Susie in CA Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 My dss are in 7th and 8th grade. We seem to be having a hard time with math, especially my 8th grader. I am considering spending more time on math. We always spend about 1 hour on Math. My 8th grader is currently using MUS Pre-Algebra and he forgot all of his fraction knowledge. My question: I am considering continuing on in their current curriculum, and spend another 30-60 min on Math in the afternoon. During that time I was considering using material at a much lower level to cover some of the things they seem to have forgotten. Has anyone ever done something like this? And has this worked for you? Or maybe that's too much Math? I am a bit concerned because ds in grade 8 loves Science and computer programming, but he does not seem to 'get' Math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 My dss are in 7th and 8th grade. We seem to be having a hard time with math, especially my 8th grader. I am considering spending more time on math. We always spend about 1 hour on Math. My 8th grader is currently using MUS Pre-Algebra and he forgot all of his fraction knowledge. My question: I am considering continuing on in their current curriculum, and spend another 30-60 min on Math in the afternoon. During that time I was considering using material at a much lower level to cover some of the things they seem to have forgotten. Has anyone ever done something like this? And has this worked for you? Or maybe that's too much Math? I am a bit concerned because ds in grade 8 loves Science and computer programming, but he does not seem to 'get' Math. Hi Susie, great question to which I think there are a number of paths to take. However since we just went through this with ds11 in MUS Pre-A I'll share what worked for us. ds11 used MUS all the way from Primer to Pre-A. He also has a strong interest in science and specifically programming. In fact I'm teaching him Java programming right now. :D I'm also a software engineer. So I think that contributes to his interest. Anyway after Zeta and starting MUS Pre-A I noticed he was forgetting some things as well. We did increase his time a bit. He averages now ~ 1.5 hours. We also gave specified assignments to complete per day vs. simply time. This we had to estimate and adjust a bit based on a good steady pace. The incentive was that if he worked efficiently he could finish a little early and conversely if he goofed around/daydreamed he would work longer, which he did in the beginning. And some things just take longer which also extended his time a bit. Whatever he doesn't finish in the morning we have him complete in the afternoon. My big emphasis with ds11 and our younger dds is that its great if you like science. But Math is the basis of science and required to ever advance in science. So doing more is ok and fundamental for future learning. The other thing we did is supplement MUS with another program, in our case TabletClass. Even if you stay with MUS through all secondary math I highly recommend supplementing. Since MUS is mastery based it doesn't have as much review as other Pre-A programs. We also supplemented with Khan Academy and even AoPS eventually. However after evaluating MUS secondary math I decided I wanted to switch to another program based on our goals for ds. Even though MUS added honors questions I just didn't find it to be as strong as other offerings such as AoPS, Dolciani, Foerster, TabletClass, etc... Right now we are using TabletClass Pre-A which was a fantastic change for him. He's not only reviewed fractions/decimals but is now working on more advanced algebraic topics - multivariable linear equations. I also picked up a copy of Dolcinia's Pre-Algebra to use if/when we need supplementation. I really find it helps to show problems along with methods to solve from a variety of sources. You will find folks who say their dc did fine with MUS, TT, Saxon, etc... with no other resources/supplementation. But for STEM oriented students for whom math is fundamental to future academic success it certainly cannot hurt. ;) This is especially true if they are struggling with a particular concept or forgetting once learned subject matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Take a look at Iknowthat.com, Hotmath, KhanAcademy and the Pearson math companion sites. I use all of these at various times to help review and reinforce concepts. You might also consider a fractions based card or board game for fun reinforcement. ETA: I often ask my oldest to teach my youngers their math lesson as a way to get in a nice review for him. Or I ask him to sit in on the youngers' lesson. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 Thank you both for your input. I will add 30 minutes (or so) of more Math into our schedule after Christmas. I will have to check out TabletClass (never heard of it). MomatH do you have any specific suggestions for fraction games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 I have not actually used any of the games, I've just seen a lot different math games while shopping. I have recently purchased fraction tiles, that allow you to visually line up different fractions to compare but we've not started using them yet. Patch Products has some options as does this site: http://www.educationallearninggames.com/ Creative Playthings might be another site to check out. There are a LOT of options out there. I have trouble keeping track and choosing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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