Math for DS who struggles with writing?

[Enough]

Hi everyone. I'm new and glad to be here. :seeya:

 

I'm homeschooling my 8 year old DS. Overall it is going well, but math is killing us. He has some sensory processing issues- low tone, very weak finger strength- that are affecting his enjoyment of math, due in large part to the fact that our math curriculum (Math Mammoth) is pretty writing intensive. Even one worksheet is too much; he is in tears before he's even done.

 

I don't really have a problem with shelving this curriculum (although I think it is fantastic- I have NO issues with the quality of MM). I want him to be able to *do* math, in whatever form he can, especially right now when he's really excited about it.

 

Are there other curricula that might work better? Or even something like math games that could comprise the bulk of his learning? Manipulatives?

 

Thanks for any suggestions. :bigear:

[boscopup]

Have you tried just scribing for him? Let him do some problems on a white board and you write the rest?

 

Also, you don't need to assign every problem in MM. Half is fine.

 

If you want to switch programs, RightStart is very little writing, though a lot of people don't care for it as much in the C level on up.

[ElizabethB]

Have you tried just scribing for him? Let him do some problems on a white board and you write the rest?

.

 

:iagree:

 

I write the numbers for my children when they are young. Currently, I write about half my son's answers for him, he answers orally and I fill in the blank. At the beginning of the year, he would only write one or two answers.

[Enough]

This is probably a stupid question, but: is writing on a white board different (easier?) than writing on paper? :001_huh:

[ElizabethB]

This is probably a stupid question, but: is writing on a white board different (easier?) than writing on paper? :001_huh:

 

Easier and more fun, especially if you get to pick your marker color. (Color seems to be an incentive up to age 10 to 12, actually!)

[Wheres Toto]

I do most of the writing for my son in just about everything where the writing isn't the point of it. I do most of the writing in math, about 1/2 of it in ETC and AAS (which doesn't really have much). The only place he does all of it is our writing curriculum. He does much better using the whiteboard than paper, even paper with large spaces to write in.

[naturelovinmama]

I agree about the white board. There is something about it that my son just loves! We have on on an easel from Ikea and he just gets so much more excited when he can use that instead of just drawing on the paper at the table. We use Singapore with him and there isn't a whole lot of writing. There is a lot of mental math, which may work better for some than others. And when he's tired of writing, I will tell him just to figure out the answer and I write it in.

[boscopup]

This is probably a stupid question, but: is writing on a white board different (easier?) than writing on paper? :001_huh:

 

I think it uses different muscles - like more gross motor skills as opposed to the fine motor skills used by pencil writing? Not sure on that. One of the OT-intelligent posters will hopefully chime in with a good explanation. :)

[robsiew]

My ds7 has writing issues and I do most of his math writing for him. He can do the math super fast, but the writing slows him down. Sometimes he'll want to do the writing, but most of the time he tells me the answer and I write it for him.

 

Another thing I've done is print the pages using the snapshot tool to make the writing spaces bigger. This helps my 5 y/o whose writing is still bigger. He also needs less on a page. Since I've gone to writing most of the time for my 7 y/o I print them normal for him now, but if he goes to writing more on his own I'll continue to print it out bigger.

[Enough]

I think it uses different muscles - like more gross motor skills as opposed to the fine motor skills used by pencil writing? Not sure on that. One of the OT-intelligent posters will hopefully chime in with a good explanation. :)

 

Ooh, hadn't thought of this! After reading the earlier responses I was turning over in my head the possibilities for what made the whiteboard easier (other than the mental/fun aspect, which is super important, too, and I think my DS would really dig it) and was thinking about the pressure that it takes to write with pencil + paper vs. dry erase marker.

 

I would love to hear from OT types. My DS did OT for a couple of years, several years ago, and I have forgotten a lot of what his therapist told me. :/

 

Thank you for all the responses!