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I am falling down on my job as a (math) parent... please help me


Guest BarbieSmith
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Guest BarbieSmith

I only now found this forum online, and I am not even sure I am in the right place - we are not "accelerated" *anything* in our house... though I am pretty smart, and so are my kids (but not exceptionally so). I am adoptive mama to two sweet girls - entering 1st and 2nd grade, and I need help with math. I hope I can get some help here even if I am not in the right place, because I am reduced to tears about this. I am so confused about how to help my oldest. She is 7 years old, smart, but was born 3 months premature and thus I sometimes wonder if some of the "pathways" in her brain are completely fine. She has never had extensive testing, other than her first year of life, when they declared her *perfect* after a year of intervention. She does well in school, but we struggle so MUCH with Everyday Math. We both cry over it! It just cannot get into her brain, and we do not know why. We work hard at it and it just doesn't click. So I want to do an online math curriculum with her this summer, and just start over with 1st grade. My sister does Aleks with her 6th grader (2 years now) and has seen incredible progress. But Aleks does not start until 3rd grade (or can I use it earlier?) Anyone recommendations on where to start my research? Actually, I have *been* researching, on the internet for 1.5 days now, and my head is swimming and I am having hard time judging programs, so I would love it someone could make some recommendations on a few places for me to research, that would be appropriate for my almost 2nd grader. I would be so grateful. Thanks, Barbie (and daughter Ava) ps: I keep trying to edit to put in paragraph breaks and it will not "take" - sorry about the long single paragraph :)

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Guest BarbieSmith

So far I have found SmartTutor and Time4Learning... they appeal to me, but I have no objective way to know if they are recommended. Thanks!!

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Guest BarbieSmith

Off to check out Dreambox.

 

I *do* wish some instruction out of the online program - I don't trust myself enough with that. I can be a backup instructor though ;)

 

Thanks!

Barbie

 

ps: so far leaning toward SmartTutor. But have others to check out :)

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AhaMath at learning.com; JumpStart and MathBlaster at jumpstart.com, Starfall.com's subscription program covers addition and subtraction. BBC education websites usually have lots of great materials. Khan Academy offers lots of free tutorials. The Singapore Maths Teacher offers free videos as well.

 

Visit Homeschool Buyer Coop and Currclick and take a look at the math offerings there too. Currclick in particular will allow you to print books targeted toward learning just one skill. Also visit Teachers Pay Teachers and take a look at the 1st grade math materials.

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I have one daughter who is a young 1st grader (will be 6 in October) and is very average in math. She actually works quite hard to be average, and without her good attitude, probably would not be.

 

This summer I bought a bunch of storybooks that have math themes. Just read the first one yesterday - "Math Fables" - and it did spark interest in a gentle way. Today I dug out some legos and used them to reinforce the concepts from the first book - basically, different ways you can break down numbers (e.g., 7 is 4+3, 5+2 etc.). Other books in our "math stack" talk about geometry, fractions, multiplication and division, in storybook style. I also periodically review concepts about money, telling time, etc. And she is learning (slowly) to play the piano - which reinforces basic math and reading concepts.

 

I realize that the above may seem too simple for a 1st grader on the "accelerated" board, but my goal is to really solidify the underlying concepts so that when she is asked to perform operations in school, she will have the tools to do so (I hope).

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I know it's not an online solution, but I am about to start the "Life with Fred" series with my 2nd grader. I like that it's in the form of a story, so it's almost like a read-aloud. You may want to look at that as well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will make math "real" for her instead of just being a bunch of drills.

 

Good luck!

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We really like Adaptedmind.com They have a 30 day trial period, and after that, its only 10 bucks a month, but well worth it. If you sign up, make sure to register all kids in the family at same time. The kids earn badges and it makes doing math fun! Also, you receive a daily notification of what your child has done and what they missed. My kids are always asking to skip their regular math to do adaptedmind instead.

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Guest BarbieSmith

Thank you all! Right now we are one day into our SmartTutor.com trial, and the girls have done way more lessons than I asked them to - they just love it! And these are girls that get lots of "screen" time, so that says something. The assessments they did were very, very helpful to me... one of my girls is behind in phonics (and ahead with other parts of reading) and one is behind in certain aspects of math (and ahead in others). So I was able to add in extra "assignments" for the lacking areas, and they love *them* too! I am blown away.

 

There are 2 more programs I want to try, based on your recommendations. thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction, I really appreciate it!

 

Barbie

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I used ST Math (Spatial Temporal) online with my ds5, dd8, and dd10 this past year. It uses graphics to explain concepts without words. It's hard to explain, but my kids loved it and made great progress as well. It features Jiji the penguin who doesn't talk, but visually demonstrates the concepts.

Blessings,

Ali

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I have one daughter who is a young 1st grader (will be 6 in October) and is very average in math. She actually works quite hard to be average, and without her good attitude, probably would not be.

 

This summer I bought a bunch of storybooks that have math themes. Just read the first one yesterday - "Math Fables" - and it did spark interest in a gentle way. Today I dug out some legos and used them to reinforce the concepts from the first book - basically, different ways you can break down numbers (e.g., 7 is 4+3, 5+2 etc.). Other books in our "math stack" talk about geometry, fractions, multiplication and division, in storybook style. I also periodically review concepts about money, telling time, etc. And she is learning (slowly) to play the piano - which reinforces basic math and reading concepts.

 

I realize that the above may seem too simple for a 1st grader on the "accelerated" board, but my goal is to really solidify the underlying concepts so that when she is asked to perform operations in school, she will have the tools to do so (I hope).

 

In the theme of math storybooks. I'm working on writing what I hope is a cute one. You can check it out here.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?p=4077988#post4077988

 

If you are unable to take a math break some nice simple math picture books or life of Fred books might help build her confidence for when you tackle something else.

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