nurse_kris Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 My DD12 is going into 7th grade. She struggles with math. Over the years curricula we have tried are TT, MM, LOF, and R&S. She muddles through, but has very little retention. She has weak understanding of decimals and fractions. I currently have her working thru Key to fractions. We have also supplemented with Khan academy. I am wondering if there is a curriculum I can use that covers all of elementary school math? Addition and subtraction are not a problem. Multiplication and division up to 2-3 digits are not a problem, but the rest is sketchy. Would Lials Basic College Math do that? Or maybe just work thru all of the Key to series? I have gone back to TT twice, her grades are ok, but the retention is not there at all. I want her to get a good foundation in basic math but at this point I am not sure where to go next. I also thought about CLE math OR MUS as we haven't tried that yet. :confused1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Maybe Rightstart's Fractions kit? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyBC Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I am in the same boat, so no real advice, just wanted to share we are reading through Life of Fred this summer. I really want my dd to get the relationships/connections. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 BCM would certainly cover all the basic arithmetic one needs to be successful in upper maths. Gently, the problem I see, for a kid who struggles to retain, is one book likely won't be enough for it to all sink in deeply enough for moving on. If she's still doesn't have mastery of basic multiplication and division, is she going to be ready for negatives and exponents in a year? Lial's next book, prealgebra, covers basic arithmetic with negatives and exponents thrown in from the beginning. Keys To are supplements and not a full course. We use plenty of them, but I wouldn't rely solely on these if you want her to be successful beyond this stage. I wouldn't go to MUS at this stage in the game. Their elementary books are extreme mastery style, and their prealg is a catch-all for the topics that didn't get covered because of that. It could get difficult to place and very expensive if you need multiple sets in a year. I didn't see what level you have her working at. By the way it "sounds" I'd do R&S 6 before BCM. The basic functions, fractions, decimals, and such ought to be deep enough to go on auto-pilot for algebra and above. A good familiarity from Keys to won't be enough for success. It sounds like she will struggle no matter which book you use, so grab one that both of you can operate reasonably well and just keep plugging forward. Repeat chapters as needed. Double and triple check her actual understanding of the concepts by making her explain them verbally, not just what she's doing but why. Fwiw, I had/have a similar struggler. He's a rising 11th grader this year. It took a truckload of patience, repeating concepts again and again, dvd lessons, one-on-one lessons with a retired STEM professor, and doing whatever it took to keep going forward. It has been a long road of one step forward and two steps back, but he will start alg 2 this fall. He has two years left to finish it, and I now have no doubts that he will. :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 We switched to CLE for similar issues but I gave the free placement test. CLE has a bit different scope and sequence than many programs. The spiral review has helped tremendously. It is also easy to accelerate or slow down. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momee Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I was very happy using Memoria Press prealgebra book College of the Redwoods. Very easy to teach from. Great review. We did use Rod and Staff level 6 before it. I feel like she got a great grounding in all things pre-algebra by doing those two. You might check out Videotext. They say you can start kids early with it, earlier than I would have thought. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 We use Saxon. It has a ton of constant review, so maybe the constant review would help here. There are placement tests for Saxon online. My DS12 is going into 7th grade. She struggles with math. Over the years curricula we have tried are TT, MM, LOF, and R&S. She muddles through, but has very little retention. She has weak understanding of decimals and fractions. I currently have her working thru Key to fractions. We have also supplemented with Khan academy. I am wondering if there is a curriculum I can use that covers all of elementary school math? Addition and subtraction are not a problem. Multiplication and division up to 2-3 digits are not a problem, but the rest is sketchy. Would Lials Basic College Math do that? Or maybe just work thru all of the Key to series? I have gone back to TT twice, her grades are ok, but the retention is not there at all. I want her to get a good foundation in basic math but at this point I am not sure where to go next. I also thought about CLE math OR MUS as we haven't tried that yet. :confused1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 We have used CLE from 200-600 for my ODD, and I feel like she has a sold and thorough understanding of the basics to where she can move on to Saxon Algebra 1/2 for 7th. CLE also has the benefit of being in 10 workbooks for one year, so you could placement test him and start in the middle of a year if necessary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurse_kris Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Thanks for everyone's assistance. I ordered CLE. We are also going to continue to work thru the Key to series as well and might go back to reading the Life of Fred books. She did enjoy them, but it wasn't enough. I think starting at Epsilon in MUS would work too, but will give CLE a shot first! :) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Where did you end up placing her? I'm curious because she sounds just like my rising 7th grader too!! We took the placement test and she struggled with the fractions back in the 300 series! I'm considering ordering the 300 for her and still reading LOF too! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 For us, it was definitely the lack of spiral review that led to lack of retention. CLE was and is our math hero. If fractions are the only weak spot in the placement test, I'd get CLE's fraction practice book. It teaches all the fraction concepts in CLE from 200-800. No spiral review, just fraction lessons as though each concept was new to the student. I might work on that for a few weeks and retest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 https://www.clp.org/store/by_course/170 Here you go! They can be tricky to find :). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 THANK YOU!!! :hurray: I hope the OP is able to see that toO!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurse_kris Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 Where did you end up placing her? I'm curious because she sounds just like my rising 7th grader too!! We took the placement test and she struggled with the fractions back in the 300 series! I'm considering ordering the 300 for her and still reading LOF too! I ordered the 500 series. It hasn't arrived yet, hopefully it will be here tomorrow. If 500 seems to hard we may have to back up some more, but the Key To series seems to be helping.....and she is reading LOF, so fingers crossed. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 BCM has everything for a complete review of arithmetic, but I would not give the book to a 7th grader with math issues and say "go for it." In fact, I would not have him even see the book except, maybe, when he needs to do problems. I'd present the material myself and make math time a conversation. You want to know what he's thinking (or not thinking!). Only after a thorough discussion should he do problems independently. So what I'm saying here is that it is not the program that you choose so much as it is the intense interaction with him. Interaction is critical for proper remediation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 I ordered the 500 series. It hasn't arrived yet, hopefully it will be here tomorrow. If 500 seems to hard we may have to back up some more, but the Key To series seems to be helping.....and she is reading LOF, so fingers crossed. :) My DD1 is also 12/7th and using the 500s :). We started the 200s in 4th. This year I am planning to accelerate a bit, do 501-606/7 or so, then Saxon 87 for 8th. Algebra in 9th. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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