topics like fractions, decimals, etc and are inexpensive. These might be a great option to if you want to focus on one skill at a time.

http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1281374476-1882508&subject=10&category=2225

Edited by Ann in IA
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What about the Math Mammoth Blue series? They're cheap, and broken down by topic. So, you could focus on addition for awhile, then subtraction, then multiplication, etc. You can pick and choose which sheets to use, so, for example, if he's better at multiplication than division, you wouldn't have to start at the very beginning with mult but could with division. Just a thought.

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LET me just encourage you.....DS was doing saxon 7/6. He was struggling and struggling and struggling. We were all in tears at my house for him. We were 3/4 through the year and started over in Teaching Textbooks. Yes, they are quite a bit behind than Saxon, but the confidence he has in math now is priceless. We are almost done with it and he won't be behind in time at all now when we start. When we got it in, we did some of the tests at the beginning to see where we could start him. He also doubled up on lessons since they are short and easier. BEST decision we made! Don't be discouraged at all! You WILL catch up!:D

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I know it wouldn't really take 6 years to catch up! It seems like he derailed at some point and I missed it. I'll look into the suggestions that you've all given and figure out the best fit. I tried Math Mammoth, but he doesn't seem to think that way. My two older ones have always done well with math and this one is wired differently.

 

No need to panic at this point, right?

 

Cindy

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I would take a few weeks to focus on the math facts (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division) until he can do them in his sleep. ;) Then, I would start him in Saxon 5/4. Give him each test starting at the beginning until he misses more than 2 or 3. Start him on the 1st lesson after the last test that he scores well on. Starting him in 5/4 will help fill in any holes in his learning so far.

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I would take a few weeks to focus on the math facts (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division) until he can do them in his sleep. ;) Then, I would start him in Saxon 5/4. Give him each test starting at the beginning until he misses more than 2 or 3. Start him on the 1st lesson after the last test that he scores well on. Starting him in 5/4 will help fill in any holes in his learning so far.

 

I think that is an excellent idea!

 

Cindy, is your son struggling with the concepts or the application? If he doesn't know his math facts, he won't do well in math, even if he understands the more advanced concepts. As an example, he may know exactly "how" to do long division, but if he doesn't know his basic division facts, he still won't be able to solve the problems, and it will be incredibly frustrating for him.

 

Cat

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Cat,

 

He could know his basic facts better, but that is not the only problem. For instance, this morning he was working on PEMDAS. He seemed to understand the explanation, but when he had to apply it he wasn't able to. This is true of multiplication of two digit (and larger) numbers, long division, etc. He doesn't seem to get how math works. He possibly has this problem in other areas (doesn't think "logically" if ykwim?).

 

I'm sure that he can overcome this, I just need to go back and cement it all better.

 

Cindy

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He doesn't seem to get how math works. He possibly has this problem in other areas (doesn't think "logically" if ykwim?).

 

I'm sure that he can overcome this, I just need to go back and cement it all better.

 

 

If that's the case, you may want to start again at the beginning. It's the only way you'll know where the problems started. You might want to consider using a lot of manipulatives, because some kids do better when they can actually "see" the process.

 

Another consideration is whether or not your teaching style matches your son's learning style. I know that there are certain things that I can explain to my son and he'll learn it in a minute, while my husband can explain the same thing for an hour and both my son's and my own eyes glaze over and we have no clue what he's talking about. At other times, it's the other way around.

 

I think that if there's one subject that can require a lot of trial and error in terms of curriculum, it's math. You may need to try a few different things before you find something that clicks with your son, but I'm sure the right program is out there. I remember, years ago, everyone was recommending Math-U-See, and of course, I had to have it for ds. Well, it was a complete bust for us, even though my ds is good in math, but other people said their kids did amazingly well with it. You just never know.

 

I think that, in many cases, drilling the math facts first, and then adding in all of the explanations about why things are the way they are, can be the best bet. Your ds is still young, and there's plenty of time for him to "get math," but he will be way ahead if he knows the basics. You can also start working with a math curriculum, and add about 5-10 minutes a day of drills, which would give you the best of both worlds.

 

Good luck!!!

 

Cat

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Just so you know, we felt the same way with my ds in Saxon 7/6. It was hormonal and I missed the fact that much of their brain stops functioning. Instead I blamed math curricula and allowed fear and mother guilt to cause me to panic.

 

How about two tests or so and watch him take it. If you see big gaps, review those lessons or if necessary, continue to go back until he does well on a test.

If he needs to back to 6/5 you probably have that on your shelf anyway from last year, right? But I bet you won't need to go back quite that far.

 

That's what Saxon advised me to do but I freaked and jumped ship. :)

Try it, it's cheaper than TT anyway.

 

If you find that's absolutely not going to work, switch to TT.

 

We did and for my son, it was best anyway. He would have bombed Saxon over and over.

When my dd got to that point we backed up and she did fine reviewing a few things. Now she gets practically 100s each lesson.

Hang in :tongue_smilie:

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I think R&S is great for struggling learners, but I don't think there's a quick way to just zip through that program. You could order their test booklets (which are very cheap) going back as far as you think you need to and just have him take the tests until you figure out what level he needs to start in.

 

Unfortunately, there are 170 lessons for each year of R&S. I do cut back by skipping the last 5 (which are end of year review) and by skipping the review lesson they have at the end of every chapter as well as the tests. I figure I don't need to spend 17 days of our year giving him tests or another 17 reviewing what we've already been doing all week. I can see exactly how he's doing since I'm grading his work every day. In the past, I've also often skipped a lot of the lessons in the first few chapters since they are mostly review, but this year (going into R&S 5) I felt it would benefit him to do them since he had learned so many new concepts in R&S 4.

 

Professor B Math might be another option. The way their program is set up, you can cover a lot of math in a short amount of time. You can subscribe to their online video lessons on a monthly basis and cancel any time.

 

Lisa

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MUS is really great for being self paced and kids can work at their own pace to play catch up. If they already know something, that unit takes one or two days, if they don't really have it, it may take the full week. A lot of people use it for issues like you are having. They start at the beginning and are usually back on track in a remarkably short period of time.

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I forgot to mention this in my earlier post, but don't worry too much about rushing to get your ds back to grade level. Only concern yourself with whether or not he's learning. He's still only 11, and he will catch up eventually, but for now, I think it's more important that you make sure he gets a solid foundation in basic math, and even if it takes a while, the time will still be well spent.

 

You may be better off to pretend he has had absolutely no math education at all, and start completely from scratch, so you can determine his strengths and weaknesses. I would do actual lessons and not just tests, because it's very possible to do well on a test, yet lack the necessary skills needed to progress to the next concept.

 

If it were a different subject, I might go the testing route, but math is so important in daily life, that your son needs a strong foundation in it, and if you cut any corners, it could make a big difference when he gets into higher math.

 

Cat

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MUS is really great for being self paced and kids can work at their own pace to play catch up. If they already know something, that unit takes one or two days, if they don't really have it, it may take the full week. A lot of people use it for issues like you are having. They start at the beginning and are usually back on track in a remarkably short period of time.

 

:iagree: That's what I was going to recommend, too.

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You might want to do a little research on discalculia. I would get some rightstart or other math games to work on facts. It might be more like his brain works. I would also get CLE TM and start giving him the tests until you find the point where he is lost. He could complete a couple lessons/ day and you could cross out things he knows to make it progress faster.

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