naturally Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I posted the other day about ideas to add to math for some fun supplements. Well I think I need a whole new plan. Today is our first day "back to school" after break. I got out our CLE Math (Unit 208) and DS about lost it. Instant attitude shift, just so sad, shut down. We didn't get anything done in math at all. He's 8 going into 3rd. So I talked to him about math. He likes the story problems (actually loves them). He likes the geometry/measurement/graphing intros. He doesn't like constant new problems. I think mastery might work better for him. He said he'd rather spend time on a topic. He does not have his facts "cemented" at all. He can figure them out but not quickly. Flash cards and speed drills really stress him out. He doesn't mind the workbook idea but would rather do problems on our whiteboard. *I* need... ~easy to teach/student independent (although I'm around and will sit near by). Have a K'er and infant around us. ~Needs review throughout. I don't want to teach a topic and then not touch on it for a long time. ~Don't want all "mental" math without some "traditional" problem solving techniques. (Does that make sense?) ~Cost is a factor. What else should I be looking for/talking about with DS to determine the right path to take? I need help! What would you suggest? Both in what curric and then what level? I don't mind going back a little if it will help but I don't want him to feel "behind" either. I don't want to skip around and lose ground in the long run but this just isn't working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Math Mammoth, working at the white board. It's cheap, it's easy to teach (the teaching is in the text), and it's still a workbook. It focuses on mental math AND traditional algorithm. Singapore would also be a good choice, but it is not as cheap. Personally, my oldest and I both think this way... Show me how to do a type of problem, let me practice that type and master it, review it occasionally while moving on to the next type of problem. My son did Saxon in school, and it was awful. He could get 100's easily (they were using it at grade level, and he needed to be working above grade level), but he was bored to tears, and I knew that once it got into something he didn't already know, he'd be annoyed. It drove ME nuts to see the homework sheets coming home. Saxon is worse than CLE in this respect, as the Saxon sheets hardly change at all from day to day (at least in grade 1). CLE changes a bit more often. :tongue_smilie: We've now successfully used Math Mammoth and Singapore. My son prefers Singapore for the presentation, so we're sticking with that. I liked Math Mammoth for accelerating to "where he really was" though, since it was cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Math Mammoth or Strayer Upton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Math Mammoth, working at the white board. It's cheap, it's easy to teach (the teaching is in the text), and it's still a workbook. It focuses on mental math AND traditional algorithm. Singapore would also be a good choice, but it is not as cheap. Personally, my oldest and I both think this way... Show me how to do a type of problem, let me practice that type and master it, review it occasionally while moving on to the next type of problem. My son did Saxon in school, and it was awful. He could get 100's easily (they were using it at grade level, and he needed to be working above grade level), but he was bored to tears, and I knew that once it got into something he didn't already know, he'd be annoyed. It drove ME nuts to see the homework sheets coming home. Saxon is worse than CLE in this respect, as the Saxon sheets hardly change at all from day to day (at least in grade 1). CLE changes a bit more often. :tongue_smilie: We've now successfully used Math Mammoth and Singapore. My son prefers Singapore for the presentation, so we're sticking with that. I liked Math Mammoth for accelerating to "where he really was" though, since it was cheap. :iagree:particularly with the bolded. It's mastery-based, incremental, easy to speed up or slow down as needed, there is only 1 book (the teaching is in it) so it is ideal for you to spend a few minutes getting him started on the lesson, then be nearby while he works on it. It has lots of word problems, and it has a good balance of mental math techniques and traditional algorithms, explained step by step so the kid really gets to understand how and why it works. It isn't the most exciting treatment of geometry, however - we are actually skipping the geometry chapter in MM4 and doing BA's chapters on perimeter/area and geometry instead, then picking up whatever we need to from MM5's geometry. You can have him do MM's placement test if you want, but you could also just get MM 3 and work through it, quickly accelerating through anything he already has down, and slowing down on the areas where he needs the incremental mastery-based work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturally Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Thank you all. I have always had MM on my radar but thought we were doing so good with CLE. I'm going to do the placement test with him this week. I'm really worried about the mental portions. I'm afraid he's not going to do well at all. I have also been looking at LOF and Beast to add in for fun. My boys (both 3rd and K) *love* the samples. Just wish I could afford them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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