Need beginning math help - do I have a right brained learner?

[bethben]

I like Singapore Math. Ds is not ready for the first level - he really needs to solidify his number facts before we can move on. Here's the situation. He does Flashmaster (computerized flashcards) for his 1+, and 2+ facts. He does great with the flash cards. We also do Math It which has cards with math facts on them and he puts all the 9+ and 8+ cards on the board in no time at all. I'll have 2+4 on a math sheet and he has no idea what the answer is even though he just did it on a flashcard program. Basically, there is some disconnect between the flashcards and verbal and writing them down (he really has no problem with writing.).

 

So, what do I do? Do I just keep drilling the math facts and then return to Singapore math or do I just shift the math totally? I'm also wondering if he is a right brain thinker. It took him a while to "name" colors and shapes. You could ask him what color is red and he would pick it up, but if you handed him a red crayon and asked what color it was, he couldn't tell you. Same thing with shapes. So, what kind of a math learner do I have here?

 

Beth

 

btw - he is reading well and writing well, but he's a lefty.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I like Singapore Math. Ds is not ready for the first level - he really needs to solidify his number facts before we can move on. Here's the situation. He does Flashmaster (computerized flashcards) for his 1+, and 2+ facts. He does great with the flash cards. We also do Math It which has cards with math facts on them and he puts all the 9+ and 8+ cards on the board in no time at all. I'll have 2+4 on a math sheet and he has no idea what the answer is even though he just did it on a flashcard program. Basically, there is some disconnect between the flashcards and verbal and writing them down (he really has no problem with writing.).

 

So, what do I do? Do I just keep drilling the math facts and then return to Singapore math or do I just shift the math totally? I'm also wondering if he is a right brain thinker. It took him a while to "name" colors and shapes. You could ask him what color is red and he would pick it up, but if you handed him a red crayon and asked what color it was, he couldn't tell you. Same thing with shapes. So, what kind of a math learner do I have here?

 

Beth

 

btw - he is reading well and writing well, but he's a lefty.

 

 

I would suggest using cuisenaire rods. You can do a MUS approach of saying in, building it, and writing it (using c-rods)

 

Your son sounds VERY similar to mine and we are doing MUS. Its frustrating at times- he is like that with letters, numbers, everything.:001_huh: My son can not write hardly at all and forget reading. He is barely able to do 2 letter blends sometimes. :glare: I will be watching this close to get suggestions myself :001_smile:

[siloam]

Beth,

 

I agree with using a manipulative, I just prefer Interlocking base 10 blocks. My kids didn't care for rods because the color to number piece was something else to learn. My kids also didn't do well with Flashmaster, flash cards, or Calculaders, but do great with the Right Start math games.

 

All of my kids do have right brained tendencies.

 

Heather

[Kates]

Just from what you said, yes - I would say you have a right-brain learner. I ended up laminating flash cards for my son (also very right-brained) and tacking them up with poster sticky all over the house. I then set him loose with a dry-erase pen, and bam...he was done with 50 of them inside of 5 minutes, with near 100% accuracy. Sit him in front of a page with those exact same problems, and an hour later he's still staring at a blank page with no clue what he's looking at.

 

This was when he was 7...he's now turning 13 and whipping through algebra. We did MUS (which worked well), though I probably would have used either Right Start or Math on the Level if they'd been available. We're doing upper math with Life of Fred, which he voluntarily does an hour a day (so he gets through them pretty quickly). I've decided to have him do two books per year (Beginning and Advanced Algebra this year, Geo and Trig next year) and fill in the rest of the time with real-life math. This year, he'll be working on the logistics (financial and planning/engineering/execution) of buying and fully reno'ing a home. A good friend of his is a carpenter and works on reno's, and a friend of mine is an interior designer. They'll both be working on the project with him, I'm expecting it to take about a semester.

 

I stated all that to give an idea of what types of things to do for math as your child gets older - LoF attaches it to stories (which increases retention for a lot of right-brained kids), and real-life projects give a purpose for it. In elementary, do a lot of hands-on stuff - the math currics listed above have a ton, and there are books devoted to hands-on math projects that can help as well. :)

[FO4UR]

My ds7 is like this. His actual math ability far exceeds his ability to fill out a worksheet.

 

We use cuisenaire rods, work orally, and I act as his scribe often.