smudge Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I have two girls, 10 and 8. DD10 has inattentive ADHD and loves staring off into space. Obviously this makes getting through school difficult for her (and ME!) Math is her nemesis. She can do it, it just takes a long time. I think she might be about a 1/2 year or so behind what she should be. We had to do some remediation at the beginning of 2014 school year. DD8 is very quick with the numbers. She has technically just finished 2nd grade, but is a grade level ahead in math. They have been using Horizons books, and while they are a fine program, they do not give me any pointers on HOW to teach the given tasks. I need more guidance in the teaching of it. We have stopped for Khan Academy videos, while helpful, it does disrupt the flow and for DD10, can make it impossible to get back on track. I have been thinking about changing over to something different for this new school year. So I had them take the placement test for Saxon 5/4- they BOTH tested into it. I had them take the placement for CLE, they BOTH tested into 400. How would you handle this? Put them both into 5/4 and just call it Math Class? Put them into CLE 400s and then let them work at their own pace (DD8 will get ahead of DD10). I'm worried that if DD8 passes DD10 by, it will hurt DD10 math confidence (which is shaky at best). Any ideas? :confused1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Separate math programs. Maybe CLE for one and Saxon for the other? Although, personally, I'm a Mathusee fan and a Singapore Math fan, so I'd pick one of those for your ADHD child. The other kid can do Saxon or CLE. Edited July 18, 2016 by perkybunch 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Separate math programs. Maybe CLE for one and Saxon for the other? Although, personally, I'm a Mathusee fan and a Singapore Math fan, so I'd pick one of those for your ADHD child. The other kid can do Saxon or CLE. I agree. Put them in separate programs so that your younger can pass up the older one without either of them noticing. If you can use programs that do not use grades as levels, all the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I agree, use two different programs. If you have to use a program with grade levels make sure you present it as levels, not grade levels. Make it clear that the numbers are to represent levels like in a pyramid or ladder, starting with Level 1 and moving up the pyramid until you finish the program. Compliment them on getting to start further up the pyramid, as in "Look, you get to skip levels 1-3, you can just start with Level 4 of this program!". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 MUS is so quick and easy to follow for teaching. I find it to be very complete and thorough through the arithmetic years. You might wish to check them out. I think Sue in St Pete used them in the lower years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 I see no issue with using different programs. However, it doesn't sound like your older dd is bad at math. It sounds like she has focus issues. Assuming she is on a special diet, and is taking all her supplements and avoiding anything artificial, and getting plenty of exercise and fresh air and sunshine... The next thing would be to choose a math that has color and variety. My ADD ish dd did very well with Horizons. She liked that it had many different things to do every day. She liked that it had color, and puzzles. She liked that she could SUPER quickly read the simple lesson, ask me if it didn't click, and then run through the work as quickly as possible. Becuase there are a lot of problems she used a TIME TIMER< and would take a break between page one and page two. In fact no matter what you do, I recommend the TIME TIMER for any kids with ADD. I set the timer for 25 minutes per page. If she finished before that, she received a ten minute break, PLUS the amount left on the clock. To do WHATEVER she wanted. Then, we set the timer the same way again, for the second page and she received a break again before starting the next subject. Also with my girl, math must absolutely be first. Otherwise she will dread and dread and dread it and basically cause a tailspin....she does much better when she can just do it and move on, even though she is NOT a morning person. You can also try decaf coffee, high cocoa (and therefore naturally low sugar) chocolate and other stimulating beverages and treats to make her enjoy her math time. For your younger dd, I would recommend Singapore Math in Focus. Singapore goes really deep into the concepts and the word problems and bar modeling will really challege and stretch her. Math in Focus is really easy to use and teach and comes with all you need. It's awesome! I wish my son had used it, but the regular singpaore made me nervous as it was not all included in one book, and the Math in Focus was not out yet at that time. It doesn't, to me, sound like Saxon or CLE would be a great fit for either of these kids.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Quick and Quickly are not words that I would use to describe DD10. Haha. I have tried using timers with her and that ramps up her anxieties to extreme levels. She can't do XtraMath for this very reason. SIngapore and MiF. I will look at those too. I just need something that is easy for me to teach. That is my beef with Horizons- Now that DD10 is halfway thru Horizons 4 I have a hard time ferreting out what I need to tell her. I am sure this doesn't help her. She has been on meds, but they don't seem to be helping like they used to. Throw in the fact that her shrink has since retired I feel like I am back to the drawing board :crying: Edited July 18, 2016 by smudge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Have you looked at Math on the Level? It would let you teach them together while letting you not necessarily have them on the same page, as it were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebrindam Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 Quick and Quickly are not words that I would use to describe DD10. Haha. I have tried using timers with her and that ramps up her anxieties to extreme levels. She can't do XtraMath for this very reason. SIngapore and MiF. I will look at those too. I just need something that is easy for me to teach. That is my beef with Horizons- Now that DD10 is halfway thru Horizons 4 I have a hard time ferreting out what I need to tell her. I am sure this doesn't help her. She has been on meds, but they don't seem to be helping like they used to. Throw in the fact that her shrink has since retired I feel like I am back to the drawing board :crying: Find a new doctor! As their bodies grow and change, medications need to too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smudge Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 Find a new doctor! As their bodies grow and change, medications need to too! In the process, but that is a process.... :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 I would second the recommendation for Singapore...although if you did switch I'd post a question asking if anyone has made the same switch from Horizons, because the Singapore approach might take some adjustment. My ADHD DD doesn't love it, but she likes using the manipulatives, the pages aren't crowded and overwhelming, there's enough variety to be interesting, and it has a get 'er done feel that appeals to her...We go quickly through the TB, I can assign her 2 or 3 workbook pages to do on her own, and she knows that once she's done, she is done. So even though she's not a fan of math, she's a fan of finishing math, lol, which works as its own motivation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat w Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Separate math programs. Maybe CLE for one and Saxon for the other? Although, personally, I'm a Mathusee fan and a Singapore Math fan, so I'd pick one of those for your ADHD child. The other kid can do Saxon or CLE. I agree. That's exactly what I'd do. I used the mus to introduce the lesson we were going to be working on in Singapore. I'm a huge Singapore and mus fan. I hear alot if good about ClE. I used Saxon with my big kids. Just make sure you focus in mastery of a concept before you move on. They are a spiral program and mastery can get lost. Spend enough time as you need and buy a practice book if some sort. Like maybe a keys to ____. Still do the review problems in the book. It's good for review so you aren't forgetting things. I wish I had done more practice per concept with them in Saxon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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