fhjmom Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 DS (11 YO/5th grade) *HATES* math, hates it with a passion. He is a pretty bright kid and is the type that wants to know the hows and whys behind things, so he is not one to just memorize facts. Even though he knows the how/why, he doesn't see the reason for memorizing his math facts so that has been an ongoing battle (he would rather just figure it out by counting or adding in increments :banghead: ). When he was in private school (through 2nd grade), they used Saxon math. He hated the spiraling and it was not a good fit for him. When I started homeschooling, we tried Singapore for 2 years. Math was still a battle. This year I decided to try something different and started using Life of Fred, Fractions and ALEKS online. Both are pretty self directed so he and I are not having daily battles over math. He is getting his math facts practice through QuickTables on ALEKS and ALEKS reflects state standards. Life of Fred matches his learning style and sense of humor. Last year on the ITBS, his over math score was 78 percentile (which was one of his lowest areas) and that was when we were still battling over every math lesson. Even then, it was his computation scores that were the lowest and his problem solving and data interpretation were high, so I took that to mean he understood how to attack the problem solving but made computation errors because of his weak math facts. :tongue_smilie: I think he is really making a lot more progress this year with much less stress, which brings me to our new problem: Several times lately he has said he is afraid he is behind in math. I am not sure why he feels that way and I have tried to assure him that the work he is doing is grade level work. I am now wondering if it is because LoF is so different from a "regular" math curriculum that he thinks he isn't doing enough? Or if it is because math is not such a stressed out struggle for him, he thinks I must be "going easy" on him? One of the reasons I picked ALEKS as a partner to LoF is so that I could keep and eye on the standards since he has expressed an interest in possible returning to a traditional school at some point. I am not sure it will come to that, but math is one area I do want to be sure we are "on track". I don't worry about it much, if at all in most other subjects. So any insight? Have any LoF users had your students express similar thoughts? How do I show him he isn't behind and math doesn't have to be hard to make progress? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 My Ds has been dx with processing speed problems so computation errors are big issue for him. I bypass that issue by giving him the answer when he stalls out so that he can move forward with the bigger math concepts. For instance, sometimes he can't remember what "3x4" is, sometimes he can. Rather than throw him off his pace and ruin the lesson, I will plug in the missing fact for him. Over time I can see that he is getting better at remembering his math facts. He needs information provided in an application rather than rote memorization, so my helps actually help him to learn the facts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I haven't used Aleks in over 8 years so I don't remember much. You said you could track standards. Does it mention grade level at all? If it does, can you show him the information so he can see he's on track? A likely not so great idea is to have him take a math placement test in some curriculum. They will differ because they are testing for placement in THAT curriculum only, IMHO. But if he can do something that shows him he's in X grade in math, would that help ease his mind? Of course you might need to be ready for consequences. If he doesn't do as well, his concern will be validated which could be a nightmare. I'm not sure I would like to take this route. There is the possibility of changing math yet again to a grade level program. Singapore and LoF don't mention grade levels so I can see where those would confuse him. Saxon has grade levels, I think, but you've already established that isn't a good fit for him. There's Calvert math, Horizons, BJU, Teaching Textbooks and Rod & Staff. Goodness, I'm embarrassed to say I've used all of those math programs! I'm sure you would hate to change math programs but the option is there. You could possibly choose the top 2 or 3 that you are okay with and have him choose between those. You could also explain that none of them will have as interesting an approach to mathematics instruction as Lof. Or, another idea is to show him the LoF catalog online and show him how to make those "Before High School Mathematics" programs equate to grade levels, although I'm certain they don't really do so. But if he can see that pre-algebra is 8th grade, then the one before it, Decimals & Percents, could be seen as 7th grade, and the one before that, Fractions, be 6th grade? I don't know. That might be reaching too much. I've rambled! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 It sounds like has a serious math anxiety, and as LoF makes it fun and interesting, he is afraid that it isn't working right. He is second guessing himself as he thinks he is supposed to hate it and it is supposed to be too hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 DS (11 YO/5th grade) *HATES* math, hates it with a passion. He is a pretty bright kid and is the type that wants to know the hows and whys behind things, so he is not one to just memorize facts. Even though he knows the how/why, he doesn't see the reason for memorizing his math facts so that has been an ongoing battle (he would rather just figure it out by counting or adding in increments :banghead: ). When he was in private school (through 2nd grade), they used Saxon math. He hated the spiraling and it was not a good fit for him. When I started homeschooling, we tried Singapore for 2 years. Math was still a battle. This year I decided to try something different and started using Life of Fred, Fractions and ALEKS online. Both are pretty self directed so he and I are not having daily battles over math. He is getting his math facts practice through QuickTables on ALEKS and ALEKS reflects state standards. Life of Fred matches his learning style and sense of humor. Last year on the ITBS, his over math score was 78 percentile (which was one of his lowest areas) and that was when we were still battling over every math lesson. Even then, it was his computation scores that were the lowest and his problem solving and data interpretation were high, so I took that to mean he understood how to attack the problem solving but made computation errors because of his weak math facts. :tongue_smilie: I think he is really making a lot more progress this year with much less stress, which brings me to our new problem: Several times lately he has said he is afraid he is behind in math. I am not sure why he feels that way and I have tried to assure him that the work he is doing is grade level work. I am now wondering if it is because LoF is so different from a "regular" math curriculum that he thinks he isn't doing enough? Or if it is because math is not such a stressed out struggle for him, he thinks I must be "going easy" on him? One of the reasons I picked ALEKS as a partner to LoF is so that I could keep and eye on the standards since he has expressed an interest in possible returning to a traditional school at some point. I am not sure it will come to that, but math is one area I do want to be sure we are "on track". I don't worry about it much, if at all in most other subjects. So any insight? Have any LoF users had your students express similar thoughts? How do I show him he isn't behind and math doesn't have to be hard to make progress? The ITBS is the best measure that you mentioned, as it is a standardized test. To get a 78% means he did better than 78% of the kids taking that test. So he did well. An even better measure is an individual achievement test like the Woodcock Johnson, but you have to pay someone to administer it. You should also be able to easily look up your state standards for each grade and see if your son is on track. I would not use Alek's as a measure of whether he's on track or not, though it's good for self-directed review of math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Before I was done reading your post, I'd guessed it was your first born. :001_smile: They are such perfectionists! My dd's ITBS and CAT scores are similar to your ds's. She's long been convinced she is "bad at math." She finally, finally realized that she's NOT bad at math--she just better at other subjects. She's still better than 4/5 of the other kids at her grade level in math. So my advice would be to drill into him the fact that he's better than ~80% of the other kids taking the test at his grade level. What a blessing to be homeschooling and have the opportunity to find the best fit for your ds! Poor first borns. They are so hard on themselves. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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