Dianne-TX Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 DS is 13 (just turned 13 in Dec.). We've been using MUS all the way through. Well, there was a short time around age 6 that we used Shiller Math, but didn't like it, so went back to MUS. I put him back a book so as to be thorough in learning his math facts and operations. We are in Episilon right now and I'm just not liking how they explain fractions and he's not totally getting it. He's gotten through adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions, but he really doesn't understand it. I'm having him do Khan Academy starting in 3rd grade and progressing through because that is the grade year that they start explaining fractions. Any other ideas or something that will help him? I'm thinking about changing to Saxon as I've heard from other friends that when they switched to Saxon with any math topic, it helped their child. Thoughts? I'm getting desperate and not wanting ds to end up with the man under the bridge because his mom failed him in teaching fractions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Life of Fred Fractions, Math Mammoth Light Blue (I think that's the one that focuses on different topics). Lots of short, daily drills. like 10 questions or less, start easy so he doesn't feel discouraged, throw in a few hard ones after a couple of weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I am actually having to go back and really solidify fractions myself. I found the kids were doing better than I was. I had heard that MUS had a really good fractions section, but if it isn't working, you might consider doing MM or combining MM (as Halcyon mentioned) with the Key to Fractions Series. At least that is what I am doing and I like both. Life of Fred Fractions I have not used but hear that a lot of people like it if combined with something else for more practice and a bit different approach, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 The "Key To...." series has an excellent set on fractions. These are inexpensive little workbooks that break down the topic and give review problems. We used the fraction set with youngest DD when she was having trouble *getting* how fractions work. We also used the Decimal books after fractions since that was another area she struggled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 We had great success with Key to Fractions when my son struggled to understand fractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 I also like the Key To books. My oldest has been using the fractions, decimals, and percents books. Start at the beginning with the 1st book, regardless how easy it seems and have your ds work through them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 It's one of the most important topics in arithmetic, IMO, but most of us (myself included) didn't get an ideal treatment of the subject the first time around. I used RightStart with my youngest and I am really pleased with his grasp of fractions. But it's not a curriculum you can easily start in the middle or just do one topic from. I would encourage you to make sure YOUR understanding of fractions and all the operations is very solid, so that you can help him. Then, work on making sure his grasp of fractions as division is very good, then introduce unit fraction, then all fractions less than 1, then fraction operations. RS does have an nice math game book that I found very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 We also jumped off of the MUS train about the same place you are at. It just was not working for my dd. We used Math Mammoth and the Key to Fractions which definitely helped to get the basics of fractions down. Then I realized that she could do a decent job of solving a problem with fractions in it, but when I put a word problem in front of her, she had no clue how to solve it. I found a little workbook that was very good here. (Click on the book and it will give you an idea what is inside.) If you need more work on word problems after he gets the basics down, this is a good little book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 My dd#2 recently was having serious issues (anxiety attacks!) with solving fraction problems using addition & subtraction with unlike denominators. I pulled out the Key to Fractions book I had from when her older sister had used a couple of them. It took her a few weeks, but I loved how it very gently went through everything step-by-step. It isn't very conceptual overall, however. If you want a great foundation from a conceptual point of view, you might try watching (yourself) the Education Unboxed videos on fractions. Then, use what you learn to present to him some sample problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 We also jumped off of the MUS train about the same place you are at. It just was not working for my dd. We used Math Mammoth and the Key to Fractions which definitely helped to get the basics of fractions down. Then I realized that she could do a decent job of solving a problem with fractions in it, but when I put a word problem in front of her, she had no clue how to solve it. I found a little workbook that was very good here. (Click on the book and it will give you an idea what is inside.) If you need more work on word problems after he gets the basics down, this is a good little book. That looks like a great book! I may get it to help me! And then pass it on to my kids, of course.... :) My dd#2 recently was having serious issues (anxiety attacks!) with solving fraction problems using addition & subtraction with unlike denominators. I pulled out the Key to Fractions book I had from when her older sister had used a couple of them. It took her a few weeks, but I loved how it very gently went through everything step-by-step. It isn't very conceptual overall, however. If you want a great foundation from a conceptual point of view, you might try watching (yourself) the Education Unboxed videos on fractions. Then, use what you learn to present to him some sample problems. I second Education Unboxed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Yes: Key To! Yes: Education Unboxed! And Jump Math has a dedicated Fractions unit that (I think) is free: http://jumpmath.org/cms/cbus_and_tms If this isn't it just google 'jump math fractions' and you should get a hit that is a PDF for students and another that is a PDF for teachers. And a friend's kid did a fractions unit that involved baking. First it was just measuring and then it was halving and doubling recipes etc. And of course that made its own rewards, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Can you say what exactly he doesn't understand? Is it the concepts? Or is it how to do the procedures? Or some particular aspect like simplifiying or equivalent fractions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I "get" fractions now in a way I didn't before having, well, learned along with my two in some ways. I know I wasn't taught well, so I feel good about the way my kids have learned. But the education unboxed (free) videos on fractions with c-rods helped. In one of them, she references this book--Everything's Coming Up Fractions. C rods would help in using the book, and I think they sell a version with c-rods if you don't have any. This is a really terrific approach. My (very) weak math child mastered fractions with this book, and he really understands them. The Education Unboxed takes them even beyond this book. If you look at the education unboxed videos, you'll get a sense of the approach the book takes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 I read your title and was going to suggest MUS fractions. I thought it was the best explanation of fractions ever and by far their best book. Sorry, that wasn't even vaguely helpful. :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 If it's the concepts that are lacking, why not go back to something really concrete? A batch of slice & bake cookie dough would be ideal for practicing fractions. Pull out a page with a mix of problems, and act out the questions with the cookies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 After thinking through it and trying to pinpoint what his difficulty is exactly, I really think it's just in the computing and knowing what to do for each operation (+, -, *, /). He "gets" fractions as in the idea of parts and wholes and comparing them, etc. (he understood even when I was confused!) I think the Key To is what will help him for practice. I think even just making a chart for him that tells him what he does for each operation (just add across, use the rule of four and cross multiply, find LCD, etc...) So, he understands what fractions are, just needs to memorize how the computing goes for each operation. His confusion started when multiplying and dividing fractions came up and I'm thinking it was just confusion of "what do I do?" MUS isn't awful, but he is frustrated with it. He's not my easiest one and won't say easily that he doesn't understand, but has more of a give up attitude, gets very irritated that he can't do it and has to think and try, etc... He's very smart, but shuts down if he doesn't understand something easily. Ho-hum. Thank you all for all your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianne-TX Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 I read your title and was going to suggest MUS fractions. I thought it was the best explanation of fractions ever and by far their best book. Sorry, that wasn't even vaguely helpful. :leaving: He understood fractions with MUS, but needs help now remembering how to compute them. Practice, not necessarily that MUS is awful. There have been times, though, when MUS confused my kids and we had to just skip over how he explained it and teach them the way we learned. He is good, don't get me wrong, and I like MUS as a whole, but there are parts that get too detailed and it's confusing for my kiddos and even me. Like I said, DH and I have had to just say, "oh, just do it this way." and then they get it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Would other math movies help? We have, for example, a Standard Deviants set, a chalkdust set, and so on. In addition to Math Mammoth and Keys to, Steck Vaughn has workbooks that are only on Fractions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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