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Books to Learn Math Facts


Coco_Clark
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My older son (6) learned his facts to 10 and doubles last year, but only after months (really, months) of drill.

 

I'd love to focus on memorizing the rest of his addition facts, because I can see the benefits.  He is a slow processor in math in general, and as we get into multiple-step problems not having to think about simple addition would really help.  But plain drilling is obviously not going to work for this kid. I'm looking at Addition the Fun Way as well as Two Plus Two is Not Five.  Any experience with either of these programs?  Anything else that may help?

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Play lots of math games and do lots of practical application math.  Play store.  Look on this thread for other sources.  At that age play may reinforce a lot more effectively than tons of drill and kill.

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/499692-looking-to-do-some-relaxed-math-here-want-to-share-ideas/

 

I wish I had done this much more when my kids were little.

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We play store a lot, and I credit that with his ability to add/subtract coins.  He can count by 10's when he's adding dimes and he knows two quarters are 50 cents.  But 2+5 is still done on fingers.  And if I demote him to only pennies while playing store he just counts them, which does not help automate his facts.

 

Im all for play-based learning but I guess I dont know what kind of play would help this particular hurdle.  I suppose I could use card games.  We played a card game in which you had to pair two cards to make a 10.  I could do that with other numbers as the goal...  Unfortunately most online games frustrate him, as they are timed and he can never get the answer fast enough.  I think they will be great for reviewing facts but not learning them.

 

 

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My dd liked the Two Plus Two is Not Five book. She mostly did it for 'fun' on her own, but she is a workbook-loving child. That being said, even prior to that I had purchased a set of games created by a teacher based on pretty much the same 'tricks'. The company is called GiggleLearn, the set was called GiggleMath...and my dd adored them. The games are not so much just a game as it is a 26 step system for learning math facts. They do the same things (albeit different names) like Monkey in the Middle: for adding numbers like 6 + 8 you are taught to find the number in the middle and double it.

We were doing RS at the time, so she also liked to use other strategies. But for her, learning several different ways just gave her a bigger toolbox. Playing the GM games and letting her work through the Two Plus Two book just helped her cement them a bit better, and gave her solving skills if she didn't immediately recall the answer.

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I see you're using MIF. I did that with my ds for his 1st grade year (after trying singapore in K and a little in 1st.) He had NO retention until I switched to CLE and it was magic. I feel like I'm wandering the boards tonight singing the praises of CLE but, for us, it was like switching on a math light. Check out their samples:

http://www.clp.org/store/by_course/46

 

Each CLE lesson has one new fact, one story problem, number recognition, some review of old concepts and a speed drill. (Later in grade 1 money, time and measurement are also covered.)

 

It looks boring and looks like it starts out really slow but it picks up quickly and does the job. Oh yeah, and it's really cheap. You can try out a unit for less than $4.....

(Anyway, even I'm getting tired of myself telling everyone to use CLE but if your looking for something to teach and solidify the facts, CLE is it. )

 

One more thing - try XTRAMATH.ORG (or .com maybe.) It's like interactive flashcards. For some reason my kids think it's fun.. b/c they get happy face "stickers" for correct, fast answers.

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We are trying out MIF this year but last year we used Singapore Primary.  I'm moderately attached to Asian-style math with this kiddo, his conceptual understanding with that method is sky-rocketing.  It's true that I'm also going to need a plan for facts, though.  I'll look into CLE and see if there's any way to supplement.

 

Unfortunately XTRAMATH isn't helping us much right now.  He isn't quick enough to get any of the answers right in time, so its pretty disheartening for him.  

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My kids use the Saxon Math facts drill, Reflex Math (xtramath was not working with my youngest b/c of frustration with the keyboard & being timed), card games (addition war,subtraction war, multiplication war) Sumology game, Monopoly: always make your kids the Banker (I had to peel my children away from monopoly last night.......)😉

 

I have the big box of math games from Right Start, but we seldom use it. I need to pull it out....

 

Sumology rocks! http://www.simplyfun.com/PublicStore/stores/MMarr/AM/product/Sumology,824,216.aspx

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We've done well using Wrap-ups (just the wrap-ups mostly, though I bought the CD version to help with multiplication).  Also with CalcuPak drills, which are downloadable and printable -- these are written, and A. pretty much detests them, but they help; I extended the times on the drills as appropriate, since he wasn't a fast writer. 

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I really like Math It for solidifying math facts. Games are also wonderful. Simple card games are not hard to come up with. Play war by flipping up 2 cards instead of 1. The person with the larger total wins the cards. (you can do this for addition, subtraction, and multiplication)

And fractions:)

We did it first by simply making the larger-valued card the denominator first, now we are doing using them as they come up as mixed fractions.

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And fractions:)

We did it first by simply making the larger-valued card the denominator first, now we are doing using them as they come up as mixed fractions.

 

That is a great idea!   I don't know why I haven't ever thought of that before!

 

24 is a favorite here, but that is a little more competitive.   Even my adult kids can get into a cut-throat game of 24.  (Over-grown toddlers trying to prove who is better at math!   :lol:  On a tough one, you can hear a pin drop and the brain gears whirring all at the same time! ;) )

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