CLE Math 1 advice needed please!

[mmasc]

My DS, age 6, is in CLE light unit 103. He's doing fairly well, but it seems like once we hit this LU it has really ramped up and it running off without him! We are on Lesson 54. There are new facts introduced often and even though we are doing the flash cards and drills, he seems to be getting farther behind. For example, he's still trying to get the 5 family down (5-2, 5-3, 2+3 etc) but now we are already moving on to 5+2 and 7-2, etc. I guess I'm trying to figure out if we just keep going and working on facts (I know they take a long time to master!), or stop for a little break to cement what he's learned so far. We've also hit the point where I've had to break his lesson into two days because it's just too much for him in one day.

My other DS is in CLE 300 and we love it! That's why I bought it for my upcoming first grader at the time, but I'm starting to wonder if I should have gone with something else for first and second then switch to CLE at third??

Sorry for the rambling. I'm right in the thick of it right now so I'm full of thoughts/questions/doubts. 😕. Thank you for advice!

[Mergath]

We don't use CLE, but we had a similar problem earlier in the year with math.  We had switched from MM to MiF because dd was a little burned out on MM, and while she liked it, it just didn't have enough fact practice built in.  So we took a break and spent several weeks just doing fact practice through games, apps, etc., and then when dd had a good grasp on most of the basic addition facts, we started up with MM again.  We're definitely sticking with MM, because it does a great job of integrating fact practice into the lessons.  We do one or two pages a day, and it's going really well.  I also have dd do fifteen minutes of Dreambox each day.

[OneStepAtATime]

My suggestion?  Go slowly, cement the material.  Especially if he is getting frustrated.

 

Add in some mathy games and practical application math.  Do lots of review, but not constant drill and kill that is inappropriate for his age.  In other words, maybe take time to work with manipulatives and explain the concepts he is learning, then have him work through problems on a dry erase and with more manipulatives while also still doing math fact practice with flash cards and on paper.  Maybe plan on only one lesson out of the CLE book every week for a bit, and the rest of the time just do lots of review until he is more solid on the material.  There is plenty of time to catch up later and it is pretty easy to skip problems in CLE if he is solid on something.  Give him time to really learn what he is doing, before he starts getting frustrated and thinking he is bad at math.  Make the curriculum work for your particular child.

 

FWIW, my kid needs a lot of review, too.  When I pressed forward too quickly they actually lost ground.  When I finally realized that wasn't working and allowed them to slow down  or even go back and review extensively, they solidified skills much more efficiently and now move at a pretty fast pace.  I love CLE but it can make some big leaps for some kids.  Maybe stop here and just take a week or two to really work on solidifying the concepts already taught.  You can always skip problems later if you think he has them down and doesn't need the review.  

 

It seems to me that a solid foundation and encouragement of a love of learning in the early years will net far better results in the long run than rushing through material too quickly.  The child doesn't fully get what they are doing, so any layers added after that may be shaky, plus you may be undermining confidence, belief in self and enjoyment of the learning process.  I've learned the hard way that math needs to be built on a solid foundation or it collapses at the higher levels like a house of cards.

 

Best wishes.  :)

[boscopup]

My K'er is in 106. I don't currently drill him with flash cards because of his age and the fact that 2nd grade does a good job of that anyway. I also don't time his speed drills. I do let him use fingers or manipulatives when doing math, and I encourage using those things. As he goes along, he needs them less and less.

 

He hasn't had a problem with the length of lessons, but he also likes to write and is a bit abnormal for a boy. :lol: My oldest probably would have needed lessons split up at that age, and he's pretty far ahead in math now. You could try doing part of the lesson in the morning and part of it after lunch. Sometimes just taking a break helps.

 

But let him use manipulatives!!!! He will have all of 2nd grade to memorize those facts cold. My 8 year old started in the grade 2 books last year (doing Singapore 1 before that), and the speed drills and flash cards got him up to speed on facts by 204. I dropped the flash cards the second half of the year.

[alisoncooks]

We are at about the same point in CLE 1. I'll admit that we don't do the timed drill or the flash cards. :o

I save the speed drill for days we don't get to a lesson -- which is often, now that DH is in the hospital. I also save them for review during long holiday breaks, like Christmas or summer.

 

We use lots of manipulatives. I allow the occasional finger-counting. AND I make certain to point out relationships between number/fact families when DD's assigned a set to do independently.

[mmasc]

Thank you everyone! I appreciate the advice and encouragement. My son actually enjoys the speed drills and usually the flash cards 😳 so that isn't really an issue. I think my biggest concern is that I'm just not sure he's 'getting' it. The fact families haven't sunk in yet, meaning I don't think he sees how those three numbers will make two addition and two subtraction problems.

I don't know how to quote, but OneStep I think what you said about actually losing ground is what's happening here. As we move into sixes and sevens, he seems to have slowed down on fours and fives. I think I do need to camp out awhile and do some cementing of things. I let him (and encourage him!) to use manipulatives but he seems to prefer using his fingers over anything else. Sometimes I feel like he shouldn't (adding on one, subtracting one, etc) but he wants to anyway. I'm sure it will click one day...right??!!:)

Thanks again!

[Tenaj]

We backed off last year at about the same point with my then K'er.  I had math mammoth on my computer so I printed off some of those worksheets to use.  I also had R&S Grade 1 math sitting on my shelf so we went into that and since it seems to move a bit slower, he was happy with that for the rest of the year.  This year when he started first grade, I picked up CLE 1 where we had left off and he's been fine ever since.

[Storygirl]

CLE will continue to drill all of the facts for the next few years, so they don't need to be down pat before you move forward. If splitting one lesson over two days seems to be working, I'd just go with that for awhile. My nine-year-old daughter has trouble memorizing math facts, but we haven't let that keep her from advancing.

 

Ideas:

* Use the flashcards for practicing the math facts. So have him go through them on his own, just reading them if he doesn't have them memorized, for a few minutes each day. They are just a way to expose him to seeing the facts. This is different than having you hold up the cards while he says them as quickly as he can, which puts the pressure of performance on him.

* Let him use a number chart, number line, manipulatives, or his fingers for now when doing his regular work, but have him do the speed drills without using them, so that he doesn't depend on these helps completely.

* If he becomes frustrated, definitely slow down your whole approach, but if he understands the other parts of the program and just stumbles over the facts, I'd keep going.

 

[mohini]

We love <3 Love CLE but when my older was at that point, I broke down and bought MUS alpha used - just the TM and video (and blocks.) It was the perfect bridge. If I understand what you're saying, your ds isn't quite getting the whole concept of addition. Mine was like that too. Mus really helped. We just added it in daily. We watched a lesson and then did some practice with the blocks but we kept plugging away at CLE. I also bought Gamma when my ds reached multiplication and did the same thing..... I foresee doing it again for some other topics too. I know MUS is a totally different breed of math than CLE but it worked well for us. 

 

You might also try the education unboxed videos. I've never really used them but they may be a good alternative to spending more money on supplementing.

http://www.educationunboxed.com/addition-and-subtraction-to-10/

 

But as others have said CLE will continue to reinforce those facts so if it's just a matter of proficiency and not one of conceptualization then you probably can just relax and slow down a bit and it will all be fine ;)

[AimeeM]

Thank God for this thread. I get so wedded to checking the box that I was about to beat myself over the head - my little guy (K'er) loves his math (CLE 1), but the flashcards do NOT hold his interest.

I now feel like I've permission to drop them for the year. 

Thank you.

Lol!

[Korrale]

I like many of the suggestions above. Math facts don't stick well for my son either. But we made a decision to keep progressing.

I would keep going but pace yourself. Give your son access to manipulatives.... Counters, number lines, ten frames, addition charts etc to use when he needs them. Give him some "tricks" to help him remember certain facts. Doubles were the first thing my son learnt. After that we could do double +1s, then monkey in the middle, and +9 is the same as +10-1. Stuff like that. There are quite a few books out there to help you. 2+2 is not 5 is a good book.

Check out the Yellow Is the Sun song on YouTube. It will help with adding 5s.

YouTube has other math songs if your son is so inclined. There are also CDs and Itunes downloads that might help too. You could play those in the car.

I once read some where that addition and subtraction fact mastery was not expected until the end of grade 2. That reduced a lot of the worry for me.