How quickly to move through math

[mamakven]

Okay so my daughter Chloe, 6th grade, is doing saxon math 76 right now. She is 14 lessons away from being done. My question is what should I do with her for math after this? Should we go ahead and start the next workbook math 87? Or should I do something different like the art of problem-solving or something else any suggestions? Or should I just B done with math and Allocate more time for other subjects? I'm leaning toward the second option.

 

To give you a little background Chloe it did math with teaching textbooks the year before last. And now and last year she was in public school. She actually started the year behind I think because teaching textbooks is a little bit behind grade level. And she was in the math Intervention program at school for about half the year but Blew through her work and ended the year with an a in math.

 

I'm not entirely surprised because like her, her brother has Asperger's and he is a math genius so I'm guessing she is like that as well. unfortunately she hates math. She particularly hated teaching textbooks math so we're going to stick with Saxon. So that factors into the equation as well if you'll excuse the pun, LOL. So, any advice doing Saxon 76 she's already ahead of the game so I'm not sure if starting her in the next level is a good idea or not such a good idea.

[regentrude]

I would strongly advise against "being done" with math and not doing any math for the rest of the school year. Math needs continuous study and practice; taking time off to spend on other subjects, no matter how advanced the student is, is not something I would recommend.

 

Sorry, had to delete what I wrote since I missed that she hates math. For a math hater, do not use AoPS. OTOH, what exactly does she hate it? Is she bored? Is it too dry? Show her the AoPS samples or Alcumus and see whether that kindles a spark - it is the most joyful math curriculum I have found.

[mamakven]

Really why not use a AOPS if she hates math? Maybe she would like math better if she did something more fun than Saxon. LOL. It is really strange she likes saxon but she really hated teaching textbooks so I don't know what the deal is and honestly I can't fathom why would someone would not like math if they were good at it so I'm not sure what's going on with her. She is a little bit difficult so I don't want to choose something she's going to hate but at the same time a AOPS is pretty inexpensive and incremental if I recall right?

[dbmamaz]

i would definitely not continue w saxon though . . . it can kill the love of math in anyone who doesnt like dry repetition . . . some of us hate it more than others. (dry repetition, that is). you could supplement w some LOF as review, or some murderous maths, or other living math books. that brings the fun back in to math and keeps it alive conceptually.

[joannqn]

Either continue with Saxon 8/7 or find a fun supplement to review. Don't take the rest of the year and summer off; she'll likely forget a lot of what she has learned, which will cause problems next year.

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

I agree with moving forward and finding another math program. There are many options including finding a fun supplement to work on for a while.

[kiana]

Under no circumstances would I take off math until the fall.

 

Moving ahead would be one option. Doing a fun supplement would be another. But even over summer break, kids forget a lot -- waiting half a year would cause a lot more forgetting.

 

If she likes Saxon I'd just go ahead with 87. If she doesn't like Saxon, she should be ready for a different publisher's pre-algebra.

[Black-eyed Suzan]

honestly I can't fathom why would someone would not like math if they were good at it so I'm not sure what's going on with her.

 

 

 

FWIW, I was good at math as a child but didn't particularly enjoy it. I easily recognized/remembered the patterns and did the work, but was not interested in it. If you'd like, I could speculate about why, but it's probably only interesting to me and not likely to help you understand your daughter. :laugh:

 

My son is working in Beast Academy (from AOPS) now, and as an adult, I think it's really interesting. I think I would have liked the challenge then, too, but who knows? I agree with checking out individual problems first to see if the style suits her.

[regentrude]

Really why not use a AOPS if she hates math? Maybe she would like math better if she did something more fun than Saxon. LOL. It is really strange she likes saxon but she really hated teaching textbooks so I don't know what the deal is and honestly I can't fathom why would someone would not like math if they were good at it so I'm not sure what's going on with her. She is a little bit difficult so I don't want to choose something she's going to hate but at the same time a AOPS is pretty inexpensive and incremental if I recall right?

 

 

Depends on your definition of "incremental". I have never hear AoPS called "incremental", and would certainly not refer to it as such.

AoPS is discovery based; the student is presented with problems and challenged to solve them and discover the concept before a lesson is taught. The problems are in a well thought out sequence that guides the student, so in that sense, incremental could be right. But OTOH, the student is excepted to get creative with problem solving and make conceptual leaps.

 

I would encourage you to have her try Alcumus and see if she happens to like it. But the reason I am not sure that AoPS is the right program is that it goes way beyond in scope and depth than any other math curriculum, and the student will have to work a lot harder and spend a lot more time completing a math course than with a traditional curriculum - not sure how you can motivate a math hater to put forth the extra effort.

[wapiti]

:iagree:

 

Maybe she would like math better if she did something more fun than Saxon. LOL.

 

I think it's possible though it's hard to know. If she is a big-picture, visual-spatial style thinker, or enjoys puzzles and riddles, then I'd definitely take a look. The philosophy of AoPS involves learning concepts through trying challenging problems. Check out the excerpts, the free videos and have her try Alcumus, the on-line problem-solving program, which is also free. There is a way to set the topics in Alcumus to follow the order of topics in the Prealgebra text.

 

AOPS is pretty inexpensive and incremental if I recall right?

 

You may be thinking of Math Mammoth, which is often described as inexpensive and incremental.

 

I also agree with all the PPs about definitely not taking time off from math. I like to keep a light schedule of math during the summer - it saves so much time and effort reviewing in the fall.

[serendipitous journey]

What are your goals for the child? Obviously, everybody here thinks you should keep her toes dipped in some math, the question is what math.

 

Would you like to spend a year or so trying things that might increase her enjoyment of math? What does she like? Is she, like her brother, an Aspberger's student? Does she have any particular interests?

 

You could certainly try AoPS. If you want to try it, I'd start with the Prealgebra book. Only assign half the problems or so, and don't require (or expect) her to get them all right -- you can e-mail the AoPS folks if you want help with assessing progress.

 

Why not just stick with Saxon, though? Until it doesn't work any more. If you want to slow her down, perhaps do 1/2 the work per day; though I would not worry about her going to fast, she is at a very nice, advanced place at the moment.

 

One last option would be to see if she likes MathUSee. It doesn't build a love of math, IMHO, so I wouldn't normally recommend it for mathy children at the secondary levels; but it has a very clean presentation, is straightforward to teach, the customer service folks are really helpful, and the honors problems are designed to show real-life relevance of math which might be of interest to her.

[mamakven]

Thanks for your input everyone!!! Yes, Chloe has aspergers. I think the reason she likes Saxon is that its just straight up, math. She can do it, get it done with... At any rate, she's doing well, so i suppose i'll stick with it. i almost wonder if i'm making it harder on her by trying to "make it fun" :)

[Teachin'Mine]

I haven't read through all the posts, so I apologize if this has been said already. Saxon's 7/6 is typically 6th grade math. Since she likes Saxon, and it's working, I would just continue with 8/7. IMO it's way too early in the year to just stop math. She'll find that the first 30 lessons or so are review, but I see that as a positive as the last 30 lessons or so are definitely more challenging.

[serendipitous journey]

Thanks for your input everyone!!! Yes, Chloe has aspergers. I think the reason she likes Saxon is that its just straight up, math. She can do it, get it done with... At any rate, she's doing well, so i suppose i'll stick with it. i almost wonder if i'm making it harder on her by trying to "make it fun" :)

 

 

I understand that -- if she just doesn't like it, it's prob. frustrating to both of you to try to make it fun!

 

If she likes it straight up, then Saxon seems a good fit. MUS is the other straight-up program, but I would not switch her unless there's a problem with her learning from Saxon.

 

good luck with this!

[songsparrow]

Re AoPS - I'd recommend having her watch some of their videos in different subject areas (pre-algebra, number theory, etc) to see if she's intrigued.

 

Another option is to take a break to explore other mathy topics that are outside the regular scope & sequence. You don't have to do it for the remainder of the year, but maybe it would be a good break for a few weeks and let her explore some areas so you can see if anything sparks her interest. For example:

 

* Jacobs' Mathmatics A Human Endeavor is great for thinking about interesting math concepts without needing higher math for the discussion

 

* We just finished a mini-unit on fractals; I'd be happy to share the links we used if you're interested

 

* The Penrose the Magic Cat type of books have some fun topics

 

* Does geometry appeal to her more than calculations? If so, maybe you could do a geometry unit.

[LucyStoner]

There are free videos and excepts from the books on the AOPS site. You could have her watch some of that and do some of the sample problems if you are interested in trying AOPS but want to check it out before hand.

 

I had always understood that Saxon 8/7 was more of a review for kids that needed it before pre algebra and that many average to above average students skip it in favor of a different pre algebra program. I also like the idea of adding in some geometry or math competition type math.

 

Keep her doing math but give her some choices.

[kiana]

I had always understood that Saxon 8/7 was more of a review for kids that needed it before pre algebra and that many average to above average students skip it in favor of a different pre algebra program. I also like the idea of adding in some geometry or math competition type math.

 

Keep her doing math but give her some choices.

 

It depends on the edition. In the older editions, this was true. In the newer editions, 87 has been beefed up a lot so the reverse is true -- you'd do 87 and then skip algebra 1/2. See if the words 'with pre-algebra' have been added to your 87.