AimeeM Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Math. I haven't ordered math. It's the only subject I haven't ordered (the rest are here, lesson plans are made, the whole nine). I can't. My brain is turning to mush. I can't make ONE MORE curricula decision. She's a rising (young) 7th grader. Dyslexic. Working Memory issues. Visual learner/big picture kind of gal - whole to parts. Over the summer, my formerly everything-school-related-hating daughter has made some ridiculously huge (and awesome) leaps in maturity, academics, and general initiative. The girl who had before professed interest in science, but made no initiative to dive further into it for herself, has been literally GOBBLING up anything she can get her hands on (physica related, mostly); she's been not only doing math on her own, she's been investigating and taking it upon herself to read ABOUT math; she's been reading anything she can get her hands on, book-wise (previously refusing to read anything I didn't force her to read). Our load for the year is fairly basic, because I've been having some health problems (and I'm adding a kindergartner to the mix, for the first time): Language Arts: IEW SWI-B, The Arrow and The Boomerang selections for dictation/grammar/mechanics, Apples and Pears B (spelling), Faith and Freedom Readers (religion focused, but also some discussion and reading comprehension that I feel she still needs). Geography: Runkle's World Physical Geography Science: Hewitt's Conceptual Physical Science, Horrible Science books, Memoria Press' Astronomy Greek: MP Greek Alphabet Italian: Duolingo Religion: Seton's Religion for grade 7, CHC Know Your Faith cards, Confirmation Prep Math. I plan to spend the first few weeks reviewing two things - ratios/proportions and integers (to make sure summer didn't kill any brain cells). After that, I guess she's be ready for Algebra 1 (something I wasn't sure of, but she has made some major leaps over the summer). I have no qualms about doing another year of pre-algebra, but it would need to be different enough to hold her interest. In a few weeks, she will have no math... because I can't make another curriculum decision. Lol! Come on, now - do you really want that on your head? Poor little girl with no math to do! You don't want to be the reason for that... right? Easy fix - tell me what to buy! *chuckle* (excuse any grammatical mistakes - I'm just home from the eye doctor, dialated, woozy, and I can barely see the screen - just trying to stay awake since I have little ones running around) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckens Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Is it okay to take a break from math until you can make the best decision? You have plenty of other stuff to start the school year, and as a wise and experienced homeschooler once told me, "We're homeschoolers. We're always adding things, and changing things, and taking a break from things." I'd hate to have you not start MATH (a subject dear to my heart) on day one, but if you started Math on October 1st rather than September 1st, would it be the end of the world? If you choose to delay purchase of math, this period could be either time lost or time gained, depending upon your plan. Double up on another subject until you can replace it with whichever math you choose. Read the Life of Fred Algebra to expose her to a few algebra ideas in the meantime. Order her a copy of Algebra Antics to give her a little taste of algebra, too. Is Algebra when kids get a programmable calculator? If you choose to go this route, go through the instruction manual to learn the parameters of the calculator. ---------------------------------------------------- What does your daughter think?She's old enough to hopefully know what would and would not work for her. Show her examples from the different curriculum you are considering. Get her input....but make sure she knows that Mom makes the final decision. Hope you feel better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Thanks :) She hates LOF, but that Algebra Antics looks AWESOME. She doesn't know what she wants, lol; she can tell what she DOESN'T want (a computer or dvd based program), but not what she wants. I keep looking at AOPS, because I think the discovery method would be fun for her, given her newly found love of "investigating", but it looks intimidating TO ME (lol!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckens Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 If you try AOPS, and it is not a good fit for her, would your budget allow for a second choice? How do-or-die is this decision? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Will she read the textbook and learn it on her own or will you be her teacher? Both of my kids are using the Lial's developmental series. Here is algebra. But the pages are big and have a lot on them. If you are teaching it, it could work, but I wouldn't set a dyslexic to reading those pages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 If you try AOPS, and it is not a good fit for her, would your budget allow for a second choice? How do-or-die is this decision? Not do-or-die at all; I could get a second choice. My only preference would be to order that second choice ALONG WITH the AOPs - so that I don't spend the better part of the year trying, re-ordering, waiting for packages, etc... essentially getting very little done math-wise, kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Will she read the textbook and learn it on her own or will you be her teacher? Both of my kids are using the Lial's developmental series. Here is algebra. But the pages are big and have a lot on them. If you are teaching it, it could work, but I wouldn't set a dyslexic to reading those pages! She is a visual learner, definitely; she does much better reading things on her own -vs- me reading it to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingHope Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 My children love AOPS here. I would suggest Foerster's Algebra as a back up which is MY favorite algebra text. I also like Harold Jacob's algebra text. (Yes, I own Jacobs too. Was in a "I can't decide which algebra text!" myself once...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Try AoPS. Worked well for both my kids in 6th and 7th, respectively. For a kid who is an independent learner , self-motivated, and interested in discovery, this might be a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Sweet! The "AOPS" have it! I'll order that and... a second choice... yet to be determined, lol. Oh wait - should I order AOPS Pre A? Since she's new to discovery based math? It couldn't really hurt to do another year before Algebra 1, could it? She isn't even 12 yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 Both my kids went right into AoPS Intro to Algebra after having completed a very traditional prealgebra curriculum (Saxon) with no problem. I don't see what age has to do with it - if she has the prealgebra mastery, she can start algebra. You can give her the pretest at the AoPS website and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Both my kids went right into AoPS Intro to Algebra after having completed a very traditional prealgebra curriculum (Saxon) with no problem. I don't see what age has to do with it - if she has the prealgebra mastery, she can start algebra. You can give her the pretest at the AoPS website and see.Thanks! I heard that pre-a was more overwhelming (with AOPS) than the intro to algebra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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