Math- the only thing I can't find the right fit for

[Macrina]

It's for DS. He's at a fourth grade math level. Minimal writing skills, but lots of cognitive ability and strength. 1st grade attention span for 4th grade concepts. He likes work books if he tells me what to do and I do the writing. He like hands on stuff for learning new concepts. We dropped Saxon last year. I tried a make-piece curriculum of my own with math manipulatives but couldn't make it stick, I looked a Singapore but it doesn't get along with the way *I work* and I am ready to buy Math U See, but I am worried I will have another failure on my hands. Suggestions? Ideas? Remember- young attentions span, but ready for many math concepts, can't do much writing on his own easily and likes something hands on for learning new concepts.

 

I am also worried that MUS will be too "bear bones" for him. He wants more than just the facts, he wants new stuff to thinks about and do a lot of different ways. This kid goes to bed and practices skip counting for fun while he is trying to fall asleep. I feel like I am failing his potential in a serious way.

[siloam]

Have you looked at Right Start math?

 

Heather

 

[Kates]

He sounds a lot like mine at that age...he loved MUS. I caught him sneaking the DVD up to his room after hours with our portable DVD player, just watching one lesson after another ;)

 

You might also look into Right Start and Math on the Level - I've been really impressed with what I've seen of both. They weren't available when mine was at that level...but if they had been, they would have been serious contenders at my house.

[mammaofbean]

we love miquon. not much writing, lots of hands on, and can be done in short spurts. when i bought it i thought it was a lot of work for me, but it isn't at all, mostly she just opens the book and does the work.

[rootsnwings]

Singapore's lessons are short & sweet! ;) You could just do the text & wkbk with him and that would be plenty each day--I even break it up & do the text in the morning, a lesson from life of Fred fractions or MEP around lunch & then ds does the corresponding wkbk exercise in the afternoon/evening. Breaking it up like that really helps with the attention span, and I've seen a HUGE improvement in retention doing it this way, too!

 

Hope you find something that works for you!!!! :)

[Mallory]

How about a math lab? It is very hard to place a kid who is so different in age and ability. Very few whole curriculms are going to move at the right pace. You might look/ask at the gifted and talented board.

 

We have enjoyed using a math lab for younger kids and moving into Singapore in third or so age wise (they are quickly going through the workbooks, but I still have to do some of the writing).

 

I agree that Miquon is fun and has little writing even toward the end.

 

Hands on Equations would be fun.

 

Geoboards and geometric solids and correspoding activity books.

 

Tops Lentil kits are fun for all ages- math by pouring beans (and if you have the hollow geometric solids the lentils work good for volume comparisons)!

 

I haven't tried them but Delta has some Math in a Nutshell kits that look fun and are a math lab sort of idea.

 

What about logic games/puzzels- maybe Logic Links or Pirates Undercover (these kinds don't take any writing)?

 

Living math books can be fun too- how about the Sir Cumference books? There was a post not too long ago with math books....

 

Here is one, but it seems like there was one more recently-http://http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159938&highlight=math+books+sir

 

This one looks interesting too-http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210026&highlight=living+math

 

Here is the recent one-http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212509&highlight=math+books

[Heather in VA]

You could check out Math in Focus.

 

Heather

[ohmel]

I have a very similar sounding 8 yr old ds. Singapore works for us as I do all the writing and the lessons are very short and to the point. MUS sounds fun but is quite an investment.

[Kay in Cal]

I highly recommend the open-enrollment EPGY math program. It is through Stanford university, online and child directed. It isn't a "high-frills" approach, just very thorough and mathematically challenging. My kids look forward to it every day. The pace is set by the child--the more they get correct, the fewer repetitions. It works well for my handwriting challenged, very bright 8 year old. My 6 year old who writes just fine enjoys it too--I don't think of him as "mathy" but he has moved at his own pace this year and is now working on his multiplication tables. That blew me away!

 

There is a group over on the Accelerated Learner board that forms a "school" through which you can subscribe. Lots of info in old threads there.

[Cinder]

Singapore Math worked for my ds2 who is mathy but for whom handwriting is a chore. I also used Rod&Staff--I let him write in the textbook since it's about the same price as most workbooks.

 

Cinder

[twoxcell]

How about Singapore or MEP? My dd is 4.75, and she loves math. She hates to write, and she loves MEP. I'm doing Y1 with her right now. I also have Singapore 1a/1b. We did 1a for a few weeks but I decided to wait on that until she can write better. 1a is pretty easy, but 1b really ramps up and introduces multiplication.

[oraetstudia]

What about Teaching Textbooks? He could do all his work on the computer and not have to write anything. They have sample lessons and placement tests on their website to get a feel for it.

 

Two of my kids are using MUS and loving it and excelling at it. I've been very, very happy with the MUS curriculum for the most part. My other school aged child was not getting MUS and was really doing poorly and hated it, but she loves Teaching Textbooks. Loves it. She rushes off to do her lesson first thing every morning and asks to do extra lessons -- and she's actually grasping concepts that she never caught onto before.

[ArizonaGirl]

We love Singapore here, but have you looked at Math Mammoth? It is similar to Singapore, but with a different teaching approach.

 

Just another idea....

[Miss Sherry]

I second the suggestion for Teaching Textbooks because of the minimal writing skills. I think doing the lessons on the computer is a big plus for this program.

To add in something to stretch him a little and that may make learning fun you could take a look at Life of Fred Fractions. I am mentioning Life of Fred based on what I have read about it here.

 

Years ago I started out using Math-U-See when my oldest children were young, but after awhile they wanted me to stop using it because they got so tired of the man on the tapes. I liked listening to him but they did not. They also grew tired of the manipulatives. However, when one of my daughters could not seem to "get" place value, Math-U-See was a perfect fit to get that concept across.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Miss Sherry

[anneofalamo]

Saxon was torment to us!

Math U See, does something exciting...you get the concept? okay, do the first page no glaring errors on the concept, I have them do the D page, and then take the test!! My oldest is 7 chapters ahead of his sisters, and that's okay! The love that they don't HAVE to do every page!! They are grasping the concept and mastering it!!

We did Delta and Gamma in one year, and Epsilon is proving to go a bit slower, but it is okay, no tears, they like it and practice math on white boards doing speed math with the pages they didn't do for fun!??

this is from 3 kids who hated math prior!

[Researcher]

Singapore gets my vote.

 

The workbooks are to the point and just to help practice the concepts learned in the lesson. There are some days when we have fun just doing the problems on the white board together, using manipulatives, or math games.

[EKS]

RightStart or Singapore. RightStart has great hands on activities and minimal worksheet work and gives an excellent base for further work in other programs. Singapore is a fabulous program, especially for levels 2-6. It has the best word problems I've ever seen. It has workbooks for all levels through 6th grade (very helpful for young math students) and is easy to compact for kids who need to move more quickly through the material. It also has some great supplements, the Challenging Word Problems books and the Intensive Practice books, that allow kids to go deeper with more challenging material. Singapore lessons don't take long at all.

 

We did RightStart B and then moved into Singapore 2 and it worked wonderfully.

 

Also, have you tried to have him write on a small whiteboard for him to write on? My son prefers it to writing in workbooks.

[Macrina]

I second the suggestion for Teaching Textbooks because of the minimal writing skills. I think doing the lessons on the computer is a big plus for this program.

To add in something to stretch him a little and that may make learning fun you could take a look at Life of Fred Fractions. I am mentioning Life of Fred based on what I have read about it here.

 

Years ago I started out using Math-U-See when my oldest children were young, but after awhile they wanted me to stop using it because they got so tired of the man on the tapes. I liked listening to him but they did not. They also grew tired of the manipulatives. However, when one of my daughters could not seem to "get" place value, Math-U-See was a perfect fit to get that concept across.

 

I had NEVER looked at Teaching Texbooks! It has my DS written ALL over it! We did a bunch of the demos together and he loved it. And I love the price, better then RightStart and MUS.

[Miss Sherry]

I had NEVER looked at Teaching Texbooks! It has my DS written ALL over it! We did a bunch of the demos together and he loved it. And I love the price, better then RightStart and MUS.

There are some wonderful things about Teaching Textbooks. For children who struggle with handwriting, it is a real blessing. Also, every problem in the program is explained. They do not have to look at the solution to every problem, of course, but it is available if needed.

It will save you some time too, because all of the problems they do on the computer are corrected by the computer and the records of that are kept for you to access.

If you want your child to write out some of the problems on paper and do them on paper and then transfer the answer to the computer that can be done also. There are a few problems I have had my daughter do that way, but that is optional.

[Sahamamama]

How about a math lab? It is very hard to place a kid who is so different in age and ability. Very few whole curriculms are going to move at the right pace. You might look/ask at the gifted and talented board.

 

We have enjoyed using a math lab for younger kids and moving into Singapore in third or so age wise (they are quickly going through the workbooks, but I still have to do some of the writing).

 

I agree that Miquon is fun and has little writing even toward the end.

 

Hands on Equations would be fun.

 

Geoboards and geometric solids and correspoding activity books.

 

Tops Lentil kits are fun for all ages- math by pouring beans (and if you have the hollow geometric solids the lentils work good for volume comparisons)!

 

I haven't tried them but Delta has some Math in a Nutshell kits that look fun and are a math lab sort of idea.

 

What about logic games/puzzels- maybe Logic Links or Pirates Undercover (these kinds don't take any writing)?

 

Living math books can be fun too- how about the Sir Cumference books? There was a post not too long ago with math books....

 

Here is one, but it seems like there was one more recently-http://http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=159938&highlight=math+books+sir

 

This one looks interesting too-http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210026&highlight=living+math

 

Here is the recent one-http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212509&highlight=math+books

 

How do you do a math lab? :bigear:

[rjperez1]

If he likes workbooks, MUS is a good fit. The video is short and easy to understand. The use of the blocks gives some hands on application. THe workbook pages are clear and uncluttered. My boys only did odds or evens each day. They did understand the concepts, but some drill was reqired for mine to help them memorize the math facts. :auto: