Jamee Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Looks like we found DS's weakness. He's really struggling with place value questions, both whole numbers and decimals. Any suggestions? helps out there that we can work on? We're using Saxon math if that is of any concern. I'm not sure if we're dealing with a laziness issue or conceptual, but this is something that as a 5th grader, I don't think he should be having as many issues as he's having. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 I really like base-10 blocks for "seeing" place value. I'd get some and use them for some problems (review some arithmetic he knows with the blocks and then introduce new concepts with them as well). I think seeing the manipulatives can really help with conceptual understanding and then the leap to the algorithms can be made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 In addition to base ten blocks, I'd look at items like fraction/decimal/percent tiles, towers, and rods. You can see some good examples at Learning Resources, but you can get them many places, including most educator stores. Digression: It always bothers me a bit when I hear parents say, oh, my child doesn't need manipulatives to understand math. Manipulatives are a tool for teaching AND gauging understanding of concepts. It bothers me even more when they say that the child "hates" manipulatives and refuses to use them. Manipulatives CAN be overused - there's no reason to force an adept child to use counters for all of their addition - but they have a place in every school room, if only to shine a spotlight on weak areas. For example, many students have no problem with "borrowing" and "carrying" while solving problems on paper. The teacher should still break out the base ten blocks and have the student use them. If he can't, that's a red flag that an algorithm has been memorized, but understanding of place value is limited. Again, there's no reason the student has to use them to actually solve all the problems, but they should be able to *illustrate* their use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamee Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 I thought of that, but unfortunately, it's mostly for numbers beyond 100, knowing what comes after thousands, or what a number three spaces to the right of the decimal. If he's doing a problem, realizing he needs a zero in there and that 8, .8, and .08 are all very different numbers. Does that make sense? Or if he needs to write out something like 5 billion, 600 thousand and 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 MUS is very strong in teaching place value. It does such a good job with it that learning any other base becomes very easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 MUS is very strong in teaching place value. It does such a good job with it that learning any other base becomes very easy.:iagree:We have an extra large set of MUS blocks, plus we use the squareish shape freezer containers for thousands. I also made construction paper hundreds for when we need more. MUS does an excellent job of "overlearning" this concept. I also have a small quibble with saying numbers as "5 billion, 600 thousand and 5" when you mean 5,000,600,005. IMO the "and" should be reserved for the decimal, as when you say "two and two tenths" for 2.2. Just a quibble - I guess this was drilled into me incessantly my my 7th grade math teacher. He might be having trouble with the place value for larger (and smaller) numbers because he hasn't yet developed a deep understanding of thousands, hundreds, etc. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abecedarianmama Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 i would try a math mammoth blue series workbook on place value. they usually are only a few dollars and worth the money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 Both Math U See and Right Start do a great job of teaching place value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamee Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 i would try a math mammoth blue series workbook on place value. they usually are only a few dollars and worth the money THANK YOU!!! this is exactly what I was hoping for and I can even get it instantly from CurrClick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnL Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 MUS is very strong in teaching place value. It does such a good job with it that learning any other base becomes very easy. :iagree: My dd went to public school through 3rd grade and came home this year with a few math troubles. It became apparent that most of her issues were the result of lack of understand place value. When I went back and skimmed through Gamma with her and pulled out the blocks, she said, "I do NOT need blocks!" (She's 10) Well, she sure did! I had her practice with the blocks for a few days until she fully understood. And that's what cemented all of the information for her. Place value is so important! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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