Jump to content

Menu

Testing out of chapters in MM


SorrelZG
 Share

Recommended Posts

Yes .. I'm on break! But since the thought occurred to me while reading a thread on the other board, I had to ask.

 

I know many of you who have used MM (or perhaps this relates to other math programs as well) use the chapter tests as way to gauge whether you child even needs to be doing that chapter or whether he/she can skip it and that has been helpful in not continuing to waste my son's (and my) time in MM1 and relieve a lot of frustration BUT ...

 

I noticed particularly in chapter 7 recently that there seems to be a lot more within the chapter than what is reviewed on the test so that got me thinking .. if DS passes the test (which he did) did he still miss something by not going all the way through the chapter? It's one I really had trouble figuring out what might be necessary, what might not be so I had just jumped to the test to see how that went.

 

What if that is the case in other chapters? But then I'm wondering on the other hand, how much of this is really essential to the mathematical understanding of any child and how much is just .. I don't know .. "Math Mammoth" .. if that makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I'd do is page through the chapter myself and note what I don't believe my dc has seen, and then decide whether it's important enough on its own to teach or whether the ability to do it is a necessary component of the larger topic the chapter is teaching (and thus tested on the chapter test). Some things will be reviewed or expanded on in subsequent chapters, which may or may not have you wanting to teach it sooner rather than waiting until it comes up again.

 

I'd also look at the test, and I wouldn't think of it only in terms of "passing" or "not passing", but if there were incorrect answers, I'd want to know why, whether it was a skill that needed a few minutes of your time just to become familiar, something that needed practice, just a careless mistake, or whether there was a bigger missing piece of understanding at play.

 

Taking a look at that chapter, it's all subtraction and addition instruction and practice, except for a lesson on tally marks and a lesson on graphs. I might want to confirm that the child was familiar with tally marks. The graphs I probably wouldn't care much about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I'd do is page through the chapter myself and note what I don't believe my dc has seen, and then decide whether it's important enough on its own to teach or whether the ability to do it is a necessary component of the larger topic the chapter is teaching (and thus tested on the chapter test). Some things will be reviewed or expanded on in subsequent chapters, which may or may not have you wanting to teach it sooner rather than waiting until it comes up again.

 

This is what I had trouble being able to distinguish. That may sound dumb but there are a lot of pages in that chapter and I'm a chronic self-doubter so though it may be looking to me like pages and pages of basically the same thing in different formats I'm also stumped with the thought that I just have no clue what is what so what do I know about first grade math to make this decision to skip or no? (it counts for nothing in my mind that took the compulsory math plus the available advanced math from 9th grade on without trouble ... okay ... except the trouble of not paying any attention but that's an entirely unrelated issue).

 

 

I'd also look at the test, and I wouldn't think of it only in terms of "passing" or "not passing", but if there were incorrect answers, I'd want to know why, whether it was a skill that needed a few minutes of your time just to become familiar, something that needed practice, just a careless mistake, or whether there was a bigger missing piece of understanding at play.

 

This I do. I feel like I'm learning quite a bit, too. DS makes it easier in that he thinks out loud but I've still got to be paying attention (like catching that his initial answer "14" to a question that was supposed to total "77" wasn't random, he was forgetting that the first 7 was the total number of tens and it was tens that he was adding to 7 units .. a momentary distraction induced lapse - I was actually kind of excited that he understood to add them together .. and that he knew what 7+7 was :tongue_smilie:). I actually think that although he quickly progresses to mental math and although he is awesome at visualizing I believe he has developed bad mental habits and really needs more hands on work so I'm keeping the manipulatives out.

 

Taking a look at that chapter, it's all subtraction and addition instruction and practice, except for a lesson on tally marks and a lesson on graphs. I might want to confirm that the child was familiar with tally marks. The graphs I probably wouldn't care much about.

 

Oh great - he was introduced to tally marks during Horizon K .. graphs too. That's easy .. and perhaps more interesting .. to do off the page and casually.

 

Today was his first day of break (no required math work). DD wanted me to do Miquon with her and DS requested a page as well. It was a very simple one but I just wanted him to hang out and want to be with us while we "played" and he wanted to so I was happy for him to do whatever he wanted to do. The only problem was keeping him out of DDs work - I mean "play" - because he kept butting in to do it for her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I noticed particularly in chapter 7 recently that there seems to be a lot more within the chapter than what is reviewed on the test so that got me thinking .. if DS passes the test (which he did) did he still miss something by not going all the way through the chapter? It's one I really had trouble figuring out what might be necessary, what might not be so I had just jumped to the test to see how that went.

 

I just looked at this, and it looks like what you're missing is the incremental lead-in to what's on the test. So it spends a lot of time taking you bit by bit along the path to adding and subtracting within 100 without regrouping. If he can do the end result, I wouldn't really worry. There will be more focus on the mental math stuff in others years also.

 

The only thing I see there that isn't actually on the test is the graphs and such, which again, are in other years (and I imagine he'll probably understand those right away anyway).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just looked at this, and it looks like what you're missing is the incremental lead-in to what's on the test. So it spends a lot of time taking you bit by bit along the path to adding and subtracting within 100 without regrouping. If he can do the end result, I wouldn't really worry. There will be more focus on the mental math stuff in others years also.

 

The only thing I see there that isn't actually on the test is the graphs and such, which again, are in other years (and I imagine he'll probably understand those right away anyway).

 

Thanks. I have entirely put off my concern over it thanks to you ladies. :001_smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Having used MM now with one kid from 1-3, and another from 4-6, I guess I would say that it depends upon your goal and your child's attitude. I definitely feel like the chapter reviews at the end of each chapter are EASIER than the actual lessons (especially as you move up in the sequence...lots more complicated word problems, for instance, in the lessons than the review). I think the tests are similar - but honestly, I stopped using them! MM has so much mental math and conceptual math, that I haven't felt the need to skip much (except in MM 6 when, for instance, we review fractions, etc....then we have done 1/2 to 1/3 of the problems per lesson (as Maria suggests). I didn't think skipping whole lessons made sense, because of the challenging word problems...which for my 5th grader were a PUSH.

 

That being said, my 7 year old definitely flew through MM 1 at age 5, and is finishing 3 this weekend....so perhaps that's why we don't need to skip....we are at his challenge level.

 

Again, I would just make sure you are not skipping the MEAT of the program (the challenging approach to basic subjects) by just taking tests to measure proficiency...

 

However, for my middle child, MM has been a hard sell, because she is both accelerated, and hates to do things that are "hard" or repetitious....for her, I pick and choose.

erin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am in 1A---where are the chapter tests? I see reviews---is that what the chapter test is?

 

I have the complete curriculum CD if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks!

 

In the supportive materials folder, there are cumulative reviews, chapter tests, and end of year tests.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having used MM now with one kid from 1-3, and another from 4-6, I guess I would say that it depends upon your goal and your child's attitude. I definitely feel like the chapter reviews at the end of each chapter are EASIER than the actual lessons (especially as you move up in the sequence...lots more complicated word problems, for instance, in the lessons than the review). I think the tests are similar - but honestly, I stopped using them! MM has so much mental math and conceptual math, that I haven't felt the need to skip much (except in MM 6 when, for instance, we review fractions, etc....then we have done 1/2 to 1/3 of the problems per lesson (as Maria suggests). I didn't think skipping whole lessons made sense, because of the challenging word problems...which for my 5th grader were a PUSH.

 

That being said, my 7 year old definitely flew through MM 1 at age 5, and is finishing 3 this weekend....so perhaps that's why we don't need to skip....we are at his challenge level.

 

Again, I would just make sure you are not skipping the MEAT of the program (the challenging approach to basic subjects) by just taking tests to measure proficiency...

 

However, for my middle child, MM has been a hard sell, because she is both accelerated, and hates to do things that are "hard" or repetitious....for her, I pick and choose.

erin

 

I use The Verbal Math Lesson for word problems. We typically do about 20 mental math and word problems each day with that so what is in MM was very little in comparison. As wonderful as I'm certain MM is for the right child, I have since dropped it (this is an oldish thread) and gone with Life of Fred combined with a living approach to math while continuing with the Verbal Math Lesson for word problems and DS is getting into a lot more "meat" now than he did with the curriculum.

 

Speaking of which, since I'm on the topic I just have to share (for those who may recall my many lamentation threads in the past on our math woes) that I am SO overwhelmingly thankful that I finally found what works for us (both child and parent) and that our days of math hell are a thing of the past. He's really soaring and his attitude toward math is polar opposite what it was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Speaking of which, since I'm on the topic I just have to share (for those who may recall my many lamentation threads in the past on our math woes) that I am SO overwhelmingly thankful that I finally found what works for us (both child and parent) and that our days of math hell are a thing of the past. He's really soaring and his attitude toward math is polar opposite what it was.

 

Great! That is such a fantastic feeling! MM did the same for us when we switched a long time ago. I keep looking into TT, but then I remind myself that MM is working! If it ain't broke... :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...