Bang, bang, bang

[choirfarm]

That is my head you hear hitting the wall... I cannot teach math. Middle one is doing TT Geometry and is about to take the ch 3 test except that he will fail it because he is failling most of the exercises. I thought I knew how to do it, even watched the solutions and then when I tried to explain it to him, I got confused and now he is more confused. Plus, if we do figure this out, I don't have additional problems I can use.... I have tears running down my cheeks. I loved algebra, but hated geometry in high school... Trig wasn't great either. I am not good at maps or anything else that is visual... ( Think lab tests or diagrams for Biology.... I would try to memorize that frog diagram, but I can't...) Manage to make B's in honors Geometry and trig but only had to take college algebra in college ( very easy!!!). HELP!!! Now I must go try to teach my 4th grader math which she hates and can't get either.... My son is the only one that inherited my dad's math genes. Thankfully, he is able to do it without any help from me... GRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Garga]

That is my head you hear hitting the wall... I cannot teach math. Middle one is doing TT Geometry and is about to take the ch 3 test except that he will fail it because he is failling most of the exercises. I thought I knew how to do it, even watched the solutions and then when I tried to explain it to him, I got confused and now he is more confused. Plus, if we do figure this out, I don't have additional problems I can use.... I have tears running down my cheeks. I loved algebra, but hated geometry in high school... Trig wasn't great either. I am not good at maps or anything else that is visual... ( Think lab tests or diagrams for Biology.... I would try to memorize that frog diagram, but I can't...) Manage to make B's in honors Geometry and trig but only had to take college algebra in college ( very easy!!!). HELP!!! Now I must go try to teach my 4th grader math which she hates and can't get either.... My son is the only one that inherited my dad's math genes. Thankfully, he is able to do it without any help from me... GRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

 

:grouphug: Can their dad take over math?

[Gwen in VA]

Is there a local high schooler (homeschooled or other) who can tutor your son? You make the assignments and the tutor goes over the work.....

 

Or a local coop that has a teacher who would be willing to work with your son?

[creekland]

Do NOT have him take the test. It will only frustrate him (and you) and will accomplish nothing profitable.

 

Look up the specifics on Khan Academy (free) and see if his way of explaining makes more sense. If so, it's perfectly fine to "re-do" the practice problems as they will have a whole new dimension to them now.

 

If not, find someone good at math (dad, church, co-op?) and let them assist - from the beginning where your son got confused. It's ok to not be good at something, but to push on in math without understanding doesn't help. ;)

 

You could also consider relocating to south-central PA. ;);)

[AK_Mom4]

Now I must go try to teach my 4th grader math which she hates and can't get either.... My son is the only one that inherited my dad's math genes. Thankfully, he is able to do it without any help from me... GRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

You need a visit from the Math Fairy!

 

Barring that.....time to hire a tutor. Colleges and even high schools can help out here. Or post a sign on the bulletin board at the local grocery store. It's not a huge expense and if you can get your middle child STARTED on the geometry on the right foot, things become more clear.

[Nan in Mass]

Perhaps you could look up the name of the local high school math teacher and email him and ask him if he has anyone who can tutor? A good adult math teacher would be ideal, but if you can't afford that sort of tutor, then a high schooler would be cheap and a good deal better than nothing. The math department set me to tutoring math in high school. (I'm not sure why. They just scheduled it into my day and I never questioned it.) I did a good job. A short amount of time more frequently would probably work better than a long amount of time infrequently, but even a visit to a relative or friend once every weekend to go over any missed problems would be helpful.

 

Hugs. It is with great relief that I turned my son's math and science over to the community college and his technology experimentation over to my father.

 

Nan

[choirfarm]

I was NOT having a good day yesterday.. My daughter was in a mood yesterday ( 4th grade) crying about how everything is too hard how do I expect her to do it.. She is so stupid.. GRRR No, she's not but she expects to know everything immediately. I still cannot get her to get some of her multiplication facts down despite the fact that we listen to songs, do flash cards, memorize the skip counting. But I must go on... she can actually do the harder multiplication 4 x 256. And then Horizons 3 book 1 ( Yes, we are behind...) n +6= (2x4) +5. She does those problems in her head!!! I do not understand... She cannot remember 8 x8 without skip counting... And then writing more than 2 sentences at a time is torture... no it just takes time.. But it looks terrible. Good grief it is completely beautiful and SO much more beautiful than the boys at that age. But if she gets one problem wrong, she is stupid... GRRR

 

Anyway, I had been dealing with that. My hubby wanted me to call about tires. I have to have school done by 1 on that day so we can drive to a town an hour away for violin and choir for my daughter. So I was feeling a time crunch and I had a horrible headache.

 

My son's big problem is word problems or when things are not spelled out which they are not in geometry. You have to know the information you know and then figure it out. It is like a puzzle. I think it is fun. The section he didn't get yesterday involved a problem where four lines were intersecting and then it would say what is that angle. Well, one was SO easy.. How am I supposed to know mom??? He started doing some complicated thing. I said wait... look... these two angles make a straight line right?? Oh... yeah. So what does that add up to?? 180. Now he could solve it, but how do I get him to SEE that. The others were more complicated. You knew that these two angels were opposite each other so they were equal. ( Sorry, don't remember the technical name.) One was 96 the other one was x+y. Then on the other side you knew that these two angles were equal and they were y=2x. So if you know that then you have to substitute the information into the other equation so 3x +96. He just has absolutely no idea how to do what I just explained. And there are no more problems... I need to give him like 10 problems of that type...

 

Anyway, hubby told me to use Chalkdust Geometry which I own form my oldest and this son said he wanted to do that. He hates TT and likes Dana Mosely better. So we sat down and watched the first few lectures together. ( Intro material 8 minutes each... not the normal ones.) His brother did it, so maybe he can help us. Plus, a friend of theirs that is taking Spanish with them at the CC is also a 9th grader and doing this exact geometry. They have an hour and a half between Racquetball and Spanish so maybe he can help him as well if he will listen to him better than me.. Oldest son and I speak the same math language. When he did the easier stuff I could understand ( Precalc..no way), then if he didn't understand I could say, " Oh..this" "OHHH, I get it." All I get is a blank look from middle son. He tells me I make no sense.. Anyway, we'll do Chalkdust together and see how it goes so maybe I can remember the technical terms again. I can solve the problems, but I don't know how to explain the logical way I got there. I just SEE it, if that makes sense..

 

Christine

[1Togo]

Sent a pm.

[Nan in Mass]

Does he know how to solve a problem?

 

You probably know this already but just in case:

 

The basic strategy is to figure out what your givens, figure out your unknowns, label them, draw a picture, think about how the knowns and unknowns are connected, and try to build a bridge from the knowns to the unknowns using rules and formulas.

 

1. Write down your "givens" (everything you know about). Assign them each a variable. Try to use the standard ones, like v for speed and t for time. If you have two times, you give them subscripts like t-sub-1 and t-sub-2, or give them names that you can remember easily like t-sub-a for Adam's time.

 

2. Write down what your "unknowns" (what you are looking for). Assign them each a variable.

 

3. Try to put all that information into a simple picture if possible, labelled with the variables.

 

4. Write down any relationships that you have been given between the variables. (If it says, "Johnny has 3 more marbles than Bruce" write J=B+3)

 

5. Think what else you can say about this situation via common sense and write it down. Do you know anything else about the situation, like the sum of the angles of a triange is 180, or if it says one side of a square is x, then you know that you can label the other sides x as well.

 

6. What other connections between the variables can you make? Write those down. Did you have any formulas or rules in the last few chapters that use your knowns and unknowns?

 

7. Figure out a path from your knowns to your unknowns using those relationships, rules, and formulas.

 

8. If you get stuck, reread the question and make sure you are using all the information that they gave you. If you still are stuck, then probably there is a relationship in the question that is common sense or common knowledge that you are not using. Or you are not using a relationship from a previous lesson. It helps to keep in mind that you are probably supposed to be using the most recently taught relationship. It also helps if you have kept a running list of the things you've been taught so you can refer to it.

 

8. Double check your answer.

 

I found that I had to be firm and unhelpful in order to force my sons to think through the hard problems. I just kept repeating, "Did you reread the problem? Are there any other relationships you can think of? Did you reread your list of rules?" If they drew the problem and stared at it for 10 minutes and reread the rules, but still couldn't get it, I had them put it aside and try again later. That way their brains could work on it underneath while they were doing something else.

 

HTH

Nan

[Teachin'Mine]

Would it possibly be better for your son to learn directly from the text and/or dvd instead of you learning it from there and then teaching it to him? I agree with Nan that it's often critical for them to just work through the problems themselves without being guided on how they should proceed. That really is the crux of geometry. Once they figure out how to approach the problem, then the rest is just the formality of using logical, sequential steps and providing the right reasons. I know many programs say that it's not important to memorize the different theorems, definitions, etc., but I think it's extremely helpful. Dd put each one on an index card and used these cards when writing up the proofs. Doing it this way made memorization easier and a goal since it was time consuming to sort through the rapidly growing stack.

[choirfarm]

This is great. I will print it out. No, haven't gone over this exactly.. I just look at word problems and see how to do them... I guess these are the steps I go through, but it is almost like I see a puzzle piece. I don't know how to explain it... I just know the answer. This will be better for him. I can take him through the steps.

 

Christine

 

Does he know how to solve a problem?

 

You probably know this already but just in case:

 

The basic strategy is to figure out what your givens, figure out your unknowns, label them, draw a picture, think about how the knowns and unknowns are connected, and try to build a bridge from the knowns to the unknowns using rules and formulas.

 

1. Write down your "givens" (everything you know about). Assign them each a variable. Try to use the standard ones, like v for speed and t for time. If you have two times, you give them subscripts like t-sub-1 and t-sub-2, or give them names that you can remember easily like t-sub-a for Adam's time.

 

2. Write down what your "unknowns" (what you are looking for). Assign them each a variable.

 

3. Try to put all that information into a simple picture if possible, labelled with the variables.

 

4. Write down any relationships that you have been given between the variables. (If it says, "Johnny has 3 more marbles than Bruce" write J=B+3)

 

5. Think what else you can say about this situation via common sense and write it down. Do you know anything else about the situation, like the sum of the angles of a triange is 180, or if it says one side of a square is x, then you know that you can label the other sides x as well.

 

6. What other connections between the variables can you make? Write those down. Did you have any formulas or rules in the last few chapters that use your knowns and unknowns?

 

7. Figure out a path from your knowns to your unknowns using those relationships, rules, and formulas.

 

8. If you get stuck, reread the question and make sure you are using all the information that they gave you. If you still are stuck, then probably there is a relationship in the question that is common sense or common knowledge that you are not using. Or you are not using a relationship from a previous lesson. It helps to keep in mind that you are probably supposed to be using the most recently taught relationship. It also helps if you have kept a running list of the things you've been taught so you can refer to it.

 

8. Double check your answer.

 

I found that I had to be firm and unhelpful in order to force my sons to think through the hard problems. I just kept repeating, "Did you reread the problem? Are there any other relationships you can think of? Did you reread your list of rules?" If they drew the problem and stared at it for 10 minutes and reread the rules, but still couldn't get it, I had them put it aside and try again later. That way their brains could work on it underneath while they were doing something else.

 

HTH

Nan

[Leav97]

Using the process Nan in Mass gave you, back up and try solving a basic multiple step algebra problem. Identify everything you know, what you need to discover, and the relationship between the two.

 

Like:

A rope over the top of a fence has the same length on each side and weighs one third of a pound per foot. On one end hangs a monkey holding a banana, and on the other end a weight equal to the weight of the monkey. The banana weighs 2 ounces per inch. The length of the rope in feet is the same as the age of the monkey ,and the weight of the monkey in ounces is as much as the age of the monkey's mother. The combined ages of the monkey and it's mother are 30 years. One-half the weight of the monkey plus the weight of the banana is one-forth the sum of the weights of the rope and the weight.The monkey's mother is one half as old as the monkey will be when it is three times as old as it's mother was when she was one half as old as the monkey will be when it is as old as its mother will be when she is four times as old as the monkey was when it was twice as old as its mother was when she was one-third as old as the monkiey was when it was as old as its mother was when she was three times as old as the monkey was when it was one-fourth as old as it is now.