Math after elementary for students with learning disabilities

[Guest radgedyann]

Hello all,

 

I apologize if this has been discussed before. I dug and dug and couldn't find a thread.

 

I am Ann, a homeschooling mom with three children, ages 10, 8 and 7. They were adopted from foster care and have various challenges related to in utero alcohol exposure, ADHD, reactive attachment disorder, auditory processing disorder, autism (high-functioning), and specific math learning disabilities. Wow, that's a lot! They are also, between the three of them a hilarious comedian, incredibly creative, a great singer, generous, a great dancer, kind, empathetic, and really fun to be around!

 

I've been reading a lot of special education sites geared toward public school teachers and am not finding much that would be helpful to me as a homeschooler.

 

I am trying to plan for math beyond the elementary level. My 10 year old is still working at 3rd grade math. We are using Math Mammoth,  and some special education workbooks from Steck-Vaughn for extra practice  While I do think that he can progress, I'm not sure that higher math will be within reach for him. What do I do in the future, after the 6th grade level? I see various "practical math" and "real life math" books on the market. Is this what I should work on through high school? Just use a different curriculum each year to focus on the areas that he will need for daily life (ie money, time, cooking/recipes, checkbook/bank account management, etc)? Has anyone reached this point in their homeschool journey?

 

Thank you for any advice that you can offer.

 

Ann

[OneStepAtATime]

Hugs to you and yours and welcome to the boards.  Hopefully you will get lots of useful responses here.

 

As for what to use and what the goals should be, I'd be taking that one year and even one day at a time.  My daughter was in school through 5th grade and came out of school barely able to decode things like Clifford or do simple arithmetic (and although we didn't realize it at the time, she had little understanding of what arithmetic actually was all about).  Our first year homeschooling was really disheartening.  We didn't realize how far behind she actually was or how much the teachers had just been passing her without her actually learning anything.  We found Barton to help with reading/writing/spelling, which took her back to the basic building blocks she had not gotten in school.  It helped tremendously.  Math, however, was a total nightmare.  We tried so many different programs.  I despaired of her ever even really succeeding with elementary math, much less High School.

 

Thanks to the wonderful people on this forum, for 7th grade I started DD over with the very basic building blocks of math, like going way, way, way back to basic subitization skills, even though that seemed counterproductive.  I used Ronit Bird and Dynamo Math to try and help her solidify all those shaky or missing pieces that she never got in school.  It was the key that unlocked so much for her.  Doesn't mean that math is now easy and she is caught up to "grade level" in math as a "9th grader".  It does mean that math is now doable and she is understanding most of what she does.  She is also a LOT more enthusiastic, instead of hating and dreading every minute of it.  She is nearly finished with 4th grade level math and is making great progress.  Because the basics are far more solid, she is now moving at a faster pace.  Things like fractions and decimals, which confused her no end before, are finally clicking.  Word problems are making more sense.  As her brain matures, things are making more sense.  As we continue using a program with LOTS of built in review, things are starting to gel in ways that they never did before (CLE has been a HUGE help for spiral review).  She also enjoys some of our lessons, which is huge.

 

I don't know how far she will be able to go with math but I have learned not to rush, not to give up, and not to plan too far down the road or make too many assumptions one way or the other.  I will keep moving her forward as she is able to.  Some weeks that means super fast, sometimes super slow or backtracking, and everything in between.  She has already requested a second senior year to give her more time to get through all the material, since she does want to go to college.

 

 In the meantime, we are also incorporating various resources to give her a good grasp of Consumer math.  Learning how to handle her own personal finances seems the more paramount concern in the long run.  If she is easily fooled, has no idea how to save, can't track income vs. outflow, that could have a lifelong negative impact on her.  I see that as much more important than whether she made it through even Algebra II with great success (or moderate success...or even just passing), KWIM?  We are also looking at ways to get her internships/apprenticeships in fields that might not require a lot of math and how to get her into college without lots of math requirements if higher level math ends up being beyond her capabilities.

 

I'm a planner so not being able to set the pace with any certainty is frustrating.  At the same time, I have learned that while I can plan, I have to also be really, really flexible, for both our sakes.

 

Good luck and best wishes.  

Edited January 26, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[Julie of KY]

Agreeing with OneStep.

 

First, you can't predict the future - good or bad. Take it one step at a time and keep taking the next logical step no matter how far off grade level they might be. Going back and solidifying the basics often solves many of the difficulties of moving forward. It doesn't fix the underlying problem, but if the foundation is shaking, there is no way you are going to make much progress at all.

 

As you get a little farther in math, you'll have a better idea of if you need to teach life skills type of math or if you can keep going into harder maths. It's really hard to predict right now.

 

 

[5toluvdisney]

I also have a teen with ASD who struggles with math skills.  I have used Math Mammoth with another daughter who is very strong in math.  I would not personally try to use Math Mammoth with my struggling learner.  It is very heavy in mental math and uses the spiral method a little too much which can be frustrating for those who do not naturally "get" math.  I would encourage you to keep looking for a different math that may better match your child's learning style.  We have had the most success with Math U See because it is a mastery approach and broken down into more bite sized chunks of learning.  We have also used Khan Academy as a resource and supplement. It appeals to visual learners and best of all it is free. Take your time and do not worry about grade equivalents, simply focus on the skills your child needs to master at the level he is on and get as far as you can. 

[OneStepAtATime]

I agree Math Mammoth can be really hard for a struggling math student.  Lots of posters seem to have success with either Math U See for the mastery approach, or CLE for a much more user friendly spiral approach.  You might consider looking into one of those if you feel that MM is not working that well.

[Hilltopmom]

Not that long ago, I started a thread here about "how far to expect borderline iq kids to get in math", or something like that. I can't search for it right now, but will later if you can't find it:)

 

We've recently switched our focus from getting furthur in math ( which wasn't working anyways), to remediating lower levels & adding life skills math, like menu math, money counting, time telling, recipes, etc.

 

I loved MUS, especially the page layouts. But it didn't carry over at all for my kiddo into daily life.

 

We tried CLE (way too many different things going on on each page) & have settled for now at TT (just the workbooks, not the computer program), doing the problems together on the whiteboard or graph paper. She's in 7 grade ish, doing grade 4 TT, probably could've worked in grade 5, but there were gaps I wanted to fill.

We added to that (I switch what we do, not both daily) books from Remedia Publications : Menu Math, Market Math, Newspaper skills, games, counting real money, etc

[Heathermomster]

Well, when DS was 11yo and 5th grade, he was still memorizing his multiplication tables.  Fives years later, he is working his way through Algebra 1B and is currently completing polynomial division.  A lot can happen with your kids so don't rule anything out just yet.  

 

I hate MM.  The gal who designed it is a sweet lady, but I just hate MM.  The layout gives me the chills and quite frankly, I don't see anything novel about it other than it is cheap.  Others love it, so there you are

 

My DS requires consistent exposure.  There was no way that kid could read a clock or handle money at aged 10.  As a teenager, he reads clocks no problem and can count accurate change.  IDK, a switch went off or something.  We work slowly and methodically.  We hit the same concept over and over again using multiple approaches.  When he forgets, we pick up and reteach.  If my child were struggling more severely and couldn't get past multiplication tables, we would have resorted to Semple Math and than branched from there to consumer type math with conceptual type science classes..

 

OP, I know you want a more specific answer but all I can say is take math one year at a time.  I could never have predicted the success my son has had over the last couple of years.  He is not a math super star or anything like that, but he is getting the work done.  Last year during April and May, I literally laid down every day after working with him.  I prayed and wanted to cry but couldn't.  Recognize that feeling?  We restarted on the same topics 4 months ago and the boy flew through the very same information.  It was amazing and I am still stunned.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Heathermomster