Why does Math have to be so boring?

[kwg]

asks my ds? :tongue_smilie:

 

So we did some Fred. We currently use Math Mammoth.

 

It is a constant struggle here!

 

 

What do you do? :bigear:

[boscopup]

Is he placed at the correct level?

 

My son gets bored if the work is too easy or there are two many of the same type of problem when he doesn't need that much practice to get it (ie, if the concept can be mastered in 10 problems, he doesn't need 50 of them).

 

If it were too hard, that would also make it not fun.

 

And of course, some kids just won't like math. No one likes EVERY subject. I would just verify placement first.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

Are you teaching to his learning style?

[DaffodilDreams]

We use MM, Fred, Beast Academy, Khan, math picture books, the Number Devil, Number Stories of Long Ago, Mathemagic, and Mathematicians are People, Too I and II. We play games that use math skills, and we use some of the rhymes and hands-on math projects found in Waldorf curricula. Mostly, math is anything but boring here because dd draws inspiration from learning about the great mathematicians throughout history. She sees mathematical connections in the world around her. Math is a living thing to her - not an isolated subject. I paid a lot of attention to the Living Math site when I first started homeschooling, and the info I picked up from there helped shape what we do.

[regentrude]

Is he working at the correct level?

Is he doing too much busy work, or is the work over his head?

And, maybe most important: do YOU find math exciting and convey that attitude, or are you yourself bored?

[justLisa]

MM is pretty darn boring. I've used it, but it's not exciting. We use SM. My kids think anything to do with school is boring though.

[txmommyofboys]

We use Saxon for the 4th grader, and math is the most boring subject for him... My middle son (horizons)LOVES it though!

[justLisa]

Ugh I agree.

 

My youngest doesn't like math so much so I tried EVERYTHING. MM was one of the bigger busts. I was kinda wondering what all the hype was about.

 

Yeah and like they spend 6 hours working either. J gets each thing done in minutes. As long as they keep it to a one or two word moan I ignore it at this point.

 

I think MM is a good set of worksheets. I only take them out when I need a bit more on a topic or to break something down further because there are 100,000 problems for each topic. It is anything but interesting though.

 

With S I started writing things on the white board and she works them, and then I take a picture of it. It's that bad LOL. She writes too but this gets more out of her.

[kwg]

BTW, how old is he?

 

He is 10.

 

I think he is at the right level. What ended up working for you and how old is yours?

 

I like math; but I must admit- I do find MM pretty dull.

[Mommee & Baba]

I have to agree. We tried MEP and loved it, but I wanted something less teacher instensive. Then we switched to MM and boy it was really worksheet-y. Then we switched to TT and my girls both cried everytime they did it. So I found the courage to TRY Miquon. Now we LOVE MATH!! The girls beg to do math if any subject is to be done! We now use our MM worksheets to follow through with our miquon way of learning math. The rods have saved all of us in this house from math.

 

I taught my daughters place value in one 30 minute session using the cuisenaire rods and they both took to it the next days after the lesson without any issues. When I went to teach them money I had the play teaching money and the rods and taugh them money with the rods and it took ONE 60 minute session to teach them money! WOW...

 

Now my 2nd grader & 4th grader can add and subtract fractions, multiply fractions, and can do simple division with remainders. ALL because of the rods that are introduced in miquon. My preschooler can do simple addition and subtraction all because of the rods!!!

 

My first thought for your family is you are teaching in a way your child can't enjoy. I now ENJOY teaching math, before I dreaded it! Your program isn't the problem exactly. If I would've just got the rods and NOT purchase all the miquon workbooks, I would've saved alot of money. HOWEVER I don't regret it. I now use the rods in our math programs like MEP and MM that we previously tried and didn't love. The rods bring out a MAGIC. Sounds so dorky but I really believe the rods are the MAGIC to bringing math alive! I now have all the miquon workbooks to toss in for fun activities and learning lessons. I'm officially O.K. with owning 3 different math programs and incorporating them ALL through-out the year.:D

 

Education unboxed videos is all you need for teaching with the rods. It's the PERFECT introduction to the possibilities of using rods.

[wapiti]

In my house, "boring" is usually code for too easy or too hard.

 

Are you assigning all the problems (which in MM is often too many)? Try assigning fewer, like half - pick up the pace.

 

MM is not particularly exciting, but it's a good program. It's also very flexible. Don't forget the teacher notes at the beginning of chapters that recommend games and additional resources.

 

What grade is your student? There are lots of ways to spice things up with supplemental materials (eta, for example, by adding rods as described by the PP)

[boscopup]

When we used MM, DS loved it at first, since he was coming out of Saxon, which was even MORE boring. :tongue_smilie: After a few grade levels, MM started to get boring too. The presentation is not the greatest for many young kids, and there are a LOT of problems on the page. The most interesting way to do MM around here was for me to take the text in MY HANDS, stand at the white board, and teach the material. Do a few problems orally to gauge how well the topic was understood, then assign however many problems I thought my son needed in order to practice the concept. Usually this was half of the problems or less. He picks up math concepts very easily.

 

We also threw in some Singapore IP and CWP for "fun". By mixing it up a bit, MM was a lot more tolerable.

 

We eventually switched to Singapore, and math became exciting again. :)

[scrapbabe]

We use MM, Fred, Beast Academy, Khan, math picture books, the Number Devil, Number Stories of Long Ago, Mathemagic, and Mathematicians are People, Too I and II. We play games that use math skills, and we use some of the rhymes and hands-on math projects found in Waldorf curricula. Mostly, math is anything but boring here because dd draws inspiration from learning about the great mathematicians throughout history. She sees mathematical connections in the world around her. Math is a living thing to her - not an isolated subject. I paid a lot of attention to the Living Math site when I first started homeschooling, and the info I picked up from there helped shape what we do.

:iagree: Yep...this

[crazyforlatin]

What level of MM are you using?

 

We use, well, all sorts of books, just to keep DD on her toes. MM is efficient but flexible, so it's easy to accelerate to the point where the material is at a more challenging level. If boring means he knows his concepts but isn't excited, then I would accelerate and supplement, not change to a different program. I see MM as an anchor for grades 1-6 - I know what I'm supposed to cover and it's easy to go back to it after we veer off to explore certain topics.

[RootAnn]

Miquon can make math fun. (We just did some measurement & fractions stuff today Miquon-style with dd#2 (9 yrs old) & dd#3 (6 yrs old).)

 

You can teach math Miquon-style without having the Miquon program. (Education Unboxed can show you some ideas.) [For the record, we use Abeka, but I teach "Miquon-style."]

 

When they get older, throw in some Beast Academy.

 

Math doesn't HAVE to be boring.

 

Do I like math to be challenging? Yes.

 

Boring? No.

 

:party:

 

Oh! And don't forget some living math books. We like the Sir Cumference books by Cindy Neuschwander that we pick up at the library.

Edited September 26, 2012 by RootAnn
added living books comment

[Hunter]

She sees mathematical connections in the world around her. Math is a living thing to her - not an isolated subject.

 

It's a challenge to integrate math for those of us who learned it as an isolated subject. I try to read picture books. I try to read books at a higher level than the student, and tell them bits about them and share MY excitement. I try to point out when we are using math in daily life and maybe weren't noticing.

 

Mostly, I try to inspire my students to do better with the next generation. To learn what is available to us, with the knowledge that there is a better way beyond us NOW, with our current resources and understanding.

 

I try to instill hope and curiosity, when that is all I have to offer.

[Crimson Wife]

Arithmetic is boring; higher math is fun. But to get to the fun higher math, the student has to first be rock-solid on arithmetic. It's like learning to play an instrument. To get to the fun part, the student has to first master the boring basics like scales. That's just the way it is, sorry!

[dereksurfs]

Arithmetic is boring; higher math is fun. But to get to the fun higher math, the student has to first be rock-solid on arithmetic. It's like learning to play an instrument. To get to the fun part, the student has to first master the boring basics like scales. That's just the way it is, sorry!

 

I agree with Crimson Wife overall. Arithmetic is boring, memorizing times tables, fractions, decimals, etc... But sometimes you can find math games which help to add a little variety. Also consider Hands-on-Equations. It teaches advanced topics to younger kids in fun, visual ways. We also did DreamBox for a while as a suppliment and our girls loved it. That said I do think some programs are *extra* boring depending on certain children's learing style. Our girls didn't like mastery programs such as MM or MUS. They are happier now using CLE which is spiral. It provides more daily variety for them.

[Farrar]

We use MM, Fred, Beast Academy, Khan, math picture books, the Number Devil, Number Stories of Long Ago, Mathemagic, and Mathematicians are People, Too I and II. We play games that use math skills, and we use some of the rhymes and hands-on math projects found in Waldorf curricula. Mostly, math is anything but boring here because dd draws inspiration from learning about the great mathematicians throughout history. She sees mathematical connections in the world around her. Math is a living thing to her - not an isolated subject. I paid a lot of attention to the Living Math site when I first started homeschooling, and the info I picked up from there helped shape what we do.

 

:iagree: We didn't do that exact mix, but a similar one. MM isn't the most pretty or fun math curriculum. We use it because the style works well for one of my ds and I see him learning with it. But MM ≠ Math in our house. Math is the whole of all the games, stories, manipulatives, etc. that we do.

[Hunter]

Samuel Blumenfeld's How to Tutor showed me how beautiful arithmetic is, and now I've been hunting around to find the best picture books to use with my students.

 

I have a love and excitement for arithmetic that is catchy right now.

 

A guide to American Christian Education also makes arithmetic sound exciting and beautiful.

 

Just yesterday a student asked me why everyone else isn't talking about what an amazing discovery the Arabic/Hindu decimal system is, and how can they not also see what an incredible gift we have been given.

[Farrar]

Arithmetic is boring; higher math is fun. But to get to the fun higher math, the student has to first be rock-solid on arithmetic. It's like learning to play an instrument. To get to the fun part, the student has to first master the boring basics like scales. That's just the way it is, sorry!

 

I totally disagree with this. First, I think arithmetic can be really interesting. There are patterns and rules that emerge and learning to see those relationships, while not something that all people are going to find interesting, isn't automatically boring. And there are numerous games and ways to use those facts in a more playful way. Second, while clearly the focus on elementary math has to be learning those procedures, algorithms and so forth, not giving a child a taste of the higher concepts and the real world applications seems like a mistake to me in terms of helping a child find math useful and needed.

[Soror]

I totally disagree with this. First, I think arithmetic can be really interesting. There are patterns and rules that emerge and learning to see those relationships, while not something that all people are going to find interesting, isn't automatically boring. And there are numerous games and ways to use those facts in a more playful way. Second, while clearly the focus on elementary math has to be learning those procedures, algorithms and so forth, not giving a child a taste of the higher concepts and the real world applications seems like a mistake to me in terms of helping a child find math useful and needed.

I agree!

 

 

We find arithmetic fun at our house. Our main curriculum has been RS (we are on D now- which is 3rd), we've bought Beast Academy this year as well as LoF just for fun as well. We enjoy it all, although sometimes it is a challenge and we work hard. I think it is fun to work to learn something and then to figure it out, to see yourself learning and able to do the problems faster and faster, to realize you can figure out something that you didn't before. I've always loved Math though and find it so cool to work together and see those little lights turn on.

[Crimson Wife]

I totally disagree with this. First, I think arithmetic can be really interesting. There are patterns and rules that emerge and learning to see those relationships, while not something that all people are going to find interesting, isn't automatically boring. And there are numerous games and ways to use those facts in a more playful way. Second, while clearly the focus on elementary math has to be learning those procedures, algorithms and so forth, not giving a child a taste of the higher concepts and the real world applications seems like a mistake to me in terms of helping a child find math useful and needed.

 

Oh, we use games and "living" books, and introduce some higher concepts through the Zaccaro books, HOE, etc. But a student can't do very much in terms of higher math until arithmetic has been totally mastered. And I do consider arithmetic really dull.

 

Oldest DD today had to do some order of operations problems and we both groaned when we opened up the book and saw them. They weren't hard, just tedious. :svengo:

[kwg]

We did most of Miquon- that is 1st-3rd approximately I thought. I looked around to see if I could find the last book to see if I missed something more interesting and applicable to what we are learning but I couldnt find it :tongue_smilie: Maybe later!

 

We have HOE- and that he likes. I guess it boils down to MM is boring :lol: but honestly we have to finish 5th and 6th and then we can move on to a pre-algebra program which may be more interesting.

 

I can put it more effort- use MM as my guide for the skills and the living math site for how to introduce it. *sigh* That is probably what I should do with him. It isnt that I require him to do so much- he is just.so.slow.at.it. that. it.takes.so.long. we never do any of the fun stuff. I was reminded also of that game Lure of the Labyrinth (I learned about it here). We haven't played it in ages and it is fun!

[kwg]

 

Education unboxed videos is all you need for teaching with the rods. It's the PERFECT introduction to the possibilities of using rods.

 

What a wonderful resource! I had heard of it but I finally checked it out and it has a lot that my ds might enjoy. At least it is a different way to teach it to him :D

 

Thank you!!!

[stripe]

Arithmetic is boring; higher math is fun. But to get to the fun higher math, the student has to first be rock-solid on arithmetic. It's like learning to play an instrument. To get to the fun part, the student has to first master the boring basics like scales. That's just the way it is, sorry!

 

Arll I can say is, aithmetic is not boring in my house. My son has gotten a big charge out of tricks like multiples of 11, and learning powers of 2, and suchlike. And both my kids have over sixty digits of pi memorized for fun. Their idea.

 

But why does elementary math have to be just about arithmetic? What happened to geometry, anyway? Puzzles?

 

Elementary math is not "prep for higher math," to me. It is its own thing, utterly. I try to enjoy the wonder of exploration at this phase. My early math education, despite being at a Montessori school, was tedious. I remember it as being so boring. I found some of my old math work a few months back, and it looked EXACTLY as I remembered! It made me somewhat sick.

 

And yeah, math is probably the #1 reason I homeschool. The idea of math becoming dreary for my kids is just about my worst nightmare.

 

We're on at least the fourth generation of math-craziness, so the fun isn't going to stop now!

Edited September 27, 2012 by stripe

[SunnyDays]

OP, I am with you there. My son is using MM. He's at the right level, and we accelerate as needed. But he just doesn't love it, and for the first time math is not one of his favorite subjects... it's tough to figure out how to handle it.

 

I'm thinking when we get through our current unit (long division... he did need some practice there!) we might take a break and do just LOF and work through Fractions and Decimals & Percents.