TaraHen Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 If you had a child, who has some difficulty with fact retention/memory/rote stuff (has always gotten math concepts in a snap, but due to LD has always done the processes for every problem) and who spent a year in PS and learned/retained nothing, so you now realize you'll need to do some serious remedial work, AND, you have LOF for her and know she loves it and it seems to work for her... what would you go to for the pre-LOF review/catch up stuff she needs? We've never had good luck with the standard programs in the past. She's a really smoking smart-- but creative and artsy/verbal/narrative leaning quirky learning style sorta gal :) TIA Tara Hen (home recovering from surgery AND finally got our schoolroom makeover wrapped-- in the nick of time!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 If you had a child, who has some difficulty with fact retention/memory/rote stuff (has always gotten math concepts in a snap, but due to LD has always done the processes for every problem) and who spent a year in PS and learned/retained nothing, so you now realize you'll need to do some serious remedial work, AND, you have LOF for her and know she loves it and it seems to work for her... what would you go to for the pre-LOF review/catch up stuff she needs? We've never had good luck with the standard programs in the past. She's a really smoking smart-- but creative and artsy/verbal/narrative leaning quirky learning style sorta gal :) TIA Tara Hen (home recovering from surgery AND finally got our schoolroom makeover wrapped-- in the nick of time!) You've described my daughter: extremely quick on concepts and reasoning, artsy & creative, but poor rote memory. Math facts were a big pain for her. She also spent time in public school (K and 1st grade). One of the reasons I pulled her out was that she was becoming convinced that she was poor in math - math there consisted of fact regurgitation and speed of calculations, neither of which came easily to her. When we began homeschooling, I separated out "math" class and "arithmetic facts" classes. I'm a mathematician, and I refuse to classify facts memorization, as important as it might be, as mathematics:tongue_smilie:. So she did Calculadders for a few minutes every day. We also played LOTS of games (card games, board games) as a family, which also helped tremendously with fact retention (made her the banker in Monopoly, etc). I tried really hard not to make a huge deal out of it, and the memorization came eventually. We had a big party when that last Calculadder was completed! I think you can keep moving forward with the concepts, though. My dd adored math after she reached the more conceptual classes. Miquon, Singapore (especially reasoning through the bar diagrams and the challenging word problems), Jacobs algebra & geometry (very good for this type of kid), & Art of Problem Solving were all hits with her. I've not seen LoF, but from what I've read, I imagine it would be good, too. ~Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chai Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 ...So she did Calculadders for a few minutes every day. We also played LOTS of games (card games, board games) as a family, which also helped tremendously with fact retention (made her the banker in Monopoly, etc). I tried really hard not to make a huge deal out of it, and the memorization came eventually. We had a big party when that last Calculadder was completed! ~Kathy :iagree:My dd is in LOF Algebra, but still sometimes has problems with the facts memorization/speed. I'm using Calculadders to cement the facts, but she needs the mental challenge of Algebra. Calculadders takes only five minutes a day and you move on as soon as you have something mastered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaraHen Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 Thanks for the replies, everyone! I'd forgotten all about Calculadders! I remember making a mental note of it way back-- thinking we might want to check it out for dd someday, and it totally slipped my mind til I saw your posts. What would I do without the hive mind? And thanks, too, for your thoughts. My gut was to work on the facts on their own, and otherwise forge ahead with our plans (unless we hit a wall), so was nice to hear from others with similar thinking on that. Cheers, Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaraHen Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 Kathy, thanks so much for your response. Our dd also started thinking she wasn't "good" at math, but she's got a real knack for it. Speed and rote just aren't her game. As a prof, I'll take the student who gets the concepts but doesn't memorize over the rote recall whiz who lacks the conceptual understanding/abilities any day. I frequently remind her of this. I love what you wrote about separating the "arithmetic facts" class from the "math" class-- that approach is right up my alley :) We also try to incorporate things into our days that aren't part of our regular program math-- games, activities, projects, books, like Penrose, Number Devil, etc. This is the stuff that gets both of my kids on the same page, and we all enjoy it. They're very different little birds:) Dd is artsy, literary, history/social justice, very creatively inclined. Ds is math/science boy--seems to have a rhizomatic brain- info/systems machine crammed into his little boy head. We already can't keep up with him on some things and he just turned 6 last week. Your Richmond isn't in VA by chance... we sure could use a nearby mathematician- lol! Also, great to hear that all of this will eventually lead to memorization. Good to know there's a light up ahead! Anyway, thanks again for the response- much appreciated! Cheers, TaraHen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 Kathy, thanks so much for your response. Our dd also started thinking she wasn't "good" at math, but she's got a real knack for it. Speed and rote just aren't her game. As a prof, I'll take the student who gets the concepts but doesn't memorize over the rote recall whiz who lacks the conceptual understanding/abilities any day. I frequently remind her of this. I love what you wrote about separating the "arithmetic facts" class from the "math" class-- that approach is right up my alley :) We also try to incorporate things into our days that aren't part of our regular program math-- games, activities, projects, books, like Penrose, Number Devil, etc. This is the stuff that gets both of my kids on the same page, and we all enjoy it. They're very different little birds:) Dd is artsy, literary, history/social justice, very creatively inclined. Ds is math/science boy--seems to have a rhizomatic brain- info/systems machine crammed into his little boy head. We already can't keep up with him on some things and he just turned 6 last week. Your Richmond isn't in VA by chance... we sure could use a nearby mathematician- lol! Also, great to hear that all of this will eventually lead to memorization. Good to know there's a light up ahead! Anyway, thanks again for the response- much appreciated! Cheers, TaraHen Oh that's too funny...we also have a very math/sci son. He just got his degree in computer science; anything humanities or gasp (!) creative outside of that realm is pure torture for him. My daughter is actually majoring in math now in college, but she's into sooo many different things: arts, dance, Classics, education theories, etc. And yes, I'm in Richmond, VA! Chesterfield County here, and you? Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaraHen Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 RVA/Chesterfield, really? Well, hello, neighbor :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quetzal Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 When we began homeschooling, I separated out "math" class and "arithmetic facts" classes. I'm a mathematician, and I refuse to classify facts memorization, as important as it might be, as mathematics:tongue_smilie:. I love this idea. I've been wondering about how to approach math facts--so far we've just worked on understanding the concepts and figuring out facts as needed (I really think this needs to come first--if kids don't know WHAT it means to multiply, memorizing the facts is not worth so much). Now that DD7 understands most of the concepts, I'd like to work on getting the facts memorized. Setting aside as separate "arithmetic facts" time sounds good to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 . When we began homeschooling, I separated out "math" class and "arithmetic facts" classes. I'm a mathematician, and I refuse to classify facts memorization, as important as it might be, as mathematics:tongue_smilie:. So she did Calculadders for a few minutes every day. We also played LOTS of games (card games, board games) as a family, which also helped tremendously with fact retention (made her the banker in Monopoly, etc). I tried really hard not to make a huge deal out of it, and the memorization came eventually. We had a big party when that last Calculadder was completed! ~Kathy I like this idea too. My ds6 is amazing with concepts but struggles with memorization. He's not happy stalling on concepts to learn his multiplication tables. I recently decided to set aside time each day for him to watch Multiplication Rock, do Math Drills (iPad app), and use Flashmaster. He really likes all of those so I'm hoping it'll make math facts painless while we continue on with Singapore and Miquon. Funny though, my artsy, verbal genius has an amazing auditory memory. It'll be interesting to see the differences as he progresses in math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 Funny though, my artsy, verbal genius has an amazing auditory memory. Mine has an amazing visual memory and poor auditory retention. Interesting! ~Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 Mine has an amazing visual memory and poor auditory retention. Interesting! ~Kathy Isn't it cool how they're all so different? I have a feeling my guy will continue to challenge my ideas of how he should be. KWIM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaraHen Posted October 13, 2010 Author Share Posted October 13, 2010 Mine has amazing visual memory, poor auditory retention, too! For a while I was baffled-- assumed her an auditory learner b/c we had such great/deep conversations, her vocab and general grasp/use of language is astounding-- and she has some nonverbal weaknesses. But alas, I was wrong... Things are easier now that I've figured that one out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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