pollyanna Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 My seven year old is finishing up SM 4B. I've worked to have her a bit more independant withher work over the past few months and that has gone well. When we get to the reviews at the end of a unit in the workbook though... eesh. If Isit and handhold her through each problem, she can work through the material well, and demonstrates mastery. If I just turn her loose with a portion of problems to do, I'm pretty much guaranteed a lot of whinging and tears. It seems to me that she has trouble with the transition from topic to topic over the page. As I said, she can do it and do it well, if I sit with her and we talk through each new set of instructions. Is this typical? I worry that perhaps she doesn't really understand the problems without my prodding. FWIW, she is a very strong reader, so I don't think comprehension is the issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I find that immaturity does get in the way for our very advanced math kids. This is not uncommon in 7 year olds, and not unheard of in 4th graders either. My mathy kid (who was not a great reader) really wanted to rush through math, and now we are slowing down a bit to review, because he doesnt have the maturity for algebra . . . but he did need the review, because he has forgotten a lot. I try to relax and let him mature at his own speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 If I had a child in the same position, I'd personally shelve SM for a bit to work through a "spiral" program like Horizons until he/she was comfortable figuring out how to transition from one type of problem to another in a mixed exercise. When the child goes to take a standardized test, the problems are going to be mixed topics and I'm not going to be able to help him/her through them. So it's important to me that the child is able to work through a mixed topic exercise independently. Just my $0.02... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 ... what does she do in Singapore? Textbook and workbook? Just wondering. I did find the review pages could be overwhelming, and I often broke them into smaller chunks, but that sounds different than your current problem. Can she skip topics if you try giving her, say, the first problem on a series of workbook pages? I am wondering if it is the skipping, or something about the presentation/challenge of the actual review problems. Another strategy, if you want to stay in 4B, is to "skip" the reviews and do one or two problems from the most recent review at the beginning of your math session each. This is my favorite way to break up sticking points in a program that otherwise works well. And I have A. read the problem aloud to me if he is struggling, and then explain to me the meaning sentence by sentence -- this has helped his problem-solving ability a bit (I think!). But this may be just the sort of hand-holding you are concerned about ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyanna Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 ... what does she do in Singapore? Textbook and workbook? Just wondering. I did find the review pages could be overwhelming, and I often broke them into smaller chunks, but that sounds different than your current problem. Can she skip topics if you try giving her, say, the first problem on a series of workbook pages? I am wondering if it is the skipping, or something about the presentation/challenge of the actual review problems. Another strategy, if you want to stay in 4B, is to "skip" the reviews and do one or two problems from the most recent review at the beginning of your math session each. This is my favorite way to break up sticking points in a program that otherwise works well. And I have A. read the problem aloud to me if he is struggling, and then explain to me the meaning sentence by sentence -- this has helped his problem-solving ability a bit (I think!). But this may be just the sort of hand-holding you are concerned about ... We work through the textbook together, then I turn her loose to do the workbook problems (I'm nearby and available, just not sitting with her). I usually end the textbook lesson with her doing a problem or two with me watching, and then I have her show me her workbook work at some reasonable stopping point, just to make sure she is solidly on her way. I should try bouncing from workbook page to workbook page- good idea! We're nearly done with 4B (geometry comes particularly easily to her, and the last couple of chapters are about volume), so its more a question of changing things up as we move forward into 5A next week. It helps to know that other accelerated kids have this trouble. Its not that I am concerned about heavy handholding (especially not if short term intensive work with ehr translates to more independence!), but I have a 4yo and 1yo underfoot and other subjects I'd like to cover. It is more a matter of my limited time to offer undivided attention! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollyanna Posted October 20, 2013 Author Share Posted October 20, 2013 I find that immaturity does get in the way for our very advanced math kids. This is not uncommon in 7 year olds, and not unheard of in 4th graders either. My mathy kid (who was not a great reader) really wanted to rush through math, and now we are slowing down a bit to review, because he doesnt have the maturity for algebra . . . but he did need the review, because he has forgotten a lot. I try to relax and let him mature at his own speed. Its reassuring that she isn't the only one! I think I'll keep plugging away at her pace (which has gotten slower- 3A took a long time!) and we'll probably spend some time circling back to reinforce later (before pre-algebra). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 My oldest had to have me read directions to him when he was 6-7, even though he was reading very well and had excellent comprehension. It's not that he wasn't capable of understanding the directions. It's that his 7 year old brain needed someone else to read them aloud. Not really sure why, but it appears to be normal. :D Now at 9, he's doing fine reading directions on his own and doing the work. He's also ok with changing problem types and such (he uses a spiral math as "math practice" in the morning before doing prealgebra in the afternoon). I've also found that my son needs more review of basics to get them into automaticity, whereas he always had no trouble during lessons. For example, fractions were always easy and I never even had to "teach" them. He did great in every lesson on fractions and found them easy. He did Life of Fred Fractions, passing the Final Bridge on the 2nd try. Then we started prealgebra and didn't use fractions as much for a few weeks, or at least we weren't doing a page of "just fractions" at all. Fractions completely fell out of his head! He couldn't add/subtract mixed fractions. He couldn't remember how to multiply fractions. :banghead: That's when I started using a spiral elementary math program for practice. He's not forgetting fractions anymore. :D And he's still able to move forward in Prealgebra (though we're using two books and will spend two years on it - one book for "drill and kill" which he needs to make things automatic, even if he understands a concept right away, and the other book for in-depth difficult problems that make him work harder). Now his fractions falling out of his head was probably due to some sleep issues he was having at the time, but still... I don't want elementary basics falling out of his head at all. So he now does what some would probably call "busywork" for about 15 minutes each morning. He runs through a lesson of 5th grade math very quickly and easily, and he actually likes it. ;) And since he's more automatic on those elementary skills that just needed to be "drill and kill"-ed to move from "I know this" to "I don't have to think about this", he's able to tackle the problem solving in AoPS with more ease, and he's enjoying that a lot more as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyGirl Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 We are running into similar problems with LegoMan. He can do the work but I really need to be sitting there keeping him in task. It's hard to remember he's only 6 and while he can do the math, he's not even remotely mature enough to be independent. Seems like those things should go together but they don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Besides shelving Singapore, another option might be doing, say, 5-10 problems of mixed review every day. Something like the evan-moor daily math practice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyGirl Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 How about use the IP and CWP anywhere from a section behind to half a year behind or even a year behind as a way to practice and tackle those more challenging problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I suggest working through a level of IP. Your child is young, and you have lots of time. Work through 4 IP before moving on to level 5 text/workbook. Then do 5 IP after finishing level 5. I did IPs once or twice with each child when the concepts didn't to have completely "stuck" with just the text/wkbk. It helped "stick" things and it also helps slow them down just a but which is helpful, too, lol. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I suggest working through a level of IP. Your child is young, and you have lots of time. Work through 4 IP before moving on to level 5 text/workbook. Then do 5 IP after finishing level 5. I did IPs once or twice with each child when the concepts didn't to have completely "stuck" with just the text/wkbk. It helped "stick" things and it also helps slow them down just a but which is helpful, too, lol. HTH This! We have gone from SM to MEP to CWP/IP. Before we move on to BA 3b, I'm having my 7yo do some CWP/IP. At first there is flailing, but she is learning to adjust and switch gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Queen Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 We review before I assign the review pages. I don't require all the review pages to be done in one sitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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