looking for math for my 12yo again

[AngieW in Texas]

My 12yo is dyslexic.

 

She did well with Singapore Math 1A-2A, started having some issues in 2B, and then hit a brick wall in 3A.

 

We spent a full year floundering around in various programs (Professor B, Moving with Math, MathSteps, aleks) and finally came back to Singapore at her request.

 

Singapore 4A and 4B went very well, using Daily Math Practice from Evan-Moor for a systematic review. She started floundering again in 5A, so I tried switching the review to the Key to fractions and decimals series since those were the areas where she was having problems. She hit a brick wall again near the end of 5B, so we abandoned Singapore again.

 

Then I tried having her work through just Key to. To make sure that she didn't forget skills, I had her work through different books each day, like this:

M: Key to fractions for 10 minutes, Key to percents for 20 minutes

Tu: Key to Decimals for 10 minutes, key to algebra for 20 minutes

W: Key to percents for 10 minutes, Key to fractions for 20 minutes

Th: Key to algebra for 10 minutes, key to decimals for 20 minutes

F: Key to decimals for 10 minutes, key to fractions for 20 minutes.

 

She finished the entire fractions and decimals series and got through the first 2 percents books. We had to abandon the algebra series in the 2nd book because it moved too fast.

 

Then I decided to try MUS prealgebra. I was hoping that the systematic review in the series would keep everything fresh. She still came across things that she had done well 6 months earlier, but couldn't recall ever having seen before.

 

She has been having a lot of issues over the past year with anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. I know that these have made math extremely difficult for her.

 

We dropped MUS one week ago because she just didn't get it. She was over 2/3 of the way through Prealgebra at that point.

 

Last week we used Prentice Hall Middle School Math because I happened to have it, but she told me yesterday that it really didn't make any sense to her.

 

Things that she could easily do one year ago have vanished like they had never been learned.

 

I just don't know what to try for her now. She won't use a computer-based program.

 

She doesn't do well with a lot of color on the page because of her visual-processing issues. She does best with larger black print on white paper with no color and no clutter and plenty of white space. That's why I thought Math-u-see might work for her.

 

I'm thinking of trying Math Mammoth 6A with her. If I do the e-book, then I can print out the pages without her having any idea what the number is on the front of the book. I hate to go backwards again, but it doesn't make sense to try to go forwards when she has forgotten (again) what she already learned.

 

She has been pretty extensively tested. She goes through the testing at the ps every 3 years (due again at the end of next month), so we have known that there were issues for a long time. She has dyseidetic-dyslexia and now I'm beginning to wonder if she has dyscalculia as well. She also had a full evaluation with a psychologist last week to see if we could nail down the anxiety/depression/sleep issues. I haven't gotten that report yet, but it should come in the next 2-3 days (supposed to have it by Wednesday).

 

Long book, but I'm kind of at a loss here. She's just very difficult to figure out programs for. I need a math program that isn't going to leave her laying on the floor gasping for air in a major anxiety attack (what MUS was doing to her the last week we used it), but I also need her to make progress. She's now having anxiety attacks about doing math and about not doing enough math and about everything.

 

I'm not sure we'll make progress in anything until we get the anxiety under control, but just dropping math won't work either because then she has an anxiety attack about not doing enough (and yes, she's already had that anxiety attack several times).

 

She's taking magnesium and omegas, although it took me a LONG time find a fish oil that she could tolerate. She's also working out at the gym 4x/week.

[rafiki]

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[AngieW in Texas]

She placed into the prealgebra level and I had her do all the sheets. The problem would come that she'd be going great and then suddenly look at it and have no idea that she'd ever seen something before or she'd get the rules completely mixed up for fractions or she'd completely forget that you could convert from fractions to decimals to percents.

 

We know that she has working memory and processing speed issues.

 

She also HATED Demme, so I dropped the videos. She didn't like the way it was laid out either. She said it just seemed very random in terms of what was covered when.

 

I forgot to say that we did try Lial's Basic College Mathematics before MUS Prealgebra, but the look of it freaked her out. It was very crowded and cluttered and there were SO MANY problems. She knew she only had to do the odds, but all those other problems were on the page too.

Edited April 24, 2011 by AngieW in Texas

[PeterPan]

A few things. One, the fact that they are dyslexic doesn't make them immune to the normal hormonal problems of this age. My kid has that forgetting fog too, and I really think half of it is just the pre-teen fog. People say it gets better at 14.

 

Two, you can't take magnesium without calcium. That alone could cause the sleeping problems. You take them in a ratio of 2:1 (calcium to magnesium) and the calcium is more important.

 

Three, she might still be reacting to that fish oil. If she has reacted to them entirely, I would take her off and see what happens. Put her on flax oil instead. Flax is really good for the hormones (balances things) and does convert somewhat to DHA. It's not as much, but it does. And it comes with the enzymes to digest it, unlike the fish oil. When my kids have something they can't digest, they get really whacky emotionally. You'd hate to be dealing with something that was just a food symptom, kwim?

 

Four, did you say she was on the spectrum? I thought one of your kids was. If she is, it may be helpful to see out some good counseling or other therapy to find new ways to deal with the spectrum-caused anxiety. I speak as a fool here, merely parroting what KarenAnne has been telling me about going through with her dd. Some things are physical, you know like something you can tweak by eating a food or improving hormonal balance or waiting it out. But some things are neurological bents and are going to take serious coping mechanisms. It would be good to sort that out.

 

Five, you mentioned she has visual processing issues. Have you had her evaluated by a developmental optometrist? They might be able to help some of this.

 

Six, my dd does the forgetting thing too. We just keep doing things again and again. I do like MM, and no I would not be afraid to go back if the placement test indicates it. Yes, I love that it doesn't mark grade levels. I bought the grade level version (light blue?) and give her a page each day across several chapters. That sounds very similar to what you were doing with the Keys to materials. It's just a long hard slog. Being tired doesn't help. On Lori D's advice I've been letting her do her math later in the day, basically LAST, and it does seem to help. The circuitous path these dyslexic brains take means it takes longer, needs more time and interaction to get there, AND wears them out in the process. Just keep plugging at it. You're doing things right. For what it's worth, MM seems to make a lot of lightbulbs come on for my dd. But we started it AFTER we did VT. Honestly, if you haven't done VT, I would look at that next. It wouldn't be fun (it's hard work), but the changes for us were TREMENDOUS. http://www.covd.org to find a developmental optometrist.

[rafiki]

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[AngieW in Texas]

This dd has already been through vision therapy and I'm confident that we got those issues resolved.

 

She is also my only dd who is not on spectrum. My oldest and middle dd are Asperger's, but my youngest is my social butterfly and is at home in all social situations.

 

She is taking 500mg calcium and 250mg magnesium. She wasn't taking the magnesium at first. I added that at Jean in Newcastle's recommendation and it stopped the anxiety attacks for two whole months. She still had the sleep and depression issues during that time though.

 

She met with a counselor twice, but had anxiety attacks about going to see him again because talking about her anxiety through her into the worst depression she'd ever had along with multiple anxiety attacks. She refused to go back to him. She saw a psychiatrist who wanted her to get a full evaluation (which she did 1.5 weeks ago) and is going to see another counselor this week. The psychiatrist recommended that I find a female counselor because he found that teen girls have an easier time talking things through with women than they do with men. He doesn't want to try medication until she's tried everything else first (and I support this).

 

He recommended that we try fish oil. Her problem with tolerating it has to do with the taste. She can't stand the flavors that are used to try to cover up the fishiness. She has more sensory issues than my Aspies do. She's fine with capsules, but she has a very hard time getting the capsules close enough to her face to swallow them. Then she has to try to swallow them without triggering her gag reflex. She has tried samples of about 20 different brands. I'm open to recommendations here. She wants something with NO taste at all.

 

The problem with things that she was solid on evaporating from her head has been ongoing. She has hit a brick wall about every 2nd year in math. She's solid in reading and writing now, but math is an ongoing problem. She started off ahead in math. It was the subject she was most confident in. Then it started to be a problem for her in 3rd grade. She has hit a brick wall in math in 3rd, 5th, and 7th grades.

[Ottakee]

Have you looked at Christian Light Education for math? I have not seen the higher grades but the lower grades are very simple and easy to use, don't move too fast---and you could easily do 1/2 lesson a day if needed. They have wonderful little math "charts" that you can buy for about $3 that are little "cheat sheets" with the basic facts and terms on them to look at if needed.

 

You would need to do a placement test as they can be quite advanced but you could buy 1 of the 10 books for the year and try it and see without a huge investment.

[AngieW in Texas]

Forgot to put CLE on the list of things already tried as well.

 

The programs she hated most were CLE, Professor B, and MathSteps.

[PeterPan]

Have you done OT for the sensory?

 

I'm just throwing out ideas here. It doesn't sound like an easy situation. If the magnesium helped the attacks for a while, it might be some more nutritional work will help there. My nutritionist has this theory about RNA and DNA imbalances and emotions. Would she eat oatmeal for breakfast? It's supposed to work on your RNA and be very calming. Might sound nutty, but there are theories like that.