Math help for 11yo boy

[diaperjoys]

I'm looking for suggestions for our 11yo son. Math is his (very) challenging subject. We had some neurological and academic testing done last year which showed, among other things, that he has ADHD, doesn't have Asperger's, has off the charts intelligence with anything word related, and average (compared with his peers) ability with math. He is technically "math disabled" because the "math" and "word" scores are so dynamically different. However, on paper, his math capability tests solidly average. 

 

In real life, however, math is a big challenge. We homeschooled through the early elementary years, he did 4th and most of fifth at a private school, and now he's home again, and we anticipate the kids being home for the forseeable future. In the early years we discovered that mastery programs are terrible for him - any mathematical data that isn't constantly used will disappear from his brain and needs to be retaught. Seriously. I think we went through maybe 5 1st grade curricula before we realized that a tight spiral was a necessity.

 

At private school they used Saxon, which was okay for awhile until the concepts ramped up and outpaced him. We began using TT at home while he was in private school, and that was a huge success. The instant feedback, the ability to try a problem a second time, the visual presentation. All very good.

 

Now, though, at home we're again running into roadblocks again. I suspect that the concepts have again outpaced him, and we may need to backtrack and take another run at things. But I'm more cautious now - we have quite a bit of math yet to learn before graduation, and if we continually repeat levels we are losing valuable time. On the other hand, though, i would rather have him truly learning a lower level of math, than failing his way through high level math programs.

 

So. I'm looking for suggestions! Right now he's in CLE 405, working with equivalent fractions, and converting mixed numbers to improper fractions. He's also doing TT level 6, lesson 99. The last 20 lessons or so have been terribly discouraging for him - lots of work with multiplying and dividing fractions and decimals. Some of it he understands, others he blunders through. The remaining TT lessons focus on radius, perimeter and shapes, so things are looking up. However, I'm positive he isn't fluent with the fractions and decimals.

 

So I'm not sure where to go from here. The CLE is very good for him - that tight spiral is critical. But TT is also good, because it gets done, and it auto-corrects. With our batch of kiddos we certainly have those days where I simply cannot sit down and go through every CLE error with him and give him the feedback he needs. I'm not sure how much of a jump TT7 is - perhaps it will re-teach all the decimals and fractions, and that will be just what he needs. But I'd love to hear any opinions and suggestions from those of you who have "been there done that". 

 

 

[Farrar]

If you decide he needs to redo fractions and decimals on their own, the Key to Math series might be just what he needs. It's simple and written to the student and is super clear. The way that it unfolds helps some kids really click with the information. They have a fractions and a decimals set.

 

I don't know CLE or TT enough to know if they'll cover those concepts again, but I would expect any program before pre-algebra to do so.

[Jyhwkmama]

My kid is in CLE 509 right now. This whole year has been more fractions, decimals, percents, basic geometry, and some ratio/ proportion. CLE is definitely is nice tight spiral.

 

However, I do like Farrar's suggestion of the Keys To series. That kind of focused review might be just what he needs.