FO4UR Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I'm sure this has been discussed before, but...my ds is a special case (aren't they ALL:tongue_smilie:). Prescribe math for my ds8 (just turned 8...need to change my siggie:001_smile:): He's naturally "mathy." He understood most things I've taught him before I taught it.:001_huh: He can + and - with regrouping well, understanding place value, is multiplying and dividing simple numbers well (the facts aren't all memorized yet), he grasps basic fractions (he's especially good at finding 1/3 of edible treats:lol:) ...I've yet to teach multi-digit multiplication and division formally, but he's certainly ready...he actually started breaking apart 3 digit numbers to multiply the units/tens/hundreds separately and add them back together to get the answer...3 digit x 1 digit. Here's the thing...he's good at the math, but programs like MM are a flop b/c of the reading skills involved in working a busy worksheet...not to mention, he still reverses numbers and that's frustrating on a massive level when he just struggled through a long page and has to go back and fix reversals.:banghead: Miquon has worked well for him, in part, b/c of the lay-out of the pages...and partly b/c of the visual/hands-on aspect...and partly b/c he likes to figure things out on his own. Theoretically, I can use MM (or any curric really) as a guide and just teach him off of the page...on the board, copy a few things out on plain paper, etc... This, however, is a PITA. dd5 is a workbook lover, and I think I'm going to get the 1-6 download of MM for her...so mass tweaking of MM would cost me in time, but not $ (which is VERY tight these days). I also have all 6 levels of CWP. I've been using those to practice problems. He does much better with word problems than with just a page of plain practice problems. I've thought of just using CWP until his reading skills are better.:001_unsure: (I read the problems to him...he does the math.) These are fun and productive lessons for us both, but I fear I will be leaving gaping holes somewhere. I've been researching...looking for the curric that will need the least tweaking. I need something to take us from post-Miquon to pre-alg in a Miquon style. The closest thing I've seen is Number Neighbors by Muggins. I just don't see hardly ANYone using it which makes me nervous (and there are no sample pages that I know of). MOTL seems too...well, I think it would easier to tweak MM. Most other currics are workbook-y like MM...and if I'm going to tweak to death anyway, I'll save the $ and use MM (since I'm buying it for dd anyway). ...sigh...any thoughts from veteran HSers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 My ds is now 9 and he still hates any worksheets. He loved Singapore for a while, but got bogged down in the memorizing of his facts. He loved the colour and white space, but the books after ?? level (I forget) became too traditional. He also hates repetition - once he understands and can do it, the rest of the questions are a waste of time, according to him. He needs very little repetition to grasp concepts. However, that makes finding the right curriculum very tricky. We usually skip so many pages it is painful (for me). So, what I've done is switch curriculum regularly to keep things fresh and new for him.... we've done Miquon, Singapore (through 3A, then skipped up to 4B and then to 5A - I'm not sure we finished many of those), Teaching Textbooks 4, Horizon (complete bust!), Life of Fred (too hard once we got to ch. 5 or so, and then he just wanted to read the story, but we'll go back to it soon). Currently he is working through JUMP Math (from Canada) level 5. There is still a lot of stuff he already knows, but it seems easier to skip the stuff he already knows (his uncle recommended it, and ds thought that was extremely cool!) and he has to tough it out through the rest, until he can show me that he can do it. Maturity has a lot to do with it. Even at age 9 we do a lot of his math out loud. He just thinks better than he writes. His output has increased and improved dramatically but it is something I don't push with him. He loves to do word problems, but usually figures them out in his head, silently, which drives me nuts. If he gets it right (most of the time) he gleefully explains his thinking. It is amazing how much his little mind knows and grasps intuitively. Some other fun stuff he does (with varying degrees of cooperation) are Logic Links, Perplexors (both from MindWare) and Math Detective (from Critical Thinking Company). We also have Primary Grade Challenge Math which he enjoys off and on. His favourite thing is to help his sister (11) and brother (13) with their math! Oh, and I never made ds go back and fix reversals. That would have been like pulling out his fingernails! I tried to go over number formation at the beginning of the lesson and when he was about to right a 5, I would say, "Hmm, you often mix that one up. Here it is... Remember we start at the top and go to the left and then down and a bump to the right." Eventually he would catch himself and fix on his own. His still does the occasional reversal, but usually finds it and takes care of it. I'm sorry if I'm rambling and I'm probably of little or no help. I just thought you'd like to hear a 'been there, done that' story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Hope you get some other posts... but you can also do a search for these programs... I haven't used either program but you may want to check out CSMP and/or MEP. One of these may be a good fit for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 My ds is now 9 and he still hates any worksheets. He loved Singapore for a while, but got bogged down in the memorizing of his facts. He loved the colour and white space, but the books after ?? level (I forget) became too traditional. He also hates repetition - once he understands and can do it, the rest of the questions are a waste of time, according to him. He needs very little repetition to grasp concepts. However, that makes finding the right curriculum very tricky. We usually skip so many pages it is painful (for me). So, what I've done is switch curriculum regularly to keep things fresh and new for him.... we've done Miquon, Singapore (through 3A, then skipped up to 4B and then to 5A - I'm not sure we finished many of those), Teaching Textbooks 4, Horizon (complete bust!), Life of Fred (too hard once we got to ch. 5 or so, and then he just wanted to read the story, but we'll go back to it soon). Currently he is working through JUMP Math (from Canada) level 5. There is still a lot of stuff he already knows, but it seems easier to skip the stuff he already knows (his uncle recommended it, and ds thought that was extremely cool!) and he has to tough it out through the rest, until he can show me that he can do it. Maturity has a lot to do with it. Even at age 9 we do a lot of his math out loud. He just thinks better than he writes. His output has increased and improved dramatically but it is something I don't push with him. He loves to do word problems, but usually figures them out in his head, silently, which drives me nuts. If he gets it right (most of the time) he gleefully explains his thinking. It is amazing how much his little mind knows and grasps intuitively. Some other fun stuff he does (with varying degrees of cooperation) are Logic Links, Perplexors (both from MindWare) and Math Detective (from Critical Thinking Company). We also have Primary Grade Challenge Math which he enjoys off and on. His favourite thing is to help his sister (11) and brother (13) with their math! Oh, and I never made ds go back and fix reversals. That would have been like pulling out his fingernails! I tried to go over number formation at the beginning of the lesson and when he was about to right a 5, I would say, "Hmm, you often mix that one up. Here it is... Remember we start at the top and go to the left and then down and a bump to the right." Eventually he would catch himself and fix on his own. His still does the occasional reversal, but usually finds it and takes care of it. I'm sorry if I'm rambling and I'm probably of little or no help. I just thought you'd like to hear a 'been there, done that' story. This was a lot of help, if for nothing than rationalizing my own jumping around in currics. LOL For reversals, I've been writing the numerals at the top of the page so he has an easy place to look to copy, but it's still laborious writing tons...b/c he still has to look & copy. kwim. I don't want to just let the reversals go b/c I don't know that he would ever get them turned back the right way.:confused: I'm looking at LOF for future use, but that doesn't help me now...knowing you are in the same boat and have survived until age 9 (as of now) helps greatly though.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Hope you get some other posts... but you can also do a search for these programs...I haven't used either program but you may want to check out CSMP and/or MEP. One of these may be a good fit for you. I've looked at both of those. He used MEP quite a bit last year and the year before. I run into the same problems as MM. The format of the page just kills the poor kid. I've printed them off blown up and that helped some, but then I'm back at PITA math prep... MEP is a great site to pull from and put problems up on the board. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 My first two went from Miquon right to the Key To... series. It's by the same publisher as Miquon, and we've found it picks up quite nicely from where Miquon leaves off. We tend to have a bit of overlap at the end of Miquon and the beginning of the Key To... series, as we finish some "strands" of Miquon and start playing with Key To Fractions (we start with that one). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabula Rasa Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Have you looked at right start? Its supposed to be quite a bit like miquon, only teacher driven. If cost is the issue, you could just get the book Activities for the AL Abacus (this is what I have) and pick and choose what you want to teach. I'm not sure if that is what you're looking for though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) I have a highly vs dd who had difficulty with busy pages in any subject for quite some time. She did well with the SM workbooks, but not so well with the texts. She did particularly well with the bar diagrams, although she rarely used them. There were times she had challenges, but she also had trouble with the lingusitic aspects of math. She took a very long time to learn long division due to the various steps involved, but she did get it. I should add that my dc are all mathy, so what I consider a long time may not be along time; I tend to expect my dc to grasp things the first time they're taught, and it took her a lot longer than that. The Key to series were helpful to her with fractions (LCD, aka LCM, and mulitplying/dividing), although she used to forget certain fraction rules with every break until she was nearly 12 and had completed Russian math from Perpendicular Press (not a good choice in your case, though.) Ds was the one who struggled he longest with number reversals and who was a late reader (but not dyslexic, it turned out to be visual and the problem was corrected). I found several things that helped him using MUS and SM together. To this day when he regroups he writes the higher unit at the top first and the lower one on the bottom second, because that was the only way he could keep it straight. I also sat with him frequently and had him tell me what he was doing so that I could help him stop digit reversals right then. As for learning math facts, I simply let ds use the C rods (he started Miquon, but it didn't work well for him) for a long time so he wouldn't count. My dc have all learned their math facts best by doing math. One thing I tried with ds was to dictate math facts to him and have him wite them, and then do a drill right afterward. He later rebelled with mulitplication facts and insisted on skip counting, but he's been learning them in spite of himself just from doing a lot of math. We schooled year round for a long time, which helped cement the facts. My vote would be SM with something visual such as Key to. I've looked at MM, but still prefer SM hands down, although I have toyed with the idea of buying the smaller MM as a supplement. MEP was fabulous for ds the summer we did it, but I sat with him and went through the teacher part and had him do the work while I was there, so the reading part wasn't a problem. He now does most of his math independtly, but not so much when he was 7 or 8. Edited February 3, 2011 by Karin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) There are other cuisinare rod books. Maybe doing those for a while would give his writing a chance to catch up. Here are some http://www.fun-books.com/books/cuisenaire_rods.htm These Roddles are tricky http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1296745003-1945822&subject=10&category=2356 Instead of going on, he is so young, you have plenty of time to go sideways. How about some geoboards for a while or something like TOPS Get A Grip (in fact I think this might be my best idea yet!) Dominos are fun, because the "numbers" are already there, you usually just place the domino - http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1296745003-1945822&subject=10&category=2369 The card set we have has lots of tricky magic square kind of problems. We have a set of geometric sloids that are hollow, so you can fill them up with water (or lentils) and compare volumes and "play" with them in other ways. What about hands on equations? I'm trying to say- we do lots of hands on/manipulative books along with Miquon and it has worked out great. You could also do logic activites for a while- Lori D has a great post in this thread http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224726&highlight=logic Edited February 3, 2011 by Mallory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 :bigear: I'm taking it all in... I used to own RS Activities for the Alabacus. I like RS games, but he's a Cuisenaire rod thinker and the alabacus was fun for a bit but shelved after a while. TOPS Get a Grip is on my RR wishlist. I've looked and thought about Keys to... (I may but a set to try them out.) I wish I had unlimited funds to just buy all that's linked LOL... Every time I make a HS purchase I rethink SM. He's done 1A, 1B, and 2A out of the US series. (And, my thoughts go into a dizzy circle...gah!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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