Math. WWYD?

[mystika1]

Hi,

I think 90% of my posts here are math related but I have so much trouble with math...it's unbelievable. Anyway, I am currently working through the Math Mammoth topical books in a spiral type format with my 8 year old dd. One Add and Sub sheet per day and the other topics are rotated each week. We are almost done with Add and Subtract 2B and my dd can't stand the site of this anymore. It takes forever to get it done. I now have her complete the pages on a white board because it is a bit better that way.(It is still a nightmare but slightly better this way compared to just the worksheets) As stated in a previous thread that I posted this week...we have done RS for prek, MUS, CLE, SM each with it's own set of negatives. I will list the problems we had:

RS lvl A: Each lesson had way to much going on...switching around topics too much. Sold it and did our own thing.

MUS: Staying on the same topic for a year was a disaster. It was a fight everyday. She absolutely hated the blocks and swore they were for babies.

CLE: She was ok with this and got all A's but...when we were doing math that was not in the workbook my dd could not do it. She would look at me with a blank look like she was clueless. Give her the light unit and she sailed through it with all correct. I could tell she had no conceptual understanding.

SM: It moved too fast(crying and so on) so I had to slow way down and use the practice books and she still needed more review. Time and Money were not covered enough. 4 or 5 pages dealing with time and money in one book is not enough and the practice book only had a few pages. When we completed 2A I decided to try MM as it contains more review and discovered that she forgot how to tell time and her skills with money were lacking to say the least. I made MM more spiral by rotating the topical books.

MM has worked the best out of the things we have tried but she is crying over it every single day now. I do feel that it is a superb program but this is getting to be too much. She loves doing math in those cheap walmart colorful math books and will often do several pages at a time but the minute I take out MM her face changes completely and the nightmare begins. I hear so many people here indicate that they do not change curriculum for their kids but I have told her already that Math has to get done. It doesn't change her reaction one bit. Cries....yelling out that "I am just stupid" and on and on and on about how she hates math. She is actually very good at it now and does most of the problems in her head. I have tried telling her how proud we are of her. Rewards don't work either. It is getting so bad that I have no energy left over to work with my 4 year old. This can't continue.

 

WWYD?

 

Penny

Edited November 8, 2011 by mystika1

[Mrs Twain]

Not that you need *another* math program, but maybe you would like Horizons. It is spiral. I follow the TM to teach the concepts on a white board and use manipulatives (flash cards, etc.) for about the first 15-20 minutes of the lesson. The rest of the lesson is a front and back of a colorful worksheet with a good variety of problems. There is a lot of review, so that I don't think you would encounter the problem that you had with SM (going too fast through concepts without time to learn them). I am a big Horizons fan, so I just thought it may be worth a suggestion.

 

Just an idea...Hope you find what you need!

[kwg]

I have been doing math a new way with my ds9. He does one problem and I do the next. When it is my turn, I talk it through and go reallllllllllllly slow (so sometimes he fills in the answer). SOmeone here mentioned it though I can not remember who and I think called it Buddy Math. Ds has done quite well with this and it has helped tremendously. Takes a while....but it is more fun.

I dont know if you have tried that yet but it might be worth a shot?

 

We also use Math Mammoth though we use the light blue. I have been looking ahead to the skills we are covering and trying to get some library books that cover the topic. I either just browse our catalog or use the Living Math site. Then we do MM after we read a couple story books.

Edited November 8, 2011 by kwg
too tired to think clearly

[boscopup]

What about using CLE, but introducing the topic at the whiteboard via MM (in your hand - she doesn't have to see it). You can also throw in random word problems from MM, so she'll still be able to work outside the LU, but will also get plenty of practice with a format she likes.

[estelleblue]

I would second the idea of Horizons. It doesn't work for my child because he needs a mastery program, but if you want bright, colorful, and spiral, it would be perfect.

[Halcyon]

Stop workbooks.

 

Buy Rightstart games, Speed! Math, Frog Juice, play dice games, purchase Family Math.

 

Repeat. STOP workbooks for at least a month. Find the joy in numbers. Do number games--today DS and I tried to color in the US map using only four colors (proud to say I did it, but he needed five. Yes, I beat my 9 year old and I am proud). Read living math books from your library. Start small, have fun, and enjoy small successes. There is no rush right now, but there is an imperative to helping her see math as a fun, interesting, cool activity.

 

That's where your energy should be directed, for the time being (IMO).

[thebacabunch]

I do as TWTM book suggests and have math game friday. SM is what we use and we don't skip the manipulatives. When there isn't enough practice we use a KUMON book for drills. I am not above bribing and when math gets really tough I give tickets for a positive attitude and finished work that can be redeemed for prizes.

[acurtis75]

My daughter was hating math recently so I started doing less per day and spending half of our scheduled math time reading living math books and life of fred. She seems to have a renewed energy for math and even spent hours doing Life of Fred on her own. I think for my dd who loves to read the worksheets were just not engaging enough. We still do our MUS but I stopped making her do every page. If she demonstrates the ability to do problems correctly the first day after watching the DVD I let her take the test and we move on to the next lesson the next day. Part of our problem was boredom so she was taking worksheets that could be completed in 10 or 15 minutes and stretching it out to 2 hours of unfocused stress for both of us.

 

I answered another thread similarly today but my main advice would be to avoid feeling like you are a slave to the schedule or the curriculum and spend some time reading living math books and figuring out how the two of you can enjoy the process again.

[smilesonly]

since she is only 8, and i have btdt with my ds, i say give her time to mature. i mean totally stop with formally teaching math. in the meantime, you can step back and see what the problems are, whether it be a needed presentation, less problems on a page, whatever it may be. jmho.:grouphug:

[Alice]

Stop workbooks.

 

Buy Rightstart games, Speed! Math, Frog Juice, play dice games, purchase Family Math.

 

Repeat. STOP workbooks for at least a month. Find the joy in numbers. Do number games--today DS and I tried to color in the US map using only four colors (proud to say I did it, but he needed five. Yes, I beat my 9 year old and I am proud). Read living math books from your library. Start small, have fun, and enjoy small successes. There is no rush right now, but there is an imperative to helping her see math as a fun, interesting, cool activity.

 

That's where your energy should be directed, for the time being (IMO).

 

Great advice.

 

I also found with curriculum that I thought worked but that my ds had developed an allergy for that I could use it if I did it in a different format: write out problems on white board, make Xerox copies of problems, make up your own handwritten sheets using their problems, etc. My son developed an aversion to OPGTR and hated it, although I thought it was working and liked it. I could use it as long as he didn't see the book...it was more that he'd just decided he hated it than it actually didn't work for him.

 

I'd stop all workbooks and do fun math stuff for awhile. And then when you restart I'd do it in a different format.

[letsplaymath]

I have been doing math a new way with my ds9. He does one problem and I do the next. When it is my turn, I talk it through and go reallllllllllllly slow (so sometimes he fills in the answer). SOmeone here mentioned it though I can not remember who and I think called it Buddy Math. Ds has done quite well with this and it has helped tremendously. Takes a while....but it is more fun.

I dont know if you have tried that yet but it might be worth a shot?

 

We also use Math Mammoth though we use the light blue. I have been looking ahead to the skills we are covering and trying to get some library books that cover the topic. I either just browse our catalog or use the Living Math site. Then we do MM after we read a couple story books.

 

Another thing you can do with Buddy Math is to let the student choose which problems to do in what order. Sometimes my daughter liked to take a zig-zag path down the worksheet, just for something different -- and if there was a problem she felt would be too hard, she could avoid it (that is, make sure it came up on my turn).

 

We have also taken time away from formal math to just play around and read library books. There is really no rush to get through arithmetic, and there are so many interesting things to do. Try taking a look at MoebiusNoodles.com for activity ideas that will stretch your daughter's understanding of mathematics.

Edited November 9, 2011 by letsplaymath

[StephanieZ]

It sounds to me like your child needs extra practice and exploration to really 'get' math.

 

I'd try a bunch of Peggy Kaye's games. Get her Games for Math books. Spend 20 min every day playing games. Start with one, play it a few times, then try another. Each day play either a game you already know, or a new game when you have time/interest.

 

I'd drop formal math for a month or so and just play games.

 

Then, personally, I'd do Miquon + Singapore. 20 min each, every day. But, you can use whatever works for you.

[Mommyof4ks]

My middle ds does not do well with workbooks at all, so we tossed them. We take a dry erase board, introduce a concept, I work a few problems, and then he tries one. We only introduce one concept at a time, and we do not move on until he gets it. That usually takes 6-8 minutes, and then we practice two or three concepts that he already knows well. Over all we spend less than 20 mi it's a day on math, and he is starting to love math. At a different time we spend 5 mintues a day working on the math facts. Good luck, it takes a while to figure out what works for each kiddo.

[NanceXToo]

Stop workbooks.

 

Buy Rightstart games, Speed! Math, Frog Juice, play dice games, purchase Family Math.

 

Repeat. STOP workbooks for at least a month. Find the joy in numbers. Do number games--today DS and I tried to color in the US map using only four colors (proud to say I did it, but he needed five. Yes, I beat my 9 year old and I am proud). Read living math books from your library. Start small, have fun, and enjoy small successes. There is no rush right now, but there is an imperative to helping her see math as a fun, interesting, cool activity.

 

That's where your energy should be directed, for the time being (IMO).

 

:iagree: