vaquitita Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) How do you know if your child needs a more traditional math approach? Edited December 12, 2015 by vaquitita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Honestly, I think most learners do better overall with a mastery approach that includes spiral review. It's just how a lot of folks learn. You learn the material, and remember it. But over time, you forget it. Seeing it again refreshes it in your memory and makes it stick a little more. Over time, after seeing it repeatedly, it sticks even better. The more you use a skill, the more you remember how to use it. How many math concepts did you master over your school years? Now how many of them do you still remember? Probably only the ones that you use routinely. If you are presented with those concepts, it'll take you a bit to recall how to work them. Nothing hammers this home better than signing up for Khan Academy and working through the World of Math series. You might be surprised how much elementary math you forgot! I know I was...lol. Anyways, back to your kiddos...what I do with Singapore is I build in spiral review. I have a list of topics that my son has covered and I add independent work to his daily folder...just about every day...each day I'll add in whatever is next on the spiral review list. These are all topics that he's mastered and shouldn't need help with...it's just to keep him revisiting those concepts so he doesn't forget them over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 We use traditional math, and honestly? I don't expect first graders to have those higher facts down cold. It takes a while for those to get worked in well, even with daily flash card work (which we do) :). Do you use Xtramath? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I agree...almost all kids need occasional reviewed concepts and continued repetition/practice to keep the facts in their head. My 8 year old is very talented at math and is a year "ahead" of grade level in math curriculum. He mastered all 4 operations on the six second speed in Xtramath this past year. Then I noticed this summer that he was struggling to quickly recall some of his multiplication facts again! I'll probably have him either do the three second setting of Xtramath this year or if that is too fast, have him do another fact program for review. My DS8 does well with adding in a quick, 5 minute review sheet to stay fresh on things he doesn't see very often in his regular math curriculum. I switched my DD11 to a spiral approach (CLE) a couple years ago partially because a lot of review is good for her but also because over time I noticed that she has a lot of anxiety with learning new topics, and CLE breaks things down into little bite size lessons so that she rarely feels like she is doing something "brand new". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) Nm Edited December 12, 2015 by vaquitita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) Nm Edited December 12, 2015 by vaquitita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 It took my dd, who is good at math but dislikes it, until 5th grade to master all her math facts including addition and subtraction. Having her do a daily computer based drill (Reflex, which is about $35/year- she started it in 4th) is the only thing that finally helped her cement them. In 1st/2nd, she definitely did not have her addition/subtraction facts down. I agree that using them over and over, as well as very brief systematic drill of some sort will eventually help them stick. (but don't overdo it...I totally overdid flashcards at one point!! I think you have to figure out what kind of drill your dc does well with, without causing tears, and doing a little bit each day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 I have thought a lot about this because of my oldest dd. I am super attracted to Singapore/MEP/AOPS type math. It is what I would have done well with and one of the reasons I wanted to homeschool in the first place. However, my oldest dd just never got it. We did Singapore Essential math in K, tried MEP and Miquon. She just honestly never made the connections you are supposed to make with them. She had to have everything spelled out for her. She could use the c-rods perfectly, but they just never translated into a better understanding of numbers and number bonds, for example. She just didn't see it. I realized for her, she really did better having a more algarithmic, step-by-step style math. Only then could she start to see the connections after the fact. She is a memorize first, explain later kind of kid. This is the kind of kid that I think does best with traditional math. My younger dd, although only 4 (almost 5), already shows a natural ability to see and manipulate numbers in a way required by the more asian-style maths. So for her, we're doing MEP and Miquon. I wouldn't do traditional math with her. Those are my insights into traditional vs. whatever. However, spiral vs. mastery isn't necessarily limited to traditional math. Miquon, for example, can be spiral or mastery, depending on how you implement it. And for the record, my 1st/2nd grade dd is using CLE, which is as spiral and traditional as they come, and those facts aren't introduced until the very end of 1st grade level and mastery of them is not expected. I would definitely not expect them to be mastered by now, especially without recent review. I think the idea of using a math facts app daily is a good one and what I plan on doing with my 4yo dd when we start worrying about math facts. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 (edited) Nm Edited December 12, 2015 by vaquitita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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