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More rigorous math textbook 5th/6th grade HELP!


RosieCotton
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We've been using Rod and Staff grade 5 and 6 math for the last year, and it's been good to build solid foundation for some things, but now looking at my state math standards we need to do more it is not enough.

 

Please help recommending MATH for 5th and 6th grade. I have a 5th and 6th grader. we are solid on the basic 4 operations, fractions we've got down, word problems and measurement. Need more on geometry we are just ok there, algebra, probability, ratios, mean, median, range. (RS goes to hundreths, not millionths in decimals etc to name an example of what I am seeing and we haven't even covered interest yet or creating a simple spreadsheet.)

 

We've done Miquon and Singapore Standards thru 4 and am checking it in the morning but I never ordered 6. Thought 6 was a review year. I have 5 tho.

 

I've checked a few "math grade 5 texts" don't know if Houghton Mifflin would be good enough. Found a used one for $5 worth a look. Old edition tho so good luck finding a workbook I assume. Would like to check out a good 6th grade text as well. I think I could use material from both grades to firm us up. . . .

 

What I am seeing in RS is there is only 1 or two pages for a topic where we are lacking, then it moves on and not enough practice or review.

 

I have a mathy 5th grader who is on par with his 6th grade brother so we teach math together. That's how math has evolved here.

 

Would really like to take the next 6 months and polish where we are at/expand their understanding before I decide where to go with Pre-Algebra in the fall if that's possible. (Digesting the Pre-Alg thread . . .)

 

Tried the fancy stuff and just want old school now or something that is open and go we can run with.

 

Don't want to buy a whole new deal. :)

 

Thanks for the HELP! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Creating a spreadsheet you can just do on your own. Make up your own numbers, or you can probably find tutorials and problem sets online.

 

If a child really understands decimals in the tenths and hundredths, then millionths are no different. Just like if they grasp place value through the thousands then millions and billions are easy.

 

So I wonder whether you need different math, or just to supplement slightly for what you have already.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

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Why not get the Math Mammoth topical set? You could easily print worksheets from whatever topics you wanted as a supplement to what you're doing, it's definitely open and go -- the first website I looked at (currclick) the grades 4-7 bundle was $75 and the complete bundle was $120, which isn't a huge amount for several years worth of supplementation. 

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Try the Key To..series to focus only on what you're lacking.

 

My .02 - ignore the state standards.  Not entirely, but look ahead through the middle school standards and you will probably see they don't change very much through 8th grade, as the majority of students become ready for algebra.  Some will take it in middle school, some in high school..it doesn't much matter.  Compare to what it would be if you stayed the course you're on. 

 

 

FWIW, when my son went to PS for 6th I took the list of math standards for 6th grade and compared them to the s&s of what he'd done (MUS).  He was missing a handful of objectives only, and most of those we covered in a small amount of time because they were just building on what he knew.  A child who can calculate to the hundredths in decimals can see the pattern of how to go down to millionths. :)  It may take a lesson or two, but it's not a new concept.

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5th and 6th graders needing to create spreadsheets and calculate interest? I must live under a rock bc those are not skills I associate with elementary school. College kids take courses on implementing Excel. (My freshman took one last semester and is taking another one this yr that are integrated into her accounting courses.) ??? Understanding percentages is appropriate, but calculating interest (compounded??), not so much. (Simple interest is simple, but I really don't care if my 10 yr olds spend time calculating it as such. Give them a couple of yrs and if they understand how math works, they should be able to figure it out without much effort if how it is calculated is explained. That is just an application process with a name. )

 

ETA: I agree with others. I don't worry about place value like that, either. Once they know how place value works, they can work it out.

Edited by 8FillTheHeart
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I use Didax Daily Mental Math to supplement Rod & Staff math. It seems to cover the tiny topics that R&S leaves for later. Most of the things you mention are actually covered in R&S, though...R&S 5 covers place value to the thousandths, and book 6 to the ten-thousandths; arithmetic mean/average is just about beaten to death in book 5; there are several lessons on calculating simple interest in book 6; and ratios are introduced in book 4 along with fractions and the student is expected to be able to use the two interchangeably in both 5 & 6. Daily Mental Math has more coverage of geometric topics, median/mode, early algabraic concepts, and introduces things like exponents slightly earlier than R&S. It only takes 5-10 minutes/day, so I have found it easy to add in.

 

R&S 7 covers everything in book 6 at a deeper level and is definitely sufficient preparation for prealgebra.

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Ok thanks for talking me down.

I'll look at these suggestions tonight and see what I can do.

 

I forgot I bought MM a few years ago. Will find the external HD it's on.

 

My sister is an aide in 5th grade class. Every year at the end of the year they take the kids to a half day field trip called the marketplace.

They are store merchants, banks, and consumers. They come in, buy products, sell products, calculate interest to get loans for cars and homes.

 

This made me wonder. . . so I checked the standards.

 

 

 

 

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Perhaps you could supplement with Beast Academy. It has a lot of problem solving depth, geometry and some algebraic concepts that would help boost his skills in a fun way. It meets standards and can even be complete to prepare for pre-algebra. There is a placement test. Don't feel bad if they place your child in level 4 even bc they are advanced. They can be very challenging, but teach how to work through problems in different ways.

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Frankly, I don't see how a spreadsheet falls under "math" anyway, although I would say that doing an activity (shopkeeping is a great one) that requires a child to do a spreadsheet is a good skill to have. But it's more of a life/computer skill than math. 

 

I missed that part of your original post (it was late ok? :) ) but the MM topical set would definitely help with the geometry/probability stuff you're looking for; if you already have it, I think that'd be perfect. 

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Do you have to meet state standards?

 

Many people here have said that they used R&S math through 8th grade and that their children were able to go into any publisher's algebra--not prealgebra, but algebra--and succeed. That sounds to me as if R&s is pretty rigorous.

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I hope this makes you feel better about spreadsheets and teaching how to calculate interest.

 

I teach at university level, and in my 10 years of teaching I have had to explain how to calculate percents for every single class that uses the concept. Every single class. I am not even talking about interest rates. This is the basic "a whole cannot contain more than 100% under any circumstances" concept, which always, and I mean always draws absolute blank stares from at least half of my students, sometimes all of them.

 

I no longer assume that they can do a calculation such as "what is 5% of 20", much less anything along the lines of "if you were hired with initial salary of $50,000 per year with a 3% annual raise, what would be your salary in 5 years."

 

You are already well ahead of many college students. Trust me.

 

 

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Yes thanks for all the great advice. I will not jump ship on RS, we will keep going but look at adding Daily Mental Drills and probably something else to flesh out some holes.

I did the crazy panic home school teacher thing. :smash:   My apologies!!

 

I am a little shocked hearing this about interest and %.

 

I was taught this, and we must have practiced it in school because I can mentally figure any % off discount from any number rounded to the nearest dollar as long it's not a really huge number. 45% off 1200. 4% interest on 25K for 10 years.

 

I was also taught how to calculate simple problems like the one above from RosemaryAndThyme. This is seriously not difficult! My sisters school is teaching the kids interest over the years.

Why can't they teach real MATH ANYMORE!!!

 

How can we say this is acceptable!!! Keep up the challenge in your home school. This is really bad folks!

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This was bugging me. I called my Dad and he said I learned mental percents and basic interest calc in 6th to 7th grade or so. He was always helping with my math homework, we have the same brain and he loved math so was always a fun time at the table.

 

So makes me feel better for our grades here, we have time to master what I feel is important, but not for those of you who say high schoolers are not mastering these skills. And college students are needing help?

 

I swear sometimes I don't know what planet I am on. :hurray:

 

 

 

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Strayer Upton was mentioned; it is a fav of mine. Cheap, old-school, open-and-go. The brown book is 5th-6th grade math. There's a lot of arithmetic review and fractions. The blue book is 7th-8th and covers a lot of percentage, consumer math, pre-algebra concepts, and some cool geometry. You could look at samples, but the blue book might be an option for more variety.

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