Looking for math program recommendations

[Hope in God]

I have been doing a bit of Math with my grade 10 daughter to counteract the summer brain drain and get her up to speed for the school year, and all I can say is WOW! What am I going to do! We were already behind by about 1/2 year or maybe a full year from what I was witnessing yesterday.

 

She is not mathy by any means and she has so much anxiety over math that somehow she can't grasp simple concepts and when she does grasp them she soon forgets again. The problem is at least 75% psycological because she has a memory like a steal trap and can memorize history, poetry, grammar and any other thing without a second thought. It is just math that paralyzes her.

 

Can anything be done about this? Is there a curriculum that is especially engaging? I have been looking at yourteacher.com and videotext but there are so many programs that look engaging. I think we need a program that goes. very. slowly. Something that is clear and concise and maybe not too conceptual? It would also be nice if it didn't make her cry every lesson but I know that is asking for a lot.:confused: We have been using Teaching Textbooks and she enjoyed that for a time but now she is not understaning it any more. Something visual and online would probably be best.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[dbmamaz]

ok, this might not help, but i wanted to share my experience

 

when i got my son out of school at the end of 7th grade, his pre-algebra teacher told me to put him in algebra. we tried 4 different programs and each one failed. He went through one LOF pre-algebra book, but that was about the only math we accomplished all year.

 

the next year I started with the upper level Singapore books. I kept flipping through the first few chapters, because it was all pre-algebra and I thought he already knew it. But when we got down to business with the algebra . . . i realized he did NOT know all that other stuff.

 

So i went back to the beginning of the Singapore book, and sat with him and helped him work out everything. We went quickly through the stuff he did know, and took our time with the stuff he didnt know.

 

he's now entering 10th grade and he just finished the 2nd book (which according to the singapore timeframe should have been 8th grade), and now i am going to go through LOF beginning algebra, which he couldnt do 2 years ago, to get algebra really firm before moving on.

 

he will be behind, but i plan to send him to community college, and at least around here, the community colleges have plenty of remedial math classes, and they give you a pretest for levels.

 

So i guess my point is - if she is not understanding the TT, its probably not the curriculum thats the problem. Its probably a subject that depends on something she never really learned before. Like for my son, fractions killed him every time. But once we went through it together, i knew what he was missing, and i knew how to remind him about what we'd done before.

 

so if your daughter is like my son, you really have to get down and dirty and do the math with her to figure out what she really is not understanding. no video curriculum can find her gaps. although something like ALEKs might

[dereksurfs]

I agree with dbmamas about finding out where the gaps might be and then filling them in. Math really builds on itself. So if one has a weak foundation the next level which follows doesn't usually go well. Do you think she has her primary math down?

 

In terms of programs you may want to have a look at Math-U-See (MUS). Its very gentle and incremental as you've described. It focuses on 'mastery' which may be what she needs. TT is also known to be gentle and is 'spiral' in its approach. She just might need to look at things from a fresh perspective with supplimentals.

Edited August 26, 2012 by dereksurfs

[Heather in VA]

I am using a new program (for us) this year that I am really excited about. It's called A Fresh Approach. You didn't mention what math course she is doing but they have Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II. I have read some of the book and the explanations are clear and understandable.

 

Heather

[laughing lioness]

It sounds like your dd is very linguistically, rather than symbolically oriented. For ds17 we went with 2 years of LoF, after the Saxon book was lost in the fire. We did get a tutor for Alg II and that helped immensly. We just went to Foerster's for pre-calc (with tutor) but while he still doesn't love math, he is competent and knowing that he can continue on with it.

[Sumiller]

My ds18 is also very linguistic and began struggling with math around 8th grade. I was using saxon. So I bought Systematic Mathematics and started him at the beginning. By the end of his 9th grade year, he was 'getting it' and had caught up to where he should have been. Surprisingly, I tried one of the LoF books with him and he didn't care for it. hmm. Each child is really unique in what works best for him/her at any given time.

 

He did use TT for geometry and didn't really care for that one as well. But, I'm wondering if had more to do with him not really enjoying math as much as the curriculum?? He would much rather be buried in a mountain of good literature or writing the next great novel than spend one iota of time calculating anything! His checkbook is evidence of that. :lol:

 

I know, given time and trial/error you too will find the right fit for your daughter. :001_smile: