ProudGrandma Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 to figure out the placement of your children in a new math program when the program itself doesn't provide a placement test? I have 3 children ds9, ds11 and dd13 and they are all going to start Rod and Staff math. I bought grades 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade..but now I am not sure how to proceed. I know that they are each a little behind their grade level...and have some gaps in their math education... so where would you start? would you give them unit tests and see how they did...and if so, what grade level...one back? I have failed so miserably with math with the kids and now I (and they) are paying the price...sigh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I would ask R&S to mail you a scope and sequence, to see what is covered in each book (in a quicker, more concise way than looking thru each one). Also realize some concepts are just introduced in a grade and the child is not expected to master it until later. Then yes, I'd give chapter tests to see where they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 to figure out the placement of your children in a new math program when the program itself doesn't provide a placement test? I have 3 children ds9, ds11 and dd13 and they are all going to start Rod and Staff math. I bought grades 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade..but now I am not sure how to proceed. I know that they are each a little behind their grade level...and have some gaps in their math education... so where would you start? would you give them unit tests and see how they did...and if so, what grade level...one back? I have failed so miserably with math with the kids and now I (and they) are paying the price...sigh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unless I knew for a fact that they are seriously behind, I'd put them in 4th, 6th, and 7th, respectively. "Gaps" are not that big a deal, unless they are big, cavernous, Grand Canyon-size gaps. :-) The biggest thing will probably be helping them to write out their lessons on paper. Be patient. It is important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 How behind are we talking? What were they doing before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 ok...here is our math journey. When we started homeschooling, we used MUS. Then for some reason, I thought it wasn't that great of a program and started looking at others...and was lured to try MOTL, Singapore and Saxon...non of these fit our family. So then I went back to MUS....and it worked well until we hit the fractions books with the 2 older kids...at that point we hit a brick wall. So then I started looking around again and found Math Mammoth....but my older (dd13) was still just struggling (and she was about half way through MM6.) But then by accident I discovered something about her on our Christmas vacation...we were driving in the car and something came up in a discussion that required us figuring out the percentage of something...and my husband was leading the discussion and lead her right through a percentage problem (something she had completely given up trying to do about a month before) and she actually got the concept...but what was different was the WAY he did it...nothing fancy...just plain simple math...and so that is when I found Rod and Staff. I LOVE the look of the books...but I am just not sure where to start. so, I don't know if that answers your question about where we were..but my ds11 was about 3/4 through 5th grade and my ds9 was about 1/4 of the way through grade 4 in MM. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Unless I knew for a fact that they are seriously behind, I'd put them in 4th, 6th, and 7th, respectively. "Gaps" are not that big a deal, unless they are big, cavernous, Grand Canyon-size gaps. :-) The biggest thing will probably be helping them to write out their lessons on paper. Be patient. It is important. would you start back at the beginning of the grade level, reguardless of being January? What happens when we hit a wall (I am sure we will)... one thing that is very sticky here is my dd13 struggles with math where my ds11 doesn't and if we would have to go back into her younger brothers book that would really bother her. I could keep my son in MM, but i really like how R&S teaches math and I think he would benifit from it too. thoughts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 would you start back at the beginning of the grade level, reguardless of being January? What happens when we hit a wall (I am sure we will)... one thing that is very sticky here is my dd13 struggles with math where my ds11 doesn't and if we would have to go back into her younger brothers book that would really bother her. I could keep my son in MM, but i really like how R&S teaches math and I think he would benifit from it too. thoughts?? I'd start at the beginning of the book and see how it goes. January really is the beginning of the year, right? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 can I come back to you for guidance when we hit a hard part (as I know we will)??? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I would definitely *try* your DD on grade level. R and S doesn't finish arithmetic until 8th, so it should be a bit of a step back and consolidation, which sounds like what she needs. I would also definitely start in the beginning of the book. I don't think I'd ever start a math book in the middle during elementary school. Were your younger kids struggling too? If they were not struggling, why not just have them continue working where they are in the MM you already have, instead of worrying about placement in a new program? If it ain't broke ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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