Are the TT placement tests an accurate example of TT difficulty

[Aconnolley]

My 10 yr old ds did MM 4 this last year, but he needs a spiral program. I also need something that will work with his auditory style and not require me as much. We had a difficult year in math. My 6 year old thrives on MM, just not my son.

 

So far, TT is the one that seems to fit my requirements. But looking over TT placement tests, I noticed that the word problems are VERY simple. Is this an accurate representation of TT problem solving difficulty level in general, or are the problems in the curriculum more difficult than the placement test? I would definitely put him up a level from his grade level, but even then I am wondering how much I would need to supplement the word problems, since the 6th grade placentment test had word problems that were similar to 5th grade.

Examples from TT grade 5 placement:

 

Dwayne has 25 comic books and Christopher has 32 comic books. How many do the two boys have altogether?

 

Mrs. Smith bought 48 donuts but she gave away 36 of them. how many does she have left?

 

Here are a couple examples from the MM 4 end of year test:

 

Mark and Joe shared 280 cards so that Mark had 50 cards more than Joe. How many cards did each one get?

 

If seven meters of rope cost $6.09, how much do five meters cost?

 

 

I think that TT learning style would be wonderful for my son. Right now, we have daily frustration. I am wondering though if I would need to supplement with problem solving, and if so, what should I use?

 

Angela

[Momling]

We have TT5 and I think the problems are not very hard - maybe a little bit harder than those that you showed -- at the end of the year.... I notice that they'll repeat the same type of problem over and over for 10 lessons, but then I wonder if they're really understood in a different context.

 

For TT5, I supplemented with Singapore's FanMath Level 3. I think this summer, I'll add in Zaccaro's book on problem solving

[Rebecca77]

I can so relate. I was going to choose TT6 for my dd. who almost finished BJU4, but it just looks too easy. I then decided I would supplement with CLE. Now, I'm thinking we probably won't even need TT, if I'm able to understand and teach CLE okay.

[NanceXToo]

Well, we're nearing the end of TT5 and they're asking things like:

 

Phillip needs to memorize 288 words for his French test. If he wants to memorize all the words in 6 days, and he plans to memorize the same number of words each day, how many words should he memorize each day?

 

The iron-jawed lizard has been helping to destroy the enemy's power supply for the last 3 weeks. He ate 42 fuse boxes in the first week, 39 in the second week, and 54 in the third week. What was the average number of fuse boxes eaten each week?

 

By the time he reaches adulthood, a Chihuahua could weigh 8 pounds. How many ounces is that?

 

Every day, Sven does 95 push-ups. How many push-ups will he do after 7 days?

 

Hoss needs to cut a 53-inch strip of leather into 7-inch long pieces. How many pieces will he end up with? Write your answer as a mixed number.

 

You might also want to take a look at my detailed review of/experience with TT on my blog:

 

http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html

 

I'm a huge fan, personally! :D

[In2why]

I would have your child take the Placement tests for both TT5 and TT6. I thought based on people stating that TT was easy that my son would be ready for Pre-algebra for 7th grade. I gave him the test and he was enough on the edge that I decided to buy TT7. There are different sections and while the kids might breeze through, the first section which is review, the last section is the most important indicator in my opinion. Even when I looked at it before having him take it, I assumed that it was easy, but the last section was tougher. The placement test doesn't have value without taking the whole thing, rather than pulling out one or two questions.

[Aconnolley]

Thanks, everybody, for the help!

 

Angela