bookfiend Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 My DS is 12 and we have been doing MUS Fractions (Epsilon) for the past year and a half. It is just not clicking. Last year, I tried taking a break from math for about a month. Then I added Life of Fred (while slowing the pace of MUS) for a different perspective. We are five weeks into the new school year, and I was hoping some added maturity would result in magical math understanding! Any suggestions about a different course of study, some type of on-line helps, something to get us over this hump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Key To Fractions is WONDERFUL! I HIGHLY recommend this set! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Also check this, this, this, and this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookfiend Posted September 12, 2011 Author Share Posted September 12, 2011 Thank you, Thank you for taking time to link these sites and the workbook! I'm excited to have something new to try without ditching our whole math program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Thank you, Thank you for taking time to link these sites and the workbook! I'm excited to have something new to try without ditching our whole math program. No problem :001_smile: I hope they help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay3fer Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 There are some AMAZING free remedial fractions workbooks at this site, from JUMP Math: http://jumpmath1.org/introductory_unit Choose the grade level closest to your ds's regular grade. Don't worry if it starts super-basic; it's a confidence builder more than anything else, but he WILL learn fractions. This program was developed here to tutor inner-city kids; it's a non-profit charitable organization, and all they do is math. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 I second the Key To Fractions books. I had a similar problem with DS and I had him take a break in order for him to complete the set before continuing on. It really helped him and he had no problem getting through the rest of his fractions program with no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Running the race Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Also check this, this, this, and this These sites look great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Have you talked with him about it? Over and over? "A fraction is fundamentally a division problem." I told my DD that countless times. "The denominator tells how many sections make up one whole one." That's the other thing I came back and back and back to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Have you talked with him about it? Over and over? "A fraction is fundamentally a division problem." I told my DD that countless times. "The denominator tells how many sections make up one whole one." That's the other thing I came back and back and back to. Even the division sign (dot-over-dash-over-dot) is a representation of a fraction. 4 divided by two is the same as 4 over two. Which topics, specifically seem to be the issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Cook. Specifically bake. Pick a cookie recipie and double it, half it, etc. Make pie crust and filling. Take a break from math and do some home economics. He will see real life application of fractions, that may help make it click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschnee Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 http://www.mathsolutions.com/index.cfm?page=wp15&crid=323&contentid=953 These three books, Lessons for Introducing Fractions, Lessons for Extending Fractions and Lessons for Mult and Div Fractions will help your daughter understand fractions at a deep level. I've used all three and they really helped my daughter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txhomemom Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 What I did with fractions when we were doing the Key To Fractions books (which I highly recommend) is we took a break about midway through and started working on the Key to Decimals books. Really fractions and decimals are the same concept overall so it helps to reinforce one by doing the other. Then we came back to the fractions book. I also recommend looking at Math Whizz . My dd really liked this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookfiend Posted September 13, 2011 Author Share Posted September 13, 2011 Thank you for the responses. I wish I could figure out where the disconnect happens. We've gone back to the beginning twice now. However, when we get to this point - dividing by fractions; he suddenly starts making mistakes in the addition, subtraction and multiplication problems as well. I can tell he has just memorized a process and still doesn't "get it." Will investigate Key to Fractions and do some more hands-on activities. MUS uses fraction overlays as a manipulative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Thank you for the responses. I wish I could figure out where the disconnect happens. We've gone back to the beginning twice now. However, when we get to this point - dividing by fractions; he suddenly starts making mistakes in the addition, subtraction and multiplication problems as well. I can tell he has just memorized a process and still doesn't "get it." Will investigate Key to Fractions and do some more hands-on activities. MUS uses fraction overlays as a manipulative. That actually makes sense. The division procedure is the most counterintuitive of the four functions. Maybe he just needs more practice. It is not unusual to lose track of earlier material when you confront something that is pretty difficult. Something else I did for DD is encourage her to create an equality that she would write down on every page. This was particularly helpful when she was working on conversions between fractions and decimals. I think her equality was 1/2 = 0.5 = 50%. She could use that to check whether her other procedures were working properly--they had to give her that kind of result. Also, I taught her very early that 'of' means 'times' in fractions. So half 'of' one half is one quarter, and similarly 1/2 X 1/2 = 1/4. That helped her to remember how to multiply. Since division is an 'invert and multiply' rule, she could then remember division pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 Thank you for the responses. I wish I could figure out where the disconnect happens. We've gone back to the beginning twice now. However, when we get to this point - dividing by fractions; he suddenly starts making mistakes in the addition, subtraction and multiplication problems as well. I can tell he has just memorized a process and still doesn't "get it." Will investigate Key to Fractions and do some more hands-on activities. MUS uses fraction overlays as a manipulative. Division of fractions is very hard to wrap your mind around! Think of it this way: a. 4 divided by 2 means, "how many 2s are in 4?" answer = 2 b. 4 divided by 1/2 means, "how many 1/2s are in 4?" answer = 8 c. 1/2 divided by 1/4 means, "how many 1/4ths are in 1/2?" answer = 2 Invert and multiply and you get the same answers. Maybe knowing what dividing by fractions means will help her to remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robyn Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 We got stuck with fractions (especially division!) too. We set aside our math program for a bit and used the Math Mammoth Blue series Fractions 1 and 2. The downloads were inexpensive IIRC. And they were much clearer than the explanations in his Horizons book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 I'll have to check out those sites, too! DD13 is having a rough time with fractions, and loathes long division, so no amount of explanation in that arena is going to help. I did decide today, after much prayer and searching, that I'm going to implement more classical music, puzzles, and cooking! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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