lovinmomma Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I knew that my dd was struggling in some areas in school so I had been trying to work at home with her and had thought about even doing some formal after schooling but DD seemed to be improving just with extra practice. However, I got her report card on Friday and it read this: "*** has a strong desire to learn and is putting a lot of effort into her daily work. I am very proud of her dedication and improvements made in spelling and math. Thank you for working with her on her math and spelling skills outside the classroom. You have fostered a positive attitude for school and learning. *** has a positive attitude toward math, but is having a great deal of trouble in a few areas. Some areas that could use attention are problem solving with word problems & two digit subtraction with regrouping. The Fall DIEBELS reading test ranked her at "Benchmark- At Grade Level." *** Accelerated Reader level is 2.1-3.1. Continue daily reading at home. Reading to your child and listening to your child read daily will increase reading success. Math focus 1st Quarter included place value and "composing/decomposing" in solving addition and subtraction problems. Your child will benefit from additional practice on basic math facts. Please remember to incorporate the Addition and Subtraction Strategies when practicing the Math Facts. Her overall grade for math and spelling are "s" which is satisfactory but she has "-" in multiple subcategories which means that she is below the norm for her grade level. HOW do I fix this? I feel like I need a real game plan. In math, specifically, her "-" are in knows math facts as studied, understands mathematic concepts, and reasons well in problem solving. She is on grade level in math for her "instructional level". In Spelling, specifically, her "-" is in applies spelling in all written work but she is on grade level for her spelling tests. GAH! I just don't know what to do. I feel like I need a real game plan. Please keep in mind, however, that I'm a single mom of 3. So any plan has to be cheap and hopefully not take up my entire evening. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 How about the math videos in my signature? You'd only need to buy Cuisenaire Rods. And you could do it with all three of your kids. Family time! It is very common for kids to ace their spelling tests and not have it transfer to their personal written work. Copywork and dictation would help that. Read up on Charlotte Mason method or the beginning of the book The Complete Writer by Susan Wise Bauer to see more of how it works. You can make up your own sentences from books you're reading together or buy something like Writing with Ease if you don't want to make up your own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Are you certain the "-" means below grade level? When ds was in PS, categories that weren't graded were marked with a dash to indicate no assessment was made. I would ask the teacher for more clarification. For math, I'd recommend a few things. While cooking or cleaning, make up quick word problems. "You have 9 Barbies total and 6 are on the floor. How many are in the toy bin?" Singapore's Challenging Word Problems a level behind might be helpful. For place value, you can buy a few packs of straws and use rubber bands to compose/decompose numbers. Maria Miller of Math Mammoth has some great videos showing math strategies; she also has a free worksheet generator. Finally, second grade is a good time to focus on solidifying math facts. Perhaps focusing on one fact family each week unti your dd knows them, using card games, C-rods, or any group of household items. For my dd, repetition (not drill) using a variety of activities and materials has been the key to memorizing her facts. Since your dd is on grade level reading-wise, I would just continue to remind her of the spelling rules if she's misspelling a word. From the comments, it sounds like she's struggling during independent writing and not her actual spelling evaluations. Having seen writing output at this level from a good school, I would say this is not unusual. I haven't recommended many resources just because it didn't sound like you wanted to spend too much money. I think c-rods and Singapore's word problems would be a good investment. For spelling, OPGTR or the Logic of English might be good fits for spelling review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 First, take a deep breath - she is only 7! For math, Math Mammoth does a great job of teaching regrouping with the idea behind it. Tons of practice and it is inexpensive. You might consider just purchasing 2B the blue series and 2B has the regrouping explanations. Check out the samples to see all of the great exercises that they do. http://www.mathmammoth.com/add_subtract_2B.php I also saw they have some word problems in there. This is only 4.50 and you can print in B&W For spelling, I just think she is so young! I'm not sure what her needs are but you may need to work on phonics and spelling rules and understand that it might take a while to get there with her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Deep breath. Deep breath. lol Thank you for the reminder. Her teacher is a bit worried about dyslexia or something because she still reverses many letters. Often reverses the letters when writing her name. Her spelling was VERY low, but I've worked with her like crazy on her spelling tests and now she aces every one. It's just when she is writing she doesn't apply her spelling to her writing. Math is a whole different story. She's having trouble understanding the concepts as seen by the story problems score being so low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Are you certain the "-" means below grade level? When ds was in PS, categories that weren't graded were marked with a dash to indicate no assessment was made. I would ask the teacher for more clarification. Yes, it means that it's below level. There is an explanation on the back of the sheet and if it's no assessment they use a different symbol. For math, I'd recommend a few things. While cooking or cleaning, make up quick word problems. "You have 9 Barbies total and 6 are on the floor. How many are in the toy bin?" Singapore's Challenging Word Problems a level behind might be helpful. For place value, you can buy a few packs of straws and use rubber bands to compose/decompose numbers. Maria Miller of Math Mammoth has some great videos showing math strategies; she also has a free worksheet generator. Finally, second grade is a good time to focus on solidifying math facts. Perhaps focusing on one fact family each week unti your dd knows them, using card games, C-rods, or any group of household items. For my dd, repetition (not drill) using a variety of activities and materials has been the key to memorizing her facts. Yes, I don't think drill is going to help. Her mind just seems to work differently. It's hard to explain, but drill didn't help me. Since your dd is on grade level reading-wise, I would just continue to remind her of the spelling rules if she's misspelling a word. From the comments, it sounds like she's struggling during independent writing and not her actual spelling evaluations. Having seen writing output at this level from a good school, I would say this is not unusual. I think I need to get a list of the spelling rules. I haven't recommended many resources just because it didn't sound like you wanted to spend too much money. I think c-rods and Singapore's word problems would be a good investment. For spelling, OPGTR or the Logic of English might be good fits for spelling review. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) http://www.singaporemath.com/Fan_Math_Process_Skills_in_Prob_Solving_L1_p/fmpsps1.htm This series takes a child step by step through a process (Singapore based) for learning to do word problems. I'm doing it with my son weak on word problems. He's 8. Dreambox learning (there may still be a discount on homeschool buyers coop) does a really great job with place value and is enjoyable too. There is a thread right now with suggestions for learning place value. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=434502 I'm imaging she needs a manipulative based approach for that. Do you suspect Dyslexia? http://www.dys-add.com/symptoms.html It can certainly affect math as well as spelling. I would take a different track if that were the case. It pains me to read that stuff about a 7 year old. I can tell you're a great mommy. :grouphug: Edited October 22, 2012 by sbgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 For math, I'd consider two things: C Rods/math lab/Education Unboxed type approach. If you've got a VSL, then C Rods can really show and FEEL how it all works. OR You could take a look at MEP and jump in where it would be easy for her. It's at least free. I'm not sure about the spelling, though... I don't have issues with my oldest here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 FYI math mammoth has similar math theory to Singapore but you have all the teaching incorporated in the student book. If you suspect dyslexia, AllAbout Spelling is a good approach I think. It is not cheap though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 For word problems do you have a chart? This is what really helped ds. Teach her to circle the important words and underline numbers. Then make a chart like + words are add, more than, and, - words are less than, etc. We have a chart for each operation. You can also show her how to draw bar diagrams if she is spatial. That will help her "see" what needs to be done for the problem. The Thinking Blocks website is great for understanding how to use bar diagrams and has videos for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 http://www.singaporemath.com/Fan_Math_Process_Skills_in_Prob_Solving_L1_p/fmpsps1.htm This series takes a child step by step through a process (Singapore based) for learning to do word problems. I'm doing it with my son weak on word problems. He's 8. Dreambox learning (there may still be a discount on homeschool buyers coop) does a really great job with place value and is enjoyable too. There is a thread right now with suggestions for learning place value. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=434502 We actually tried this back a couple of years ago maybe 1 1/2? and she really enjoyed it, but it was difficult for her even then. Hmmm... maybe it being difficult for her is good because I know it adjusts to the child's level, right? I'm imaging she needs a manipulative based approach for that. Do you suspect Dyslexia? http://www.dys-add.com/symptoms.html It can certainly affect math as well as spelling. I would take a different track if that were the case. It pains me to read that stuff about a 7 year old. I can tell you're a great mommy. :grouphug: Thank you. I needed to hear that. :) It does sound like she could **possibly** have dyslexia. Her teacher said that she is talking to a specialist at the school about it, but otherwise giving it until Jan to see if things correct themselves as far as letter reversals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 I own math mammoth light blue series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnIslandGirl Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 We love the fundations program for spelling. Our local PS expects children to know all of the "trick words" for the grade level by the end of first term. It might be a great list of easy high frequency spelling words to start with. http://teacherweb.com/MA/CyrusEDallinElementarySchool/Liu/Second-Grade-Trick-Words.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Thank you. I needed to hear that. :) It does sound like she could **possibly** have dyslexia. Her teacher said that she is talking to a specialist at the school about it, but otherwise giving it until Jan to see if things correct themselves as far as letter reversals. Vision problems can LOOK like dyslexia. I had a kid who everyone swore was dyslexic, but vision therapy corrected it 100%! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjpeter Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Regarding reversing letters, one of my sons did it quite often until the 3rd grade and is now an excellent reader and writer. It's quite normal at that age :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Your decision of what to do at home will be easier to make when you are clear on what, if any, issues there may be. First get a thorough pediatric eye exam. Then, go ahead and request in writing that the school do an evaluation. In TN the school has 30 days to comply. It may be that these things will confirm some things you already suspect and/ or turn up some things you are unfamiliar with or unaware of. All of this will put you in a better position to help your dd. I don't regret any of the testing I had done on my children. :) Right now, continue working with your dd using whatever you feel will work for her. You know your dd best. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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