dancingmama Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 My dd is 9, "3rd grade". She has been working through Life of Fred and loves to read the stories but doesn't like to take the time to do the problems right now. We're going through a phase right now where she's fighting me on doing schoolwork. I've switched her to Math Mammoth (4th grade) but wanted to see what you guys might recommend. She is doing the new LoF "Intermediate" books as well (I almost started her on Fractions and saw the intermediates so I bought those). When she was younger she loved math, now its like pulling teeth to get her to do anything. Anyone have any ideas of what we might try to spark the love of math again. She's talked about wanting to do Sudoku puzzles so I'm going to get her a book of those (any recommendations?) but would love to hear about a math program that she would love to do again. She's a very verbal child if that helps any. This is a child who was multiplying and dividing in her head by the time she was 4 so I'm at a loss and to be honest, she has been mildly neglected because I was trying to get my special needs son on tract. Now that I've got a decent handle on him, she's falling apart. Help! She does not need a lot of repetition to get topics either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Have you looked at Beast Academy? The practice questions are not your standard drill type, if she likes sudoku/puzzles then she'd probably love most of these. If she likes the LoF stories then she may like the guides, they are set out like a comic - lots of fun to read. The only issue might be the level release schedule, but I have seen plenty of people post that they are still doing Beast Academy even though their child is doing 4th in another program, simply because it is so good and different. There's a real focus on problem solving. Otherwise, what about a singapore IP/CWP combination? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 what does SHE say she isnt liking? Is it hard? boring? She just doesnt like math? With my advanced kiddo, we switch things up a lot. we've read library living math books, done Zaccaro primary, read murderous maths books, done kaleidoscope math and some of the super one-page math comics (both of which i got through scholastic on dollar days), LOF fractions and some of decimals, we did some Elements of math (he didnt have the maturity) . . . i might try descartes cove soon . . . finish LOF decimals, move on to Zaccaro challenge and then LOF prealgebra (which i own) or maybe AoPS? idk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 6, 2013 Author Share Posted March 6, 2013 She's not saying. She's being incredibly moody. I swear the child is about to hit puberty (possible, I was an early bloomer). She just doesn't want to do it. When she does do Math Mammoth, she makes simple errors, so that leads me to believe she's bored. I know she knows how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. In LoF, she whines that the problems are too hard but when I sit next to her, and read the problem with her (her reading level is at least 5th grade so its not like it's too hard), she'll figure it out. As I said, I know that part of this is just attention (things have gotten easier with brother. was hoping I'd get a little breather before this one started with issues). I've researched every math curriculum for a child with special needs/delays. I just haven't researched for her. She's kinda always just come along with whatever he's doing or I made stuff up. It's all coming back to bite me in the butt. Looked at the "are you ready for " pages on Beast Academy and she would definitely pass the 3D book. Is that the highest level they have? I looked at the murderous math books and they have some puzzle books too. Where do you buy them here in the US? Never heard of Zacarro, Descartes Cove or Kaleidoscope Will have too look into those. I have LoF Fractions and the Decimals book. Thanks for some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I would add fun stuff (BA or any number of fun things) and accelerate her through MM until she needs to slow down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 I will redo the placement test for her. She might fall in much higher level than you might think, and start there. You can get mudorous math from http://www.bookdepository.com/search/advanced?searchAuthor=Kjartan+Poskitt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 Zaccaro books are aimed at gifted kids, you can get them on amazon. I buy the murderous maths from Horrible Ray at Horriblebooks.com. you can read the book descriptions on the UK website. you can also sometimes find them on amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted March 6, 2013 Share Posted March 6, 2013 oh, and kalaidoscope is just practice, but its self correcting because it leads you to color in cool patterns depending on the answers . . . it was just a way to get him to do some practice problems. we also have to sit together to get any LOF done. i'm still reading murderous math books to him, too. if i'd sat with him for elements of mathematics, he would have done much better - he's very immature. tho he thinks he's heading towards puberty. i'm not seeing it - but his father did go there much earlier than my ex. My older kids were both quite late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 I think she'd like Kaleidoscope. She's going through an artsy phase right now and I think she'll be drawn to that (no pun intended). :) Zacarro may be something I've been looking for. Looks like it's challenging word type problems perhaps? I've considered getting the CWP from Singapore for her but ds is doing SM and I really want them in separate programs as much as possible as he is behind her but his older. Jenny, you mean redo the placement for MM. You're probably right. When I did it a couple months back with her I was borderline as to which to do with her and thought it'd be better to ease her in. Perhaps I'm just underestimating her. It's quite a different world here in the ALs group. I'm sure I'll be back for other topics as I start to flush out her curriculum a little better. Writing is next. She loves to write but I think Writing Strands is boring her to tears yet I've never done a formal writing program with her. My pocketbook is gonna take a huge hit here soon. Thanks for all the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Looked at the "are you ready for " pages on Beast Academy and she would definitely pass the 3D book. Is that the highest level they have? I looked at the murderous math books and they have some puzzle books too. Where do you buy them here in the US? You can get them fromBook Depository or from http://www.horriblebooks.com/ Beast Academy just came out with 3D, and that's the highest they have. I am not sure if it's good for the reluctant student or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 You can get murderous maths from the book depository too - they have free worldwide delivery which is useful if you live outside the US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Jenny, you mean redo the placement for MM. I am horrible with grammer and English writing.. sigh.. :blushing: ... Maybe I should start doing grammer with my DS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Same issue here with the 10 year old. In face I just posted recently. All I can say is last year I let him do chess workbooks and software on Friday instead of traditional math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 My son is liking the Balance Benders / Balance Math type materials from Critical Thinking Company. They are pretty fun. With LOF (not our main program, and he also mainly just likes the stories) I sometimes just let him tell me how he would solve a problem. I'm not sure what the "intermediates" are, but I have been reading to him from Fractions, so I have control of at least insisting on reading the Your Turn to Play and not just the story part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 I am horrible with grammer and English writing.. sigh.. :blushing: ... Maybe I should start doing grammer with my DS. And yet I complete forgot the question mark. Haha. :) So today another day of tears. I realized she doesn't know how to do shortcut long division. When she was dividing, say, 7317/217, she subtracted 217 from 731, then did it again, and then put 2 (as the first digit of the answer) and them subtracted 217 repeatedly from the remainder to get the 7. She understands the concept but somehow she didn't pick up the shortcut. When I tried to teach it to her, we spent 45 minutes with her in tears that I'm constantly correcting her, that she got the right answer, why was it wrong. Ugh! 45 minutes of my day with a crying 9 year old. I don't have time for this. Ugh. Anyway, once she stopped crying she said "Oh, I get it" and she got it. *sigh* She loves chess. Maybe she can teach me how to play. I'll check the book depository. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 My son is liking the Balance Benders / Balance Math type materials from Critical Thinking Company. They are pretty fun. With LOF (not our main program, and he also mainly just likes the stories) I sometimes just let him tell me how he would solve a problem. I'm not sure what the "intermediates" are, but I have been reading to him from Fractions, so I have control of at least insisting on reading the Your Turn to Play and not just the story part. The Intermediates are the new books that have just come out. They are supposed to fit between the Elementary Books and the Fractions Book. They are called, um, Kidneys, Liver and Mineshaft, I believe. I've been considering picking up the Mind Bender type books from Critical Thinking Company. Guess I should do that. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 And guess what I just found my two lovely children doing right now...playing chess. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Long division was a beast for my mathy kid to learn. Everything else came so easy, but he had to learn long division the hard way . . .practice. I printed out some random worksheets from the web to practice . . .we did 2-3 per day to minimize the crying . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 Have you gotten to the long division steps explained in LOF: Honey yet? My DD melted down when she got there because she freaks when she has too many steps in front of her or anything looks too big, but it breaks it down nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 Yes, we did honey already. She had definitely been exposed to it. I'm pretty sure I covered it but it was probably months ago. I want to say honey was October or so. She hadn't practiced. I wouldn't be surprised if she melted down then too. She doesn't like it when she doesn't immediately know the answer. I think she has spent so much of her life just knowing things that now that I'm beginning to challenge her a bit, she's freaking out. I so wish I could turn back time even a year or two and push her a little harder earlier. *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songsparrow Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 In LoF, she whines that the problems are too hard but when I sit next to her, and read the problem with her (her reading level is at least 5th grade so its not like it's too hard), she'll figure it out. This happens with my girls often - when the work is challenging and pushing them, they often are not confident in their ability to do the problems. So they need me there. Often I do little more than read the problem with them and they'll figure it out. Maybe it's just the reassurance that I'm there if they need a hint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 8, 2013 Author Share Posted March 8, 2013 And yet, today, she did three chapters without batting an eye and "couldn't stop reading the next chapter" (I usually have her do one to two chapters a day). I swear she is out to kill me. Maybe it was just a phase and she's over the hump? And can I say that I wish she wasn't so advanced or I had another little one to do Beast Academy with? They look like so much fun! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Maybe it's just the curriculum? Is there enough practice in LOF? Does she like to read the books more than doing the math? Maybe you do need something other than that. At least she's still young enough for you to figure out the problem. My kiddos are the type to break down when corrected also. The division problem? that would have been both of my boys. They did something, they got it right, why am I trying to show them some other way???!!! It can get infuriating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 And yet I complete forgot the question mark. Haha. :) So today another day of tears. I realized she doesn't know how to do shortcut long division. When she was dividing, say, 7317/217, she subtracted 217 from 731, then did it again, and then put 2 (as the first digit of the answer) and them subtracted 217 repeatedly from the remainder to get the 7. She understands the concept but somehow she didn't pick up the shortcut. When I tried to teach it to her, we spent 45 minutes with her in tears that I'm constantly correcting her, that she got the right answer, why was it wrong. Ugh! 45 minutes of my day with a crying 9 year old. I don't have time for this. Ugh. Anyway, once she stopped crying she said "Oh, I get it" and she got it. *sigh* She loves chess. Maybe she can teach me how to play. I'll check the book depository. Thanks! Not sure what you mean by shortcut long division? Maybe you need to step back to easier problems till she gets the system down. And maybe she would like partial quotient division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 What I meant was traditional division. D, M, S, C. She is now doing fine. I think she's been going through a little phase and of course, just as I had enough and asked for help, she seems to have resolved whatever the issue was. I am going to go ahead and get some of the more challenging books mentioned here that I think she will enjoy. Thanks everyone for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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