Feeling MATHLETIC? A Math contest for moms or dads...

[specialmama]

I'll paypal you $35 if your awesome and thorough review of a math program gets the most votes. Yes, I'm desperate for mathy folks to help and I've also got some spare coinage in my paypal so decided to have some fun. I love contests! :D

 

So here's what I am hoping for, if you're willing to play along:

Look over this curriculum and pick it apart. It's a huge site so be prepared to spend some time digging. Discuss the program's merits and lackings. Discuss intended outcomes and whether you believe these outcomes are consistent with what you know about learning and child development, including special needs children. Compare it to a math program that you are very familiar with. Would you use this new program or not? Why? How easy would it be to use this program for 4 consecutive years and then transition out? The more thorough (fact/opinion-wise, not length-wise) your review, the better.

 

Post your review in this thread by Thursday Dec.2nd, 2010 at noon EST. I'll then post a poll asking for (blind) votes based on the above, not on popularity of the poster. ;) The one with the most votes wins. In the case of way too many entries, I'll choose my fave top ones to be in the poll. :001_smile:

 

 

Obviously, it is in the reviewer's best interests to NOT read subsequent posts (reviews) in this thread until they are finished their own review. ;) If you plan on doing a review, please show restraint and don't read further until your review is done! I know it's hard, but you can do it! :D

 

 

 

 

Thank you all for considering this very strange request,

for having some fun,

and ultimately for helping this non-mathletic mom. :D

 

 

 

[specialmama]

Bumping for the late-night crowd. :D

[specialmama]

Bumping for the Sunday folk :D

[specialmama]

:lurk5:

[8filltheheart]

Perhaps since no one has responded to your post, other people have the same ??s I do about this. I find the request bizarre and wonder to what purpose your goal?

 

Goodness, I have been smacked down by posters on this forum for giving reviews of IEW of which I owned two different levels of SWIs and viewed most of the TWSS simply b/c I didn't watch all the videos of the TWSS. Didn't matter that I taught the SWI's to several of my kids and decided I thought it was not a very effective method. Assessing an entire product off a website is not a real review and not worth $35 to anyone wanting accurate information.

[specialmama]

Perhaps since no one has responded to your post, other people have the same ??s I do about this. I find the request bizarre and wonder to what purpose your goal?

 

Goodness, I have been smacked down by posters on this forum for giving reviews of IEW of which I owned two different levels of SWIs and viewed most of the TWSS simply b/c I didn't watch all the videos of the TWSS. Didn't matter that I taught the SWI's to several of my kids and decided I thought it was not a very effective method. Assessing an entire product off a website is not a real review and not worth $35 to anyone wanting accurate information.

 

I hear you. :001_smile: Let me expand on some things then. I think people haven't responded yet because they're either not interested, they're still researching and formulating an opinion, or it's not close enough to the deadline. I'm bumping merely to be sure everyone sees it. If nobody wants to play along, that is fine too, it won't break my heart. My main reason for doing this is because this is the program that my son's school uses and I have a meeting with his teacher and principal to discuss his placement. I'm thinking of pulling him out and homeschooling him as well. Until now, his special needs were best met in this program, but not so much this year. :001_rolleyes: Homeschooling him would require a LOT of me, his needs are such that I've REALLY got to be certain that it is what is best for everyone in our family. So... I would love some mathy folks to look at this program and give me some ideas about it, because I'm not mathy... but I need to walk into the meeting and know what I'm talking about. I need to formulate an opinion of it, and I'm having a very difficult time doing it alone. As for the money? Well, it's just a silly contest. I have it in my paypal acct and I want it gone. It irks me that paypal acts like a bank, earning interest off of millions of accounts with money just sitting idle. Believe me, I poured over websites and did all my Christmas shopping, there is nothing I can spend this money on. I just want to get rid of it. I figure there must be someone who wants to play. Just to look at the site, formulate an opinion, help me formulate one LOL, and possibly get a few coins. No harm done. Yes, it's kind of goofy, but I'm kind of goofy, so it's all good to me. :D

[hsmom27]

Well, I don't really want to review, but what jumps out at me is the lack of good manipulatives. It's possible I missed them. I didn't delve very far into the site. But, if your child is a visual, hands-on type of learner, I don't think those cards will work as well as blocks. Now some of the games they're playing require cards, but you could make those at home in a few minutes. I also don't like that numbers don't get their own color. That actually seems more visuallt confusing to me.

 

I'm teaching my special needs 8yo that has almost no communication skills, verbal or otherwise. He's still learning well with MUS because there isn't a lot of explaining or language involved. I just show him with the blocks. He's currently wrapping up multiple digit addition and subtraction and he seems to understand what he's doing.

 

I don't know whether that's the kind of thing you want to know, but that's what I noticed. Oh, I also think the pages look boring. If your child is easily distracted by busy pages though, that could be a plus.

[stripe]

I wanted to like it (I don't know why) but I looked at something and it was all about the importance of the author's grandson having lots of choices given to him by his parents. It was a bit odd. This has nothing to do with the program, though!

[cschnee]

I actually have this program, have used it and have been to a workshop with Trevor Calkins, the author. I will give a review of it later.

[Tylianna]

I tried to look at it, but I think you busted the website... the bandwidth limit was exceeded!

[specialmama]

I wanted to like it (I don't know why) but I looked at something and it was all about the importance of the author's grandson having lots of choices given to him by his parents. It was a bit odd. This has nothing to do with the program, though!

:lol: I saw that too.

 

I actually have this program, have used it and have been to a workshop with Trevor Calkins, the author. I will give a review of it later.

Looking forward to it!

 

I tried to look at it, but I think you busted the website... the bandwidth limit was exceeded!

:lol: That is funny! Thank you for letting us know! I'll have to extend this silly thing, it's not fair that no-one can access the site! OK, so this thing is extended to 2-3 days after the website is back and working. I'll keep my eye on it.

[specialmama]

I tried to look at it, but I think you busted the website... the bandwidth limit was exceeded!

 

:lol: That is funny! Thank you for letting us know! I'll have to extend this silly thing, it's not fair that no-one can access the site! OK, so this thing is extended to 2-3 days after the website is back and working. I'll keep my eye on it.

 

The website is back up! So let's just add a day, say Friday at noon EST. Looking forward to some reviews! :001_smile:

[Strawberry Queen]

Okay,So I think I'll take a stab at your challenge.:D

 

I didn't have time to do a super detailed review so here goes.

 

Power of Ten is a strong math program where all aspects of math are included in weekly lessons. The different strands of math-operations,measurement, geometry, graphing,problem-solving are rotated through each week. While this may sound confusing it allows students to synthesize and organize information in an organic way.

 

For instance, you can take a basic operation like adding 6+7 and work on understanding the operation, breaking apart the number to make a ten. 6+7 becomes 7+3+3. The child can manipulate the numbers to make it easier to understand and to visualize the problem and they do this by using a ten-space egg carton or a ten grid to see the numbers.

 

The child can then take 6+7 and make a word problem out of it (6 brown stuffies plus 7 striped stuffies =, graph it (the number of stuffies), measure it 6cm +7cm= etc. All the strands are incorporated and made meaningful to the student because it is applicable to their life, counting stuffies instead of rambutans (a fruit mentioned in SM).

 

One cornerstone of this program is the freedom for the students to explore and relate math concepts to their lives. The able student can progress as fast as their heart desires and the less able can take the time they need to process information and make connections. Without having a page of math problems that the whole class has to complete on the same day allows teachers to meet the diverse needs of the individuals they are teaching.

 

In my opinion, Power of Ten is and excellent math program for a highly skilled and experienced teacher. The level of math that is attainable is impressive. Emphasizing meaning and concrete experiences are two attributes that are not often found in school math programs. The greatest strength of Power of Ten is also its greatest weakness. When implemented by a less skilled and inexperienced teacher it is likely that areas will be overlooked and sparks of student genius will not be recognized for what they are. It is also possible to stay at a lower level of skill and not be challenged to improve or excel.

 

Children with special need could do very well with this program. Since ensuring understanding of numbers and what is actually happening in math is important, this could facilitate understanding for the child with special needs. Following this program would ensure that the answers given are not memorized but understood.

 

Comparing this program to Singapore Math, with which I am most familiar, it is a good program. The advantage to SM is that it challenges a student to acquire skills and increase their knowledge. It makes complex problems and challenges the student to find out the answer. It is similar to Power of Ten in that both programs emphasize breaking up numbers and regrouping them to facilitate problem solving. I have often used the mantra "make it a ten so it's easier to add" with my girls.While Singapore relies on teacher interaction and teaching of the skill, Power of Ten relies on the student discovering the answers with the teacher engaging the student to verbalize their thinking.

 

The is almost too strong and emphasis on meaning with Power of Ten, if that is possible. Some students really just want to learn the way to do the math problem. They aren't interested in discovering the 10 different ways that it might be expressed. This program could frustrate this type of student.

 

Again, I will restate my opinion that the success of Power of Ten is highly dependent on excellent math teaching and understanding on the part of the parent. I personally would not use it as the primary program because of the amount of time I would need to devote to learning the program and preparing lessons.

 

I think the outcomes for many students would be positive. In my public school district this is used in the majority of the schools with good results. And the students transfer to higher level math without problems. BTW, public schools in my city are excellent compared to what I hear of in the US. Our district is a world leader in education so this program does work even though it is unconventional.

 

Strengths

-strong student interaction and ownership

-focus on meaningful problems

-freedom to work at own pace

-consistent with research on brain development and how knowledge and skills are gained

 

Weaknesses

-highly dependent on the motivation from the student to increase difficulty (student make up their own problems at different points)

-highly dependent on excellent math knowledge of teacher to draw out skills in students

-teacher is central to program to set out objectives and scaffold student learning

-program is set up for school use and interaction in a group. It would need constant modification for home use

 

Hope this helps and I can think of ways to spend the $35 even if you can't.:lol:

[specialmama]

Okay,So I think I'll take a stab at your challenge.:D

 

I didn't have time to do a super detailed review so here goes.

 

Power of Ten is a strong math program where all aspects of math are included in weekly lessons. The different strands of math-operations,measurement, geometry, graphing,problem-solving are rotated through each week. While this may sound confusing it allows students to synthesize and organize information in an organic way.

 

For instance, you can take a basic operation like adding 6+7 and work on understanding the operation, breaking apart the number to make a ten. 6+7 becomes 7+3+3. The child can manipulate the numbers to make it easier to understand and to visualize the problem and they do this by using a ten-space egg carton or a ten grid to see the numbers.

 

The child can then take 6+7 and make a word problem out of it (6 brown stuffies plus 7 striped stuffies =, graph it (the number of stuffies), measure it 6cm +7cm= etc. All the strands are incorporated and made meaningful to the student because it is applicable to their life, counting stuffies instead of rambutans (a fruit mentioned in SM).

 

One cornerstone of this program is the freedom for the students to explore and relate math concepts to their lives. The able student can progress as fast as their heart desires and the less able can take the time they need to process information and make connections. Without having a page of math problems that the whole class has to complete on the same day allows teachers to meet the diverse needs of the individuals they are teaching.

 

In my opinion, Power of Ten is and excellent math program for a highly skilled and experienced teacher. The level of math that is attainable is impressive. Emphasizing meaning and concrete experiences are two attributes that are not often found in school math programs. The greatest strength of Power of Ten is also its greatest weakness. When implemented by a less skilled and inexperienced teacher it is likely that areas will be overlooked and sparks of student genius will not be recognized for what they are. It is also possible to stay at a lower level of skill and not be challenged to improve or excel.

 

Children with special need could do very well with this program. Since ensuring understanding of numbers and what is actually happening in math is important, this could facilitate understanding for the child with special needs. Following this program would ensure that the answers given are not memorized but understood.

 

Comparing this program to Singapore Math, with which I am most familiar, it is a good program. The advantage to SM is that it challenges a student to acquire skills and increase their knowledge. It makes complex problems and challenges the student to find out the answer. It is similar to Power of Ten in that both programs emphasize breaking up numbers and regrouping them to facilitate problem solving. I have often used the mantra "make it a ten so it's easier to add" with my girls.While Singapore relies on teacher interaction and teaching of the skill, Power of Ten relies on the student discovering the answers with the teacher engaging the student to verbalize their thinking.

 

The is almost too strong and emphasis on meaning with Power of Ten, if that is possible. Some students really just want to learn the way to do the math problem. They aren't interested in discovering the 10 different ways that it might be expressed. This program could frustrate this type of student.

 

Again, I will restate my opinion that the success of Power of Ten is highly dependent on excellent math teaching and understanding on the part of the parent. I personally would not use it as the primary program because of the amount of time I would need to devote to learning the program and preparing lessons.

 

I think the outcomes for many students would be positive. In my public school district this is used in the majority of the schools with good results. And the students transfer to higher level math without problems. BTW, public schools in my city are excellent compared to what I hear of in the US. Our district is a world leader in education so this program does work even though it is unconventional.

 

Strengths

-strong student interaction and ownership

-focus on meaningful problems

-freedom to work at own pace

-consistent with research on brain development and how knowledge and skills are gained

 

Weaknesses

-highly dependent on the motivation from the student to increase difficulty (student make up their own problems at different points)

-highly dependent on excellent math knowledge of teacher to draw out skills in students

-teacher is central to program to set out objectives and scaffold student learning

-program is set up for school use and interaction in a group. It would need constant modification for home use

 

Hope this helps and I can think of ways to spend the $35 even if you can't.:lol:

 

You rock!!!! Thank you!!!!

I'm sure you can think of many ways... in fact, I did today! :lol:

[specialmama]

Well seeing as the deadline is up, Strawberry Queen wins! Thank you SO much for your insight and help in this. You are muchly appreciated! :001_wub:

 

cschnee, I'm still interested in how you find the program, if you have a minute can you share what you like/dislike about it?