NCJessieRN Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I don't know what to do at this point! Math comes so easy for my oldest so this is my first road block with math. Last year I used MUS primer with dd (almost 7) and it went ok. So, this year, I thought I would try Saxon b/c of all the extra practice but it did not seem to fit her. Then I switched back to MUS Alpha (b/c we already had it from my oldest) We got to adding +1 and +2 fine but anything after that my dd just doesn't get it. We have used the manipulatives and writing on the white board but she only knows the answer if she counts with her fingers. I'm thinking the issue may be me as the teacher? I'm great at math which I think makes it harder for me to explain to her. So...has anyone done the BJU math DVD or online for 1st grade? I looked at the sample this morning with dd and she seemed really interested. I've also thought about MM since I've seen so many great things but if me the teacher is the problem I didn't know if that would work. Any thoughts/ advice/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 My DD can add three and four digit numbers with carrying and still adds on her fingers. She hasn't got the facts memorized yet; the concepts she's fine with. I decided memorization will come with time and see no need to hold her back on that alone. Especially since I still occasionally use my fingers, too. Usually when I'm tired and don't want to trust my rote memory... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I'd encourage her to use the MUS manipulatives instead of her fingers if you can. Otherwise though, I think it's not uncommon for kids this age to want and need to use some kind of manipulative (fingers are basically just like counting blocks, but I think she'd have more benefit from something like the MUS blocks because of the added sense of conceptualizing how much she has, especially as the numbers get larger). My kids used manipulatives quite a bit in 1st and 2nd grade. When they got to the point where it was faster for them to do the math in their heads than to use the manipulatives, they let them go. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Yes, BJU is a very good fit for a color-loving, story-oriented girl!!! We went to it from RS (very similar to MUS in some ways: mom-driven, b&w pages, etc.), and it was a very enjoyable time for us. I don't think the problem is *you*, and you should not let yourself feel it is. Really and truly, each math curriculum has a different flavor. If she's drawn to BJU, try it and see! She's so young, it might just be a readiness thing, really and truly. My dd also has a spring birthday, putting her on the young end of her grade. I always start my new stuff in January. Nothing says you have to start new things in the fall you know. :) We just started new math, new science, all kinds of things. I almost NEVER start our new stuff exactly in the fall. She tends to have a growth spurt at the half-year point (Nov/Dec.) and we use that new maturity and readiness to move up to the next level in January. So just think about it and reassure yourself. BJU is nice, Math Mammoth is good. What you actually want to do is get her back into manipulatives that she can visualize. Not every child can visualize with the rods. They may memorize the colors and not process them as quantities they can break apart. You may even be seeing the seeds of other problems. But just take your time and go through the steps. You're not doing anything wrong. If you want to get the BJU math and teach it yourself, I'm sure you'd do a great job. Everything you need is in the fully-scripted tm. There are also extra pages on the cd's. Make sure you do the extra stuff. When I did it years ago, they were sold in separate workbooks. Now it's all on that convenient cd. In school what they do is teach the lesson, doing the front side of the worksheet together, have the student do the back side of the worksheet as classwork, and have one of those extra pages as homework. That means you can work with her for 15 minutes, go through the lesson and front together, then move to the next dc while she works. My dd enjoyed all the color, fun themes, stories, activities, etc. It might be just the thing for her! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCJessieRN Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 I'd encourage her to use the MUS manipulatives instead of her fingers if you can. Otherwise though, I think it's not uncommon for kids this age to want and need to use some kind of manipulative (fingers are basically just like counting blocks, but I think she'd have more benefit from something like the MUS blocks because of the added sense of conceptualizing how much she has, especially as the numbers get larger). My kids used manipulatives quite a bit in 1st and 2nd grade. When they got to the point where it was faster for them to do the math in their heads than to use the manipulatives, they let them go. Merry :-) We have the manipulatives and I try everyday to use them. But she doesn't get it. I know I'm doing a bad job of explaining. But, for example, in MUS when they add 9+x. They teach to take one from the number that is being added to make a 10. Then add !0+ whatever is left. She can see it with the blocks but she is not making a connection. Should I just have her use the 9 block + the x block and count the total? I'm just scared to move on if she's not getting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabio McFluffypants Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 You could take a look at Christian Light Education's 1st grade math. I just ordered it after almost finishing MM1 and the first half of MUS alpha when I realized that my 7 yo still makes tally marks to count (did it on the diagnostic test) anything beyond +2's. It has the flash cards scheduled in the child's workbook and the flashcards are organized very nicely. Math mammoth didn't have enough scheduled review for me. If you don't tell me when it has to happen, it doesn't happen I guess! I didn't want to move him to the concepts of borrowing, and carrying until he has his facts down. Conceptually, he understands math. Now he justs needs to be able to do it in a timely fashion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCJessieRN Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Yes, BJU is a very good fit for a color-loving, story-oriented girl!!! We went to it from RS (very similar to MUS in some ways: mom-driven, b&w pages, etc.), and it was a very enjoyable time for us. I don't think the problem is *you*, and you should not let yourself feel it is. Really and truly, each math curriculum has a different flavor. If she's drawn to BJU, try it and see! She's so young, it might just be a readiness thing, really and truly. My dd also has a spring birthday, putting her on the young end of her grade. I always start my new stuff in January. Nothing says you have to start new things in the fall you know. :) We just started new math, new science, all kinds of things. I almost NEVER start our new stuff exactly in the fall. She tends to have a growth spurt at the half-year point (Nov/Dec.) and we use that new maturity and readiness to move up to the next level in January. So just think about it and reassure yourself. BJU is nice, Math Mammoth is good. What you actually want to do is get her back into manipulatives that she can visualize. Not every child can visualize with the rods. They may memorize the colors and not process them as quantities they can break apart. You may even be seeing the seeds of other problems. But just take your time and go through the steps. You're not doing anything wrong. If you want to get the BJU math and teach it yourself, I'm sure you'd do a great job. Everything you need is in the fully-scripted tm. There are also extra pages on the cd's. Make sure you do the extra stuff. When I did it years ago, they were sold in separate workbooks. Now it's all on that convenient cd. In school what they do is teach the lesson, doing the front side of the worksheet together, have the student do the back side of the worksheet as classwork, and have one of those extra pages as homework. That means you can work with her for 15 minutes, go through the lesson and front together, then move to the next dc while she works. My dd enjoyed all the color, fun themes, stories, activities, etc. It might be just the thing for her! :) Thank you. She did say it looked fun when we watched the preview of the online course. They seem to present the concepts in a better way than I could. I only have until the end of Jan. to make the switch if I'm going to. The main drawback is the $$$ our main program is almost close to the cost of one course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 We have the manipulatives and I try everyday to use them. But she doesn't get it. I know I'm doing a bad job of explaining. But, for example, in MUS when they add 9+x. They teach to take one from the number that is being added to make a 10. Then add !0+ whatever is left. She can see it with the blocks but she is not making a connection. Should I just have her use the 9 block + the x block and count the total? I'm just scared to move on if she's not getting it. Honestly not sure what to tell you there. DD's text (Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetics, reprint of text published in 1934) sticks with old fashioned addition and subtraction. She's starting to see some of the patterns with repetition, but mostly just adds to the total. Making a simple addition problem into a combination of addition and subtraction in order to teach a pattern doesn't help a concrete thinker. Perhaps with unit blocks, the kind where a 9 is nine single units stuck together, etc., you could show how you take one from the x block and stick it on the 9 to make it a 10...but if she's not getting place value and why the 10 is so convenient for adding, the point of it is going to be missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCJessieRN Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 If you don't tell me when it has to happen, it doesn't happen I guess! fashion! That's me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 Jessie, your easiest solution at this point would be to add in some new manipulatives. I love the RightStart abacus and the math balance they sell. Both are probably available on RR too. The math balance is not buckets. It has pegs across the top with numbers and little weights to hang on the pegs. So you hang a weight at 10 on one side and then hang any number of weights on the other side to make 10 and watch them balance! Brilliant. The same thing happens with the abacus, where they can take the 10 beads and split them to go through the whole thing, 9 and 1, 8 and 2, 7 and 3, 6 and 4, 5 and 5. Then you can play a math war game with whatever cards you have. The RS manipulatives come with booklets explaining how to use them. These manips would work well with BJU if you get it later. Although they're not the ones called for in BJU, they're compatible. Or for a quickie take a pile of M&M's and do the same thing, taking 10 and moving them over as you work through the things that make 10 (or whatever you're doing for your math). Have you looked for the curriculum used? BJU especially tends to be affordable used, because there's so much of it floating around. You might try ebay as well as the sale/swap boards here. You want the tm and a student worktext. I bet you could get that for under $50 total. You might even make friends with somebody locally who would let you borrow her tm for a while. Then you'd just need the worktext. People with lots of kids tend to have lots of stuff floating around they aren't using at the moment. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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