MUS Advancement

[Caraway]

I am struggling to understand when I should move my son (7) forward in the MUS levels/lessons.

 

I would rather drill now than have a problem later.

 

We have "finished" Alpha and are languishing in the land of drill worksheets. He can complete the worksheets fairly speedily, and accurately, but he does still use the blocks for many of the problems.

 

So.... do I move on and eventually he will drop the blocks? More worksheets at this level until he doesn't need the blocks? Something else?

 

We are playing math games, and I have tried flashcards. There is only so much weeping a parent can take. :blink:

[Caraway]

bump

[Sunshine State Sue]

So.... do I move on and eventually he will drop the blocks? More worksheets at this level until he doesn't need the blocks? Something else?

 

We are playing math games, and I have tried flashcards. There is only so much weeping a parent can take. :blink:

I don't understand. Why is he weeping? :confused:

...because he's bored with the worksheets and wants to move on?

...because he's getting the message that he should be done with the blocks?

...because he doesn't really understand what he's doing?

 

We used MUS from K through Algebra 1. FWIW, I never really forced the memorization of math facts. I figured that they would be memorized in time with enough use. We had a game called Math-It that was incredibly tedious that we tried to use in an attempt gain speed. I detest flash cards. Games like Scrabble and Monopoly or playing "store" especially went over well.

 

I believe they say to move on when a student can teach the lesson back to you. I never really did that. We just moved on as long as ds understood the lesson, and he generally did. There were only a few times we had to camp out for a while - multiple digit multiplication and long division.

 

At the same time, I have a degree in math and had no fears that ds wouldn't memorize the math facts eventually. He dropped the blocks in his own time as well.

 

HTH!

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Did he still need the blocks while he was still doing Alpha? I don't move my children forward until they can do the lesson without the blocks because they are supposed to master each lesson before going to the next. I wouldn't move him into Beta if he hasn't mastered Alpha. I'd be more inclined to start watching the Alpha DVD again and work on each lesson that he needs the blocks for as you go through it. If you didn't use all the Systematic Review Worksheets I'd do them as you go through to make sure he still has review.

[rafiki]

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