2nd grader needing some Math challenge

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm posting here not because Morgan is accelerated, but because I know you guys have experience trying to challenge a kid who is having math boredom, or who suddenly spurts ahead and leaves behind what you've been doing!  I'm hoping for a little advice about moving forward and keeping math challenging and fun.

 

Morgan started homeschooling this year in 2nd grade.  She is very bright, but on the upper end of "normal" for a math student - no sudden blinding insights or the ability to solve differential equations in the bathtub or anything.  She really needed to regain her confidence and overcome a bad first grade year - mean teacher made her feel dumb.  So we've been plugging along at MM2, 2 pages a day, she has no trouble with it and hasn't complained.  But she's recently begun playing with Dreambox, and she sat down yesterday and did 4 pages of MM, and said, "Mom, this is boring! I need more challenging math!"  :laugh: She's been hanging out while we've been reading Zaccaro's "Ten Things" book, and has realized that math is supposed to be challenging, not easy!  Hear hear.

 

So I want to challenge her but not frustrate her, and I don't want to skip over anything important.  Obviously, I have all the levels of MM and we can keep doing that in an accelerated way.  I also have Beast Academy which I was planning to try when we finished MM2.  I have HOE.  We do the LOF's for fun (she's on Farming now).

 

So do you think I should finish MM2 (maybe accelerating the pace) and then try BA? Have you found MM2 enough prep for BA? Is the BA pretest on the website a good indicator of a student's readiness for BA?  

 

Or should we start doing BA once or twice a week now?  The first chapter is geometry, which she loves.  She loves playing games.  She hates drill and kill (MM is ok, but IXL or other computer drill things she abhors).

 

Is there something else you would suggest that doesn't include me buying a bunch of new stuff?  :D

 

My biggest goal is to keep math fun and challenging, not get bogged down, but to make sure that her foundation is rock solid - so not move ahead too quickly and skip anything.

[Roadrunner]

MEP. I have a second grader finishing up SM 3B and complaining about boredom. I have been pulling pages out of MEP selectively and I am always amazed how much more he enjoys MEP over SM. I say cut down on repetition in MM and fill time with more MEP puzzles until you feel ready to march into Beast. I was hoping to wait until mine is at least 7.5 before starting BA (he is extremely immature), but I am sure you can give it a go earlier especially if she loves geometry (the toughest part ofBA).

I have Primary Grade Challenge Math at home, but it doesn't match our style.

[Lucy the Valiant]

Would she enjoy a Khan Academy account? It has 2 halves - one is a sequential instruction series (beginning at 3rd grade and working up to Calculus), but my 2nd grader actually enjoys the other half - the random "mastery quiz" section that throws all sorts of ideas at the kid randomly (though it does know and track concepts).

 

My math-lovers really enjoy playing with it, and have learned a lot of math from it; we use it as a "fun supplement" to Singapore.

[Lucy the Valiant]

P. S. Khan Academy is also FREE, and low-stress - kids can ask for a hint / say "I don't know this" / or even just pause and watch the instructional short YouTube video explaining the concept.

 

Very useful.

[Chrysalis Academy]

MEP. I have a second grader finishing up SM 3B and complaining about boredom. I have been pulling pages out of MEP selectively and I am always amazed how much more he enjoys MEP over SM. I say cut down on repetition in MM and fill time with more MEP puzzles until you feel ready to march into Beast. I was hoping to wait until mine is at least 7.5 before starting BA (he is extremely immature), but I am sure you can give it a go earlier especially if she loves geometry (the toughest part ofBA).

I have Primary Grade Challenge Math at home, but it doesn't match our style.

 

 

Aw man, I knew somebody was gonna say MEP!  That program scares me.  Not the math, but the website - figuring out what to download, where to start, how it all works . . . it's almost as bad as the KISS grammar website!  

 

How do MEP levels correspond to MM levels?  If we're trying to MEP that is a little more challenging/interesting than MM2, where do I even start? MEP Level 2?

 

She loves games.  I don't think she'd like Zaccaro - I don't have Primary, but I have all the upper level ones, and unless Primary is really different, I don't see that working for her.  She has read the BA Guide, and liked it, though I haven't really probed for understanding.  I think she would have fun with the BA games.  She just turned 7.5 . . .  ;)

[Chrysalis Academy]

Would she enjoy a Khan Academy account? It has 2 halves - one is a sequential instruction series (beginning at 3rd grade and working up to Calculus), but my 2nd grader actually enjoys the other half - the random "mastery quiz" section that throws all sorts of ideas at the kid randomly (though it does know and track concepts).

 

My math-lovers really enjoy playing with it, and have learned a lot of math from it; we use it as a "fun supplement" to Singapore.

 

 

Oooh, I hadn't been on Khan in a long time, so I didn't realize he'd added so much arithmetic and had it organized by grade levels for elementary now.  I will have to try her on that!  She does love working on the computer, just not drill-ish things like IXL.

[Roadrunner]

Aw man, I knew somebody was gonna say MEP! That program scares me. Not the math, but the website - figuring out what to download, where to start, how it all works . . . it's almost as bad as the KISS grammar website!

 

How do MEP levels correspond to MM levels? If we're trying to MEP that is a little more challenging/interesting than MM2, where do I even start? MEP Level 2?

 

She loves games. I don't think she'd like Zaccaro - I don't have Primary, but I have all the upper level ones, and unless Primary is really different, I don't see that working for her. She has read the BA Guide, and liked it, though I haven't really probed for understanding. I think she would have fun with the BA games. She just turned 7.5 . . . ;)

I hear you. That is the reason MEP isn't our main program. :)

Basically I spend random mornings reading through lesson plans. When something interesting jumps at me, we use it. Mostly I look through worksheets and print the ones that have puzzle like problems. Start looking at year 2 and you will see some factoring appear. I think in year 3 the difficulty starts to increase. You will know what problems will stretch her a bit, so go with those. I keep a stack of MEP worksheets and every time eye rolling becomes unbearable, I produce one for him.

[boscopup]

Check the BA pre-test. My son is in the first half of CLE Math 200 and hadn't learned subtraction with regrouping, but still passed the pre-test. I started BA and took him through MM's subtraction with regrouping sections at the same time. So far, there hasn't been any subtraction with regrouping in BA (we're in the skip counting section of 3A). I'm still using CLE Math 200 as our main program in the morning, then we do BA in the afternoon. That's working well for this child. He needed more challenge but also still needed repetition.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Check the BA pre-test. My son is in the first half of CLE Math 200 and hadn't learned subtraction with regrouping, but still passed the pre-test. I started BA and took him through MM's subtraction with regrouping sections at the same time. So far, there hasn't been any subtraction with regrouping in BA (we're in the skip counting section of 3A). I'm still using CLE Math 200 as our main program in the morning, then we do BA in the afternoon. That's working well for this child. He needed more challenge but also still needed repetition.

 

Actually, that sounds perfect!  Morgan sounds exactly the same, she needs to cover subtraction with regrouping, and she does need to keep practicing her facts.  I bet we could do our pages of MM quickly then add in some BA either right after that, or later in the day, for fun.  Thanks for explaining what you are doing!

[sunnyday]

Just a caveat, we were in the same situation (DS wasn't super strong on subtraction with regrouping or higher place values, but we just wanted to do the shapes chapter, and then continued on because those subtraction topics didn't seem necessary for the skip-counting or perimeter sections) and it's made it really tough to go back and shore up the weak points. Nothing is as fun or interesting as the Beasts!

[Woodland Mist Academy]

. . . no sudden blinding insights or the ability to solve differential equations in the bathtub or anything. . .

 

:laugh:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Just a caveat, we were in the same situation (DS wasn't super strong on subtraction with regrouping or higher place values, but we just wanted to do the shapes chapter, and then continued on because those subtraction topics didn't seem necessary for the skip-counting or perimeter sections) and it's made it really tough to go back and shore up the weak points. Nothing is as fun or interesting as the Beasts!

 

 

I hear you. That makes sense!  So maybe it is smart to not replace MM time, but to add BA on (maybe even at a second time like boscopup was saying).  That way it doesn't seem like learning the basics is optional . . . besides, I always like rewarding getting math done with more math!  :D

[boscopup]

Just a caveat, we were in the same situation (DS wasn't super strong on subtraction with regrouping or higher place values, but we just wanted to do the shapes chapter, and then continued on because those subtraction topics didn't seem necessary for the skip-counting or perimeter sections) and it's made it really tough to go back and shore up the weak points. Nothing is as fun or interesting as the Beasts!

 

Yep, that's why we do BA *after* doing CLE Math. CLE is not fun in the least. It even has speed drills for the facts. Oh the horrors! :lol: But it's giving him rock solid math foundation. He knows his facts inside and out. He remembers all the different topics he's had to learn so far, including coins, time, etc.

 

And he probably hated me, but I also had him do ALL the problems in those 3 sections of MM that dealt with subtraction with regrouping. I was nice and did some of the writing. Toward the end, we alternated problems. But really, he's rock solid in regrouping now, and fully understands how and why.

 

So yeah, I'm not dropping the boring traditional math anytime soon for this kid! :D He's good at math, so "more math" is fine with him. If I made him do a second reading program, he'd flip out. :tongue_smilie: