Math---older child, starting from the beginning?

[mo2]

Let's say you wanted to start a late-elementary student pretty much from the beginning with math because, well, you realized they just don't understand the concepts behind math in general. So you want to back up and quickly go over everything from the beginning. What would you use, and why? :bigear:

[Violet Crown]

Miquon, skip the rods. Covers math concepts thoroughly. Next Key To Fractions, Decimals, and Geometry. Supplement with practice pages from any source.

 

Cheap, thorough, concept-oriented, and not soul-killing.

 

ETA: with an older child you'd focus less on things like the subtraction problems in Miquon and more on using a number line to model subtraction, if you see what I mean.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Sharon in Austin

[MomatHWTK]

Khan Academy Singapore Math lessons starting at the beginning.

[serendipitous journey]

Miquon, skip the rods. Covers math concepts thoroughly. Next Key To Fractions, Decimals, and Geometry. Supplement with practice pages from any source.

 

Cheap, thorough, concept-oriented, and not soul-killing.

 

ETA: with an older child you'd focus less on things like the subtraction problems in Miquon and more on using a number line to model subtraction, if you see what I mean.

 

This sounds good to me, esp. the Key to part: you can run Key to... books in parallel, doing some pages from one series in the AM, another in the PM, for example.

 

For going back over the basic arithmetic skills, I myself am not so sure. Miquon seems a good recommendation; you could also maybe use the Kitchen Table series (1 & 2) and give practice with problem books like the Mastering Multi-Digit series (I linked to division there). Those are very plain books, just problems separated by difficulty and an answer key, but I do love them; and they might be a good practice to use for the program outlined by the previous poster.

 

I would start a drill program; we like Calculadder, but there are lots, many computer-based.

 

I might supplement with age-appropriate books from livingmath.net to build enthusiasm, following the child's interests.

 

This would give a strong grounding in the arithmetic, provide you with excellent teaching support (from the Kitchen Table books, which you might want no matter what program you pick), and not be onerous. The drill would give valuable automatic skills. If you add some livingmath resources you could build joy a bit :) .

Edited May 18, 2012 by serendipitous journey

[MomatHWTK]

You might take a look at the Learning Express e-books listed here as well.

[Alte Veste Academy]

In this situation, I would choose Math Mammoth. Good, solid conceptual math instruction, thorough, inexpensive, and easy to accelerate as soon as the child shows proficiency with a concept.

 

ETA: If this is for the visual, artsy DD you posted about yesterday, I would probably change my answer though. :tongue_smilie:

Edited May 18, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy

[Hope in God]

You may want to do dreambox.com over the summer. It is fun(ish) and conceptual so that would help the nuts and bolts understanding aspect. My kids also like whizz.com. It is more of a conventional program so I have found that the two of them together give a good foundation. We also add in the xtramath for the mastery of the facts.

[Dolphin]

Late elementary...do you have any friends with Teaching Textbooks? They start with 3rd grade.

 

We started at 3rd grade. I had ds listen to the lecture, but only do the lesson and problems if he didn't know it. He had to take the quizzes as a double check. We flew through level 3 and are now half way through 4. We also started Life of Fred, right from the beginning. He enjoys it and goes through a chapter a day, a book a month. This last month we have added Beast Academy. I now am feeling like he is getting a good grounding in everything. It's enjoyable (so the remediation isn't boring)

 

It is working for us.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Northwest_Mama

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I would recommend the Key to Series and Calculadders for fact drill. Then, I would recommend Lials Basic College math! My dd needed many holes filled and that REALLY helped her!

[dsmith]

Strayer Upton Practical Arithmetics series and the Key to series. With the Strayer Upton books, I go through page by page writing a few of each type of problem on a large whiteboard, explain any new concepts, and let him work the problems. Word problems I read to him and have him write out the problems on the whiteboard. He never even looks in the books. We are able to cover a lot of ground this way. This takes about 15 minutes a day. Another 15 is spent on the Key to books. He does those mostly independently. He also enjoys Khan Academy.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I would not use a curriculum instead use a book that lists the skills needed. Maximum Math by Katheryn Stout. You go through the skills one by one making sure he gets it, spending as long or as little as needed with each skill. No workbooks to skip through so no wasted money.

[mo2]

So many options! I'll be researching this all day. Thank you everyone.

 

 

.

 

ETA: If this is for the visual, artsy DD you posted about yesterday, I would probably change my answer though. :tongue_smilie:

 

Um, yeah, it is. :blushing:

[Hunter]

One of the things I have learned when remediating students, is that when going back to the beginning, I often need to plan a SLOW progression through the material NOT a COMPACTED one.

 

Some children do not "catch up", and that is FINE. They need to just make STEADY and REAL progress. Yes, this steady and real progress plan appears to close certain doors for them, but it is not closing any doors that are open for them in REALITY, if they continue to use age matched materials they are not learning from.

 

I think this problem is seldom fixed with a particular curriculum. It is fixed by giving the child material that is appropriate for their level of understanding.

[wapiti]

To solidify concepts from the beginning, I would lean towards using a curriculum that is heavy on concepts (e.g., Miquon, SM,MM).

 

Um, yeah, it is. :blushing:

 

MM is easy to accelerate through by limiting problems assigned and doing chapter reviews and tests to skip chapters on topics the student already knows. Whether the page format is an issue will depend on the kid. My visual dd did not have a problem with it. Try some of the samples. SM would be another way to go, but much more expensive, especially for a student going through many grade levels' worth of material in a short time. With MM, I'd just print what you need (I doubt you'll need every single page, every single chapter).

 

Eta, while I like the Key-to books somewhat, I prefer MM instead. IMO, the Key-to books lean much more toward drill with less conceptual instruction.

Edited May 18, 2012 by wapiti

[Pen]

What exactly does he not understand?

 

Can he do the calculation, but not understand the concepts?

 

Maybe you do not need a new curriculum. Maybe you just need to sit down with him and use some real objects, diagrams, etc. and explain/show what he does not understand.

 

If you yourself need a basic review in order to help him, maybe something like Arithmetic Made Simple, would help.

[ErinE]

The Math Mammoth Blue Series is a great option. The work is grouped by concepts so you're not searching through each grade level for the work you need.

[Pen]

Also there is a Barron's review of Arithmetic book that could perhaps help you both.

 

And $1 or $2 worth of pennies can be used to show all the basic processes, as they relate to each other, rather than separating each topic. That is an approach that can help with conceptual understanding. You know, like showing that while it is easy to see a group of three pennies and know how many are there right away, it is hard to know if there might be 89 or 92 at just a glance, hence the help from counting and numbers. And you can show that while you can count every time to see how many you have, it is easier to add, subtract, multiply or divide as case may be then to have to recount every time there is a transaction. And so on.

[LittleIzumi]

Um, yeah, it is. :blushing:

 

Well, Miquon is great for my visual/artsy dd. :)

[kandty]

:lurk5: I could have written this post. I think my Ds is struggling in math just because he doesn't understand the concepts. Would Kitchen Table Math books be an option to show the conceptual knowledge behind the procedual that he already knows?

[Karen in CO]

The Math Mammoth Blue Series is a great option. The work is grouped by concepts so you're not searching through each grade level for the work you need.

 

Yes, the dark blue series so you can work by concept instead of grade. AND get Kitchen Table math to help you see how topics are interrelated. One of the strenghts of the KT books is the information about what concepts a particular concept is related to.

[Alte Veste Academy]

:lurk5: I could have written this post. I think my Ds is struggling in math just because he doesn't understand the concepts. Would Kitchen Table Math books be an option to show the conceptual knowledge behind the procedual that he already knows?

 

Yes, and they are fun too. :)

[Alte Veste Academy]

One of the strenghts of the KT books is the information about what concepts a particular concept is related to.

 

:iagree:

[Farrar]

I'd do Math Mammoth blue. Even for an artsy kid. It's straightforward. Let the artsy stuff be supplemental.

 

Or... I'd do something like Kitchen Table Math and take a totally out of the box approach and then try to dive into Singapore or something in a year or so.

 

How would one even do Miquon from the beginning without the rods? That doesn't even make total sense to me. The rods are an integrated part of the program. Even if you were to just do the lab sheets and not any of the lesson stuff from the Diary or the Annotations, then there would be pages you'd have to skip, especially in Orange and Red, because they require the rods to make sense. I think some of the activities that don't require the rods and the lab sheets without the rods could be useful as a supplement, but without the rods, Miquon loses its soul.

[mo2]

Well I already have a couple of the early levels of the light blue MM. Would I want to switch to the blue or purchase the light blue levels I am missing?

[mo2]

I love the idea of Miquon, and I could use it with my youngers too...

[Alte Veste Academy]

Well I already have a couple of the early levels of the light blue MM. Would I want to switch to the blue or purchase the light blue levels I am missing?

 

In your shoes, I would use what I had and just go faster through what she already gets. Or... It is possible for you to just rearrange the light blue material by concept, so you could do that if you prefer. And let her do it all in color pencils. That helps my artistic DD get the less alluring work done with fewer complaints. ;)

 

ETA: Now that I think about MM pricing, I wonder if you couldn't buy all of the blue at once for as much (or even less than) buying the rest of light blue piecemeal.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy

[mo2]

In your shoes, I would use what I had and just go faster through what she already gets. Or... It is possible for you to just rearrange the light blue material by concept, so you could do that if you prefer. And let her do it all in color pencils. That helps my artistic DD get the less alluring work done with fewer complaints. ;)

 

ETA: Now that I think about MM pricing, I wonder if you couldn't buy all of the blue at once for as much (or even less than) buying the rest of light blue piecemeal.

 

 

Oh, yes, colored pens are my friend. :) I was looking at the MM website just now, and I think maybe I will get enough of the dark blue books to fill in the gaps to get us up to maybe 3A or 3B of the light blue series, and then switch over to the light blue and finish up the series. I may even email Maria and see which of the dark blue books she recommends I get.