Slower math

[roanna]

We've been using Singapore 1A for the semester and we would be long done with it except I have to stop a lot for him to memorize math facts. He does great in other subjects but he does not enjoy math. He will still count on his fingers at times for 8-1. Not even realizing , oh just move back one spot.

 

I have been doing games with him and that helps a little butnjustmwhen I thought we had mastered adding and subtracting up to 10 I go back to refresh him on subtracting from 10 and he's blank on nearly everything needing to genuinely use a number line.

 

So, unlike everyone else that is looking for the best math out there to accelerate or get ahead, I am wondering if of all things something like .saxon would be better for him because it does what everyone else says is not good, repeat repeat exercises.

 

He does much better with story problems out of eerything. He does think abstractly doing puzzles and difficult lego manuals by himself, its just numbers he does not see.

 

Basically, I find myself needing to do lots of extra practice when I just wish the curriculum had more. I have even supplemented with MM at times but it doesn't seem to flow well inserting it herenandnthere and I'd prefer to just use a curriculum that has more review.

 

Thanks.

Sorry, using my ipad , might look funny

[Deee]

Your son is six. He's still a baby. Good on you for not obsessing about accelerating and choosing what will work for your child instead. For kids your sons age maths need to be about games, getting to know numbers and lots of fun. Make a shop, sell him his lunch or some toys. We did no maths at 6. Seriously, NONE, apart from counting and writing numbers. We covered place value and the four processes in year 2 and then started to ramp up in year 3. We switched to MEP this year (year 6). I wish we'd swapped earlier, but I'm still happy with our earlier approach (a Waldorf curriculum, Christopherus, with Key to... books). My son has struggled to learn his times tables, not for want of trying. MEP has greatly improved his mathematical reasoning and all of a sudden, his multiplication facts are just falling into place. He's enjoying maths and I'm amazed at his progress. Its a fairly subtle spiral curriculum and I think this has really helped.

D

[boscopup]

Are you using manipulatives with Singapore? Also, you don't have to go the same speed as the book. We're in 1A also, and while DS2 is picking it up very easily, we do need a lot of practice for the adding/subtracting across tens (he "gets it", but it still takes time to solve a problem). I now alternate doing the mental math strips and the regular exercises, and sometimes I'll camp out on a topic and do some white board work or games or something. I always have his C-rods available if he needs them, and I expect him to still need manipulatives sometimes. I've stretched out unit 6 so it meets the timeline of my son. All of these topics will be revisited each year, so I'm also not concerned if he temporarily forgets a bit... each time he's exposed, he'll remember. Math builds on itself. He'll be using this stuff all the time soon enough. The later grades of Singapore have a LOT of review, between textbook and workbook.

 

If I were to switch to a spiral program, it would be CLE. I don't think I could stomach teaching Saxon (my oldest son used it in K and 1st grade at school). CLE has tons of review and works great for kids that need a daily reminder. My friend's DD went from being petrified if you asked her 5-2 (in 3rd grade!) to easily doing whatever you throw at her now in 5th.

 

Have you thought about using Math Mammoth as your spine? It has tons of practice, and there are the cumulative reviews for each chapter (plus in-chapter reviews at the end of each chapter), and the word problems include review.

 

Anyway, whatever program you use, YOU control the speed at which you go through it. And make sure you have a manipulative available at this age if he needs them. That's totally ok for age 6.

[boscopup]

I tried MM and that did nothing special. Thing is, there is no magical way to rush these things.

 

My suggestion for MM was not to rush things, but to give him more to work with in order to slow down. It's easier to slow down if there are 50 problems vs. 10 problems for a topic. The 50 problems, you can make last 10 days by doing 5 problems per day. The 10 problems takes 2 days at 5 problems per day. So to slow down the 10 problems to 10 days, you'd only do 1 problem per day (which is fine, of course, if that's what a kid needs). :)

 

I agree that you don't want to rush it. Let he kid use manipulatives and take as much time as they need.

[Spy Car]

Stop trying to "memorize math facts" and let him play through his Singapore math lessons with Cuisenaire Rods. And play math games.

 

He is only six. Make math fun. He will get it.

 

Bill

[boscopup]

I wouldn't have called it magical. It's just problems that you don't have to come up with yourself. :)

 

(I used MM... my kids prefer Singapore, but they also need less practice... A kid that needs more practice would do well with MM)

[Spy Car]

Exactly. I was here freaking out over a year ago over the same thing thinking it would never happen. People told me this same thing. And it turned out to be true.

I always thought my first was so much farther ahead at the same age. I saved every thing he ever worked on (everything is dated too). I dug through it just to see where he was at at the same age and it was pretty much the same place.

 

Children's minds need to make numbers (and their relative values) "real" for them to make sense. When they get a grasp on these values children make fast progress, but as "abstractions" they have nothing on which to hang their hats—save "rote memory," which is not very child's strongest suit, and even rote memory can create anillusion of false competence.

 

Children really need to understand what they are doing. Some of this comes with greater maturity, but a great deal can be done to advance understanding by using concrete manipulatives like C Rods.

 

The RightStart author once made the point to parents what numbers are like for a young child: Imagine you reassign number values to letters of the alphabet, A=1, B=2, C=3, and so on.

 

Then think about adding G+J or subtracting I-D. That is what it is like for a child that has no number sense. And trying to memorize the "answers" w/o developing number sense does not guarantee comprehension.

 

So the emphasis at this early stage should be on making things really comprehensible and using what ever means the individual child needs to really understand the number system.

 

We think with "adult minds" too often, and forget what it is like to be a child, methinks.

 

Bill

 

 

[momtoamiracle]

I agree with the cuisenaire rods. My son loves to use them. We're actually doing multiplication, Miquon preaents it so easily, it is just repeated addition. We do no more than 10 problems a day.

 

 

I was worried about my son not knowing the math facts cold, but a good friend of mine told me to just move on. He was getting so frustrated with the repetition.

 

They will learn them in time. I think it is better for them to really know why those math facts are so instead of rote memorization in the first few years.

[Bayt ul-Hikmah]

Then think about adding G+J or subtracting I-D. That is what it is like for a child that has no number sense. And trying to memorize the "answers" w/o developing number sense does not guarantee comprehension.

 

 

:iagree:

 

In my elementary Montessori teacher training, we did a lot of work with numbers in non-decimal bases (base 5, base 7, etc). WOW! While we were learning how to present this work to children, it made me realize how much knowledge we assume as adults. I highly recommend it as an exercise in humility!

[roanna]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the help. My 6.5 yr old is the oldest among my close friends who homeschool so I am really learning about learning as we go. I did notice this morning that 1B has tons of review from 1A. Most of it is super easy for my son, just the facts part is difficult. I will relax about it.

[Spy Car]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the help. My 6.5 yr old is the oldest among my close friends who homeschool so I am really learning about learning as we go. I did notice this morning that 1B has tons of review from 1A. Most of it is super easy for my son, just the facts part is difficult. I will relax about it.

 

Have you ever looked at the videos by WTM board member "Rosie" at her website "Education Unboxed"?

 

They show examples of how to learn and teach using things like Cuisenaire Rods using a Miquon-like style, which is, to my mind, a very helpful approach for many children when learning whole-parts math like Singapore. It concentrates the focus on understanding what is happening in various operations, and with understanding and practice "automaticity" follows. This style of learning puts the cart behind the horse, rather than vice versa. It also builds confidence and makes math "fun." All around a winning combination.

 

Bill

[bethben]

My ds#3 was similar at 6. I love Singapore, but it doesn't have a lot of review if you don't get it the first time. At the time, my son just wasn't getting addition and subtraction. I stopped singapore and did Math U see Alpha. The manipulatives really helped him understand his addition/subtraction facts. Then, I finished out the year with Singapore 1B and now, at 8, he is on the Singapore math track again without any problems. I also have him do Horizons just for the review. For math facts, I have a Flashmaster which is basically an electronic flash card machine. I really wish Singapore had more of a spiral nature, it would keep me from always thinking of jumping ship with that curriculum. We've done well with it, but it does have it's disadvantages.

 

And as a side note which I'm sure will get bashed somewhat, there's nothing wrong with Saxon for a kid who just needs more review. You won't get the understanding that programs like Singapore can give you, but they will understand math well enough.

 

Beth

[roanna]

I hate to admit this but before I got SM we used CLE but it just went so fast, even faster than SM. Honestly, if someone is looking for a rigorous program I actually think having used both CLE and SM , CLE seems more advanced than SM. I really liked the program CLE had but he just started drowning so based on some advice I switched. I am glad I did but now I am understand more about where a 6 yr old is expected to be at and we'll just stay with SM.

[Clarkd]

We like Excel math. It provides a consistent review and broader range of topics.