Math Frustration :(

[hsmom3tn]

I don't really know if I have a question, or if this is just a vent...

 

My son did very well with his math curriculum last year. (Leaving out which curriculum because it seems to be a touchy subject here.) I felt that the problems were too easy, but he was proud of himself and felt good about it. I decided to just give him lots of extra practice over the summer. He completed all of the Key to Fractions and Key to Decimals books, and part of the Key to Percents series. He did well with those, too.

 

We've recently started Chalk Dust Basic Math. I wanted him to have a bit more basic math before starting Pre-Algebra and Algebra. The problems in CD are a lot more challenging, but he learned these concepts and practiced them all last year and over the summer, so he should be able to do this.

 

He can't. He is totally unprepared for math that is any more challenging than what he has done before. He's on chapter 2, which is fractions, and it's like he's never seen this stuff before. This is so frustrating for both of us.

 

I feel like we wasted a whole year on a math curriculum that didn't do anything but temporarily boost his confidence. What do you do in this situation? Do we switch to something easier so that he can get through it with less tears and frustration? Or do we keep plugging away at this work that he should be able to do?

 

I also have another child using this same curriculum and I'm feeling like it was a really bad idea. She got through one level in just a few months, and I already had the next two levels, so I decided to just let her go ahead and use them instead of buying something else. But I don't want to run into this same problem with her down the road....

 

I don't know what I'm trying to say. :confused:

If you've read this far, thanks for listening.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Is this about 7th grade? They start this thing called puberty, where they leave their brain under the pillow in the morning...I don't know when they find it again. :tongue_smilie: I've been told that 7th/8th grade is a great time to repeat a year in math.

Edited September 2, 2010 by Sue in St Pete

[hsmom3tn]

Is this about 7th grade? They start this thing called puberty, where they leave their brain under the pillow in the morning...I don't know when they find it again. :tongue_smilie:

 

YES! He is in 7th grade now and will be 13 in a few weeks.

Really, you think that might be all it is?

[Sunshine State Sue]

YES! He is in 7th grade now and will be 13 in a few weeks.

Really, you think that might be all it is?

I can hear the relief in your voice. I think it's a distinct possibility.

Knock, Knock, Anyone Home???

 

Check out Jann in TX in this thread:

7th grader not ready for Pre-Algebra

 

Oh! This boy!

[blessedmom3]

If I'd be you , I would take a placement test for CLE math and start from there . Very easy to teach and to grtasp concept , very solid math .

[hsmom3tn]

I can hear the relief in your voice. I think it's a distinct possibility.

Knock, Knock, Anyone Home???

 

Check out Jann in TX in this thread:

7th grader not ready for Pre-Algebra

 

Oh! This boy!

 

Thank you so much! :tongue_smilie:

[mom31257]

If I'd be you , I would take a placement test for CLE math and start from there . Very easy to teach and to grtasp concept , very solid math .

 

 

I agree. I didn't feel that my dd was ready for Algebra 1 in 8th, so we're using CLE this year. It has plenty of spiral review, which I think is great before getting to Algebra 1. Definitely do the placement test, though.

[gingersmom]

Is this about 7th grade? They start this thing called puberty, where they leave their brain under the pillow in the morning...I don't know when they find it again. :tongue_smilie: I've been told that 7th/8th grade is a great time to repeat a year in math.

 

:iagree:

[justasque]

Is this about 7th grade? They start this thing called puberty, where they leave their brain under the pillow in the morning...I don't know when they find it again. :tongue_smilie: I've been told that 7th/8th grade is a great time to repeat a year in math.

:iagree:

[SBP]

We tried Chalk Dust Basic Math last year (6th grade), and I loved it. I really, really loved it. Mostly what I loved is that I wasn't actually teaching it, but I also loved how it really kicked my kid's tail and made him work HARD at math. He got a lot of C's, but sometimes an A or B, and when he got those A's and B's we let down the confetti and balloons and had a little party. So even though he was mostly getting C's, I felt like he was learning SO MUCH.

 

But then we got a few chapters in, and while he continued to hold his own chapter-by-chapter, I realized when he took the cumulative review tests that he just wasn't retaining. That stuff he'd fought so hard for back in chapter 2, the stuff I thought he'd triumphed over... it was just erased from his brain like it had never been there. Maybe it was puberty, but I think it's also that he just needs more review than CD provides. If I were a better math teacher, I'm sure I could figure a way around that myself - supplementing, giving daily review problems... something. But his load with CD was so heavy that I just couldn't bear to add to it, and frankly, I'm not a great math teacher and wasn't sure I could craft a review schedule that would get the job done.

 

So with great sadness (on my part, because I truly wanted to adopt Dana Moseley, knit him a sweater, and have him for Christmas dinner) I switched DS to Saxon 7/6 second semester last year. He sailed through it after doing Chalk Dust for a semester, and I worried that it was too easy, I'd copped out, etc., but it reinforced what he'd learned and provided the continuous review that he seems to need. He's doing Saxon 8/7 with DIVE this year and is sailing through that as well, even though we did no (NO!) math review over the summer. The stuff he learned in 7/6 seemed to stick in a way that the stuff he'd learned in Chalk Dust just didn't.

 

I'm not saying that Saxon is necessarily the answer for you. I'm not even sure what I'm saying (haven't had enough coffee yet) except that in our case, the problem with CD wasn't that the problems were hard (which they were) or that the teaching was bad (which it definitely wasn't); it was its mastery approach when what my son needed was something more spiral/incremental. I've made my peace with that and plan to stick with Saxon (which is one of the programs I was never going to use, no sir, no way...) because it works for my kids. I don't have the same warm fuzzies over the DIVE CD that I had over the Chalk Dust lectures, but they're still pretty awesome and, as my son bluntly says, the disembodied DIVE CD guy is a "way better (math) teacher" than I am.

 

Thanks for entertaining my pre-coffee rambling. Good luck to you :)

 

SBP

Edited September 2, 2010 by SBP

[hsmom3tn]

Thank you, SBP :)

 

We used Saxon up until last year, when we switched to something else. I liked Saxon (except for those dry word problems, LOL) but he just wasn't getting it. We worked on 65 for two years and still didn't finish it. :(

 

I will keep it in mind, though. Like you said, if he can make it through CD, Saxon should be a breeze...

 

Thanks again!

[cheryl h]

Is this about 7th grade? They start this thing called puberty, where they leave their brain under the pillow in the morning...I don't know when they find it again. :tongue_smilie: I've been told that 7th/8th grade is a great time to repeat a year in math.

 

You've hit it on the head. One day we know our math, and the next we don't. It leaves me throwing up my arms, wanting to yell "SERIOUSLY?!". After doing Abeka 6 we should have been able to make the transition to Saxon Algebra 1/2 (pre-algebra), however since her brain is still either under the pillow or in a book or brushing her hair...we will be doing Saxon 8/7 instead. I also got the Teacher CD, which is awesome. Art Reed feels that both Saxon 8/7 and the Algebra 1/2 will both get you to Algebra 1 the following year, with the 8/7 being the more remedial(more review) version. I am banking on it.:tongue_smilie:

[hsmom3tn]

You've hit it on the head. One day we know our math, and the next we don't. It leaves me throwing up my arms, wanting to yell "SERIOUSLY?!". :tongue_smilie:

 

I have done this more than once. :blush:

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

YES! He is in 7th grade now and will be 13 in a few weeks.

Really, you think that might be all it is?

 

 

I agree with Sue. I read the replies up to her and I agree. I have one of those :001_huh: She is 12 and in 7th grade and we are going through the same thing. Add in life of fred. That has been my savior! I have her do that (she calls it her fun math) then we do our curriculum lesson. Start with Fractions and decimals (1-2 lessons a day) then go on to pre-algebra. My 7th grader is still attempting to finish decimals and percents even though she had 2 years of decimals and percents. She is also struggling and I know she had this down. She completely understood it. LOF is a non threatening and fun way to help with review!

[hsmom3tn]

I agree with Sue. I read the replies up to her and I agree. I have one of those :001_huh: She is 12 and in 7th grade and we are going through the same thing. Add in life of fred. That has been my savior! I have her do that (she calls it her fun math) then we do our curriculum lesson. Start with Fractions and decimals (1-2 lessons a day) then go on to pre-algebra. My 7th grader is still attempting to finish decimals and percents even though she had 2 years of decimals and percents. She is also struggling and I know she had this down. She completely understood it. LOF is a non threatening and fun way to help with review!

 

I actually had purchased LOF Fractions, and Decimals and Percents. He looked at them and decided he'd rather do the "Key To" books. (I know, :001_huh: right?)

 

He breezed through those, so I thought he'd do just fine... he's so not doing fine. :glare:

 

We're going to keep plugging away, though. :tongue_smilie:

[SailorMom]

Nothing to add -

but I also have a 7th grade boy. We are also trying a new approach to math. I have also wanted to yell 'Seriously!?" at him...... I believe we are seeing a pattern forming here.....:lol:

[melmichigan]

I just wanted to say that I found the suggested course for CD math to be to much for my DD, I can't see that being very effective unless we are discussing high schoolers at the very least. It is still new and maybe this will change but things are going better since we changed to the schedule I read here. My DD only does 1 objective, maybe two per day. That way she completes all the odds for that section after viewing the video. As we approach new material I may add in a few even numbered problems from previous chapters as review to keep things fresh. I think the suggested schedule is too fast for this age group. I don't know if it makes any difference that we are doing CD prealgebra. My DD has also done the Key to series and we still have Key to Algebra if she needs them for more review of the concepts.

[MerryAtHope]

In addition to the 7th grade thing, it's very possible that CD is just not a good match for him, or that the level is not a good match. Did you have him take a placement test before putting him in it? If the problems are more difficult, even if he knows the basic concepts, sometimes just that will throw a kid's confidence off & they shut down. He may have needed to start with something easier and work up to where the program is now. I find that's especially true when switching math curriculum--it really helps some kids if you can start with something that is review and ease into harder concepts.

 

I know it's too late now, but if you switch math programs again at some point, pick a few you like and have your student look at samples online--especially if there are sample videos. See how he responds to these and ask for feedback. See which one he would choose and why. You can learn a lot from kids' feedback, I try to always involve my kids when making switches if possible.

 

Sorry you're in a tough patch now! Merry :-)

[Marie in Oh]

the fog of adolescence really fouls things up around here. No one can remember a formula to save their life. :confused: I don't think you wasted a year at all, but I do think that a jump from what you used to Chalk Dust might be a bit much. CD is big guns, and not all kids are mathy enough to handle it. I have come to the conclusion that for some kids, a certain curriculum is fine for math, and for others, it should be supplemental to something a bit more challenging. Take heart. It sounds like you are in the middle of normal.

[melmichigan]

Just to clarify: My DD does CD like this Chapter 1, Section 1.1, Objective A on the video and then the odds for that objective. (I realized that the way I was writing wasn't clear.)

 

I also agree with Merry. I would never have pegged my DD for CD, and actually hadn't considered it until we were having problems with another program and I gave my DD samples of all of her choices. CD is what she picked, so definately take your DS's opinion into consideration in your choices.