houseofkids&pets Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 We officially have a diagnosis of a "mixed learning disability" for our ds8. His weakest area (right now) is math. I was previously considering MUS or Semple for our math curriculum for the fall. The doctor who evaluated our son was not familiar with Semple, but didn't feel a program that had a lot of dot patterns on paper would be very successful for our ds (he has dyslexia too). He recommended I look into Stern Structural Arithmetic. I think that it looks like a great math program that would build the foundation our ds is currently lacking. BUT...it is expensive!! I looked on some of the homeschool sites that sell used items and on ebay, but couldn't find anything. Has anyone had any experience with Stern? I really do think it would help my son (and probably his older brother, who has autism and also seems to have an unidentified math disability). I am just worried about the cost since we already know that we will need to purchase Barton Spelling & Reading too. I would love to hear opinions from others on this board. Even if you have not used it but you have looked at the different components of their program, I am interested in feedback. Thanks, Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I am not familiar with Semple or Stern. Just to add more confusion to the mix, have you looked at On Cloud Nine from Lindamood-Bell? Their publishing website is http://www.ganderpublishing.com. I haven't used it, but the LB language programs are top notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted June 28, 2011 Author Share Posted June 28, 2011 Yes, I have heard about LindamoodBell programs. I will have to add that to the mix! I seem to just research programs, but cannot make a choice. I think I have commitment issues! If you get a chance, check out http://www.sternmath.com and let me know what you think. (OK, I think that I am trying to weasel out of making a choice by having others do it for me:glare:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 (edited) Yes, I have heard about LindamoodBell programs. I will have to add that to the mix! I seem to just research programs, but cannot make a choice. I think I have commitment issues! If you get a chance, check out http://www.sternmath.com and let me know what you think. (OK, I think that I am trying to weasel out of making a choice by having others do it for me:glare:) A red flag went up for me because the website says, "The approach is based on reasoning and insight into mathematical relationships, not on rote learning and counting." This statement makes me think that concepts down to the itty-bitty details are probably not explicitly taught. However, dyslexic kids tend to be weak at making inferences; therefore, they need explicit teaching of details that other kids can infer. My dyslexic dd is using Right Start Math and we love it. It's multi-sensory, the lessons are short and explicit, and there is a logical order to the curriculum. Drill is accomplished using games, and to quote someone else on these boards, my daughter's learning style is playing games. However, she is good at math, so I might not be the best judge of which math programs work best for kids with a true math disability. That's just my first impression from a cursory look at the website, so I could be totally wrong. I don't have time to watch the videos now, but maybe I can do that over the weekend. There is a true Orton Gillingham-based math program out there, called Making Math Real, I think. However, you have to go to training workshops to learn how to implement it. You could always google it and see if there are any workshops near you. At one point, the author was considering writing the curriculum in a format similar to Barton Reading, but I think he has tabled that project because he is busy with workshops. :-( Can you post more about how your child is struggling with math? My dd took a very long time to learn the abstract symbols of math, so she couldn't tell me the answer to 2 + 2 = ?. But if I changed it to, "If you have 2 apples and I give you 2 more, how many apples will you have?", she immediately knew that the answer was 4. However, if your child is struggling with basic numeracy concepts, that is a different issue. My dd struggled with the language of math, but not with the math itself. I went to a math workshop with Marilyn Zechman once, and she said you can tell whether your child has achieved numeracy by whether they can tell you the numbers on a die without counting. Edited June 28, 2011 by LizzyBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Somebody posted somewhere else that she thinks Susan Barton recommends Right Start Math for dyslexic kids. You could call and ask if you want to know for sure. She might be familiar with the other programs you mentioned, too. Her customer service is great - she will help you if she can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 I've used MUS and Semple and like both for ds. I took a look at Stern math and it looks like a Montessori style curriculum. I think the closest you'll get in a hs curriculum is MUS (those blocks look very familiar) or Right Start. Of those 2, MUS worked much better for us. Ds was too overwhelmed by all the different manipulatives and games in RS, but MUS's blocks worked well for him. I use Semple now because ds could not retain his math facts and it was inhibiting his progress too much. Semple has done the trick for him for knowing the addition facts through 20 and he did well with MUS's method of teaching column addition, so I hope we can cover all of arithmetic between these 2 programs. Another program to check out is JUMP math. The workbooks are very inexpensive on Amazon and the teacher supports for the older edition are available free on their website: http://jumpmath1.org/ They have some good ideas. If I wasn't already using Semple with success, I'd try Jump Math. I don't know if it would work, but it does look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 I haven't used it, but the Brilliant Minds Montessori kit looks really interesting. I've pondered it for my youngest. It says it is for young children, but it looks like it might possibly be a pretty thorough curriculum for anyone, just with a lot of hands on manipulatives. http://brilliantmindsmontessorimath.com/default.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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