SparklyUnicorn Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Don't know if "woe" is quite the word. He does fine, but he hates it. Today he said this is so boring, I know this stuff. And for the most part he was right. But I just don't know what in heck to use anymore. Nothing seems to be peaking his interest. It's like dragging an elephant through mud. I have, MM, MIF, and Saxon. I tried one level of Beast. He thought the cartoons were cute and fun, but the math boring. I don't know what in heck to do. Now I don't think it has to be fun all the time, but it's never with him. He acts like I'm torturing him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 What was he working on? Can you give him chapter tests/reviews to see where in the course he would benefit most? Maybe you should accelerate through the sloggy parts if it's something that he knows really well already. You have older kids right? Do you still have upper level materials on hand from them? Try bumping him up a level or two... Personally, I tend to turn a deaf-ear on complaints about boredom, but that's not the right solution for all kids with all subjects. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 What was he working on? Can you give him chapter tests/reviews to see where in the course he would benefit most? Maybe you should accelerate through the sloggy parts if it's something that he knows really well already. You have older kids right? Do you still have upper level materials on hand from them? Try bumping him up a level or two... Personally, I tend to turn a deaf-ear on complaints about boredom, but that's not the right solution for all kids with all subjects. Well he wavers between saying it's too hard and it's too boring. I don't know what in heck he means with that. I do have some upper level stuff. I don't think he is quite ready for that, but I haven't really tried either. I thought I'd have this figured out with getting one kid through the math stuff, but nope. He is so different than my older kid. Yeah I do agree it can't always be exciting, but it just seems wrong that he hates it that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 My boys thought Beast was nice to read but boring to do. They had plenty of exposure to past years competition math tests as enrichment though. Would he want to try aops prealgebra? I'll let him do the chapter quizzes from MIF or Saxon and see where he placed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 Well he wavers between saying it's too hard and it's too boring. I don't know what in heck he means with that. I do have some upper level stuff. I don't think he is quite ready for that, but I haven't really tried either. I thought I'd have this figured out with getting one kid through the math stuff, but nope. He is so different than my older kid. Yeah I do agree it can't always be exciting, but it just seems wrong that he hates it that much. My younger kid likes to proclaim his hatred of people, places, and things as of late, its very draining. However, rather than engage him, I just smile blithely and tell him. "That's okay, Pal, love and hate, are natural feelings to have." or "You have a right to your own feelings." Now the "its too hard" and "its too boring" can mean a variety of things. I don't know what you've used in the past, but is he rock-solid on all the prerequisite skills for a topic that is "too hard" and "too boring". Clearly knowing "Oh, to solve this I have to simplify the fractions and then divide the amounts into each other" is NOT the same as being able to readily and easily simplify the fractions, organize your thoughts and properly divide one amount into the other. He might know what to do but lack the ability to do. Or...he could be practicing for the Whine and Complain event at the 2016 Olympics. You can never tell with some kids.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorrelZG Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 My younger kid likes to proclaim his hatred of people, places, and things as of late, its very draining. However, rather than engage him, I just smile blithely and tell him. "That's okay, Pal, love and hate, are natural feelings to have." or "You have a right to your own feelings." I am taking notes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted December 3, 2015 Share Posted December 3, 2015 If he found Beast, MiF and Saxon all boring and you feel he really knows it, time for pre-algebra, probably with a program like AoPS. That's my take anyway. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I'd add to Gils comment, "Oh, you expected math to be exciting? Maybe we could have lessons while rock climbing or deep sea diving or something that's actually intended to be exciting!" Meh, sometimes school isn't exciting. Or even terribly interesting. Still gotta do it though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Yeah, he may never find it fun and exciting - math may just not be his thing. That's okay and encouraging him to persevere despite that is a good skill and one that kids can start to develop at this age. But if it's easy and boring constantly, then he's in the wrong math and needs to move up. And maybe that will make it more engaging. Maybe. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I agree, maybe give him the tests/quizzes for one of those programs and see if there are any gaps. Keep moving him through until he hits real snags? Or maybe switch him to something like Teaching Textbooks coupled with periodic word problems from MiF? DS hates math right now, too. Hates it with a passion. Maybe it is the age. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 My boys thought Beast was nice to read but boring to do. They had plenty of exposure to past years competition math tests as enrichment though. Would he want to try aops prealgebra? I'll let him do the chapter quizzes from MIF or Saxon and see where he placed. I do have aops pre a. I'd be floored if he could handle that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upward Journey Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I agree, maybe give him the tests/quizzes for one of those programs and see if there are any gaps. Keep moving him through until he hits real snags? Or maybe switch him to something like Teaching Textbooks coupled with periodic word problems from MiF? DS hates math right now, too. Hates it with a passion. Maybe it is the age. I concur. I went through this with my oldest two dc at about the same age. What I ended up doing was giving them the test first, and then we'd cover the material that they got wrong together. It was a very efficient way to accelerate them. Once they got the point where more was a challenge, instead of less, they stopped complaining so much. Oldest was using a combination of Saxon & Singapore. Second child used MUS. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 Elementary level? At that age we did singapore math 4 days a week, and on wednesdays we had a math fun day. We started out with some math game, like something from Theoni Pappas, and then we started doing a moems exam every wednesdays. Will that help shake things up? Sometimes math is boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 My dh, was loves math, says arithmetic is boring and he never liked math until algebra. I hoped that would happen with ds, but he hasn't liked any math (Singapore and Horizons for arithmetic, Jacobs Algebra, TT Geometry, Alg 2 and pre-cal (with 1/2 a year of Foerster alg and trig--that was the worst!). TT has worked best, but not b/c he thinks it's fun. DD, who is not as naturally talented in math, likes math (Horizons and Saxon). So, really, no idea, but sometimes you just aren't going to win this fight. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted December 4, 2015 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I would try pre-algebra, or at least Hands on Equations. We aren't using AoPS right now but we are using a mix of other things, and the first several chapters (or half of the book or more) of any of them are just review of elementary math. DD flew through them; nothing was new. We're finally working in equations and inequalities, and it's the first time we've had to slow down for a while, and I realized that it's because we finally reached something new! And, it's algebra. There isn't anything "pre" about this part of it. Pre-algebra is just a bizarre gap year, and now I realize why so many people just skip it and go to algebra. For DD, it was right to do pre-algebra first because she gained confidence flying through those early chapters. (And now I am probably going to go back through the material with AoPS.) I used to randomly give her practice on different skills to keep them fresh while she worked on something new, but I don't have to do that now. She has to remember all operations, negative numbers, fractions, exponents, etc. to do the equations. It's built-in review! And, now, she finally gets something out of it. A solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat w Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Have you gotten the manipulatives? That's fun :) My boys love them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caviar Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 We have an 11yo who complains about math too, but the thing is, she does just fine with it. It's just not drawing dragons or making pom poms! Ah well....we use CLE and what I do is cross out any of the problems that I know that she knows how to do, and only have her do what she needs to work on. We skipped half a grade this way, and I'm hoping to keep skipping light units (that's what they're called in CLE) as needed. There is a lot of repetition built in to this program, and once a child "gets" a skill or concept and they've seen it enough times (it's a spiral program), I just try to have them review it once every five lessons or so. If you have MM, do you have the dark blue series? You could just use that for areas which are needed or for areas where you can move ahead more quickly, and skip the others. Even contact Maria Miller of MM and ask her. You could make a deal, such as, if you get 80% correct today, you can skip the next lesson, and see how well you do on the following lesson. Or, I'll give you the chapter test, even though you haven't done all the lessons, see how well you do, and if its 80% or better, you can go on to the next chapter or unit, etc.... Another option is to use a different medium on which to do the problems, such as, if you have sliding glass doors, or a nice big picture window, or a lovely mirror, get some dry erase markers or transparency markers and do math problems on the windows or mirror - (I can envision my mother shuddering at the thought)! Do you have a draw program on a computer or tablet? Use that instead of paper or a workbook. Go someplace different, such as the library or McDonald's, and do math there instead. Hopefully you can find something that works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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