I want to scrap math for the rest of this year (1st grade)

[caedmyn]

I am so done dragging Mr. Oppositional through his math every day. He is NOT a mathy kid, everything frustrates him,and he is opposed to being shown or told how to do things. He much prefers to figure things out on his own but he generally cannot figure out how to do anything but the most straightforward math problems on his own (ie 4+3=___...but not ___ = 4+3). We did Miquon for most of the year and switched to MM a few weeks ago. He was happy to do it at first because it was easy but now it's trickier and he doesn't care to do it anymore. I think he will use Abeka next year which will hopefully seem easier since it's spiral, but I'm not going to buy the first grade one with 8 weeks left in our school year. Is there some alternative math he could do for the rest of the year, or should I just scrap it? The topics he has left are calendars, shapes, and measuring. He might not object too much to the measuring worksheets but that's all going to be repeated again anyway and using a ruler is not complicated anyway.

[nixpix5]

Open each morning with a calendar routine organically and teach measurement hands on. Do some simple recipes, use a measuring tape to measure rooms, people, objects, get a scale and measure household items to compare...try to guess first then measure. Make it fun and don't call it math. Those things are way better hands on anyway.

 

Print some shape patterns from the Web and make geometric solids, play with them, find things I your environment with those shapes. Again, don't say they are math ;)

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Open each morning with a calendar routine organically and teach measurement hands on. Do some simple recipes, use a measuring tape to measure rooms, people, objects, get a scale and measure household items to compare...try to guess first then measure. Make it fun and don't call it math. Those things are way better hands on anyway.

 

Print some shape patterns from the Web and make geometric solids, play with them, find things I your environment with those shapes. Again, don't say they are math ;)

 

I agree!

 

These particular topics are much easier taught organically.  

 

For the rest, maybe just go back to the cuisinaire rods and the games on Educationunboxed.com  .  We love them.  

[Ellie]

Works for me. :-)

 

Have you seen this article? It will make you feel so much better.

[SoCal_Bear]

Perhaps, he might like Kitchen Table Math? Just play the games and explore math right now. https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Wrights-Kitchen-Table-Math/dp/0982921128

 

Edited March 19, 2018 by calbear

[fralala]

Yes! Where is the relaxed math thread? Why, I seem to have it bookmarked here. 

 

For our MM measurement unit I pulled out the baby books and we made marks on the wall to show how my 7 year old had grown from birth to age 3 or 4 (when we actually started marking the wall). I also assigned her to measure everyone's feet for new shoes. Calendars, we spend a lot of time counting weeks and days until birthdays and holidays.

 

Does your son like any of the suggested MM games from the beginning of the chapters?

 

[wendyroo]

Is he a fan of Star Wars?

 

Two of my kids are currently supplementing Math Mammoth with these Star Wars math workbooks, and I have been very impressed with them.  I think they do a good job building deep, conceptual understanding of foundational skills.

 

Looking through the first grade book, there are a few 4 + ___ = 9 type questions, but they are confined to two page spreads toward the end.  Most of the book is fairly straightforward and self-explanatory, and it would probably be good review for your DS.

 

Just an idea, if you want to back off, but also maintain some math momentum.

Wendy

[SilverMoon]

What about games that make him practice? Perhaps a pile of manipulative, games, puzzles, etc and tell him to spend time on them daily.

 

Can he read? If so you might consider having him play Prodigy for now. It's a role playing game website that requires math to be done correctly to damage an opponent. If he can't read reasonably well in his own just skip this one though.

[Rosie_0801]

You could try something like CSMP because it is taught very differently to other maths programs. It's free online so picking and choosing the lessons won't cost much.

[wendyroo]

What about games that make him practice? Perhaps a pile of manipulative, games, puzzles, etc and tell him to spend time on them daily.

 

Can he read? If so you might consider having him play Prodigy for now. It's a role playing game website that requires math to be done correctly to damage an opponent. If he can't read reasonably well in his own just skip this one though.

 

Prodigy will read questions to you.  It is an awkward, mechanical voice, but it gets the job done.  My 4 year old is a very early, emerging reader, and he has been successfully playing prodigy for several months now.  There are occasionally text blurbs during game play that are not read aloud, but DS was born with a mouse in his hand and always seems to be able to figure out who he is supposed to talk to or where he is supposed to go even if he can't read every instruction.

 

Wendy

[SilverMoon]

Prodigy will read questions to you. It is an awkward, mechanical voice, but it gets the job done. My 4 year old is a very early, emerging reader, and he has been successfully playing prodigy for several months now. There are occasionally text blurbs during game play that are not read aloud, but DS was born with a mouse in his hand and always seems to be able to figure out who he is supposed to talk to or where he is supposed to go even if he can't read every instruction.

 

Wendy

That's handy! That must not have been in place in time for my youngest. His reading really lagged behind his math for awhile and it frustrated him. Once his reading caught on Prodigy was fun again.

[caedmyn]

Works for me. :-)

 

Have you seen this article? It will make you feel so much better.

 

That makes perfect sense to me.  Kind of like early grammar...why bother repeating and building on it endlessly for years when you can just do a grammar-in-one-year program in middle school and be done with it.  

 

I don't know if I'm hands-on enough to make the approach described in that article feasible though.

 

Maybe I can just count watching Odd Squad as math for the rest of the year.  

[Angie in VA]

Yeah, right now I would have math consist of games (limited time, quitting before the child tires of it), skip counting songs, and maybe a workbook from the dollar section that involves coloring or stickers for shapes, etc. I like the ideas of using cuisenaire rods and videos like the Unboxed ones on vimeo (iirc). 

 

I also have warm, fuzzy memories of playing Sum Swamp w/ mine when they were little. 

 

If you do any lessons, make them short and sweet literally like counting M & M's!

Edited March 23, 2018 by Angie in VA

[wendyroo]

Works for me. :-)

 

Have you seen this article? It will make you feel so much better.

 

That article lost me at "outside of making change, where does an eleven-year-old child ever have to use arithmetic?".  Uh, in life?  In cooking and building a dog house.  In budgeting their allowance and scoring their domino games.  In sharing treats and figuring out how long ago something happened.  In calculating distances and designing a skateboard ramp.

 

I cannot imaging depriving my 11 year old of the tools of arithmetic.

 

Wendy

[caedmyn]

That article lost me at "outside of making change, where does an eleven-year-old child ever have to use arithmetic?".  Uh, in life?  In cooking and building a dog house.  In budgeting their allowance and scoring their domino games.  In sharing treats and figuring out how long ago something happened.  In calculating distances and designing a skateboard ramp.

 

I cannot imaging depriving my 11 year old of the tools of arithmetic.

 

Wendy

 

I didn't agree with that part, but IMO the overall point of the article was about teaching through hands-on and teaching thinking skills instead of doing pages and pages of problems...and that makes sense to me.

[Kidlit]

Check out denisegaskins.com and Math Geek Mama website. Games are the way to go!

[Ellie]

That makes perfect sense to me.  Kind of like early grammar...why bother repeating and building on it endlessly for years when you can just do a grammar-in-one-year program in middle school and be done with it.  

 

I don't know if I'm hands-on enough to make the approach described in that article feasible though.

 

Maybe I can just count watching Odd Squad as math for the rest of the year.  

 

You don't have to do the stuff described. Just do regular, real-life arithmetic: give him a jar of coins and let him figure out how to count money, when he wants to, not because you initiate it. Buy him a calendar and let him mess with it....or not. Buy him an analog watch and let him figure out the time (and put an analog clock on one of your walls where he can see it). Play Yahtzee, or Parcheesi--any game that uses dice, even if it isn't advertised as being "educational."  And jacks. Buy some jacks and a golf ball (golf balls are better than those little balls that come with the jacks).

 

ETA: Also, unless your state homeschool laws require you to count anything, don't worry about it. If your state laws require you to count stuff, count everything.

 

ETA: For the record, his "grade level" is irrelevant. Homeschooled children are not "in" "grades." :-)

Edited March 21, 2018 by Ellie

[PeterPan]

I'm totally good with hands-on math, game-driven math, etc., like Family Math, the Peggy Kaye Games for Math (I keep in our school room, use frequently, ADORE), Ronit Bird, etc., sure. But really it sounds like you need a consistent structure. I use and really, really, really (did I mention REALLY) like the Using the Standards books published by Carson Dellosa. Search Our Catalog | Carson-Dellosa Publishing Abeka is rebadging of old, beyond copyright texts and their philosophy historically was to be very advanced in order to bolster the impression that christian schools were good. No, it might not be easier or more within reach. It might actually be overwhelming.

 

Check out this Using the Standards series. (algebra, geometry, measurement, numbers/equations, snoop till you find all the books in the series) The *reason* I'm so crazy for it is it slows down, has a lot of repetition, and digs in on things my ds misunderstands and just flat misses. They have books for geometry, measurment, etc., etc., so I buy all the ebooks for his grade level, print, and assemble work packets. There will often be hands-on exploration of the concepts. Not so much tedious stuff with manips, but really interesting, real life stuff. Like today we were exploring area, so it had us draw his hand and then pick and object to use as the unit and find the *area* of his hand! With linear measurements, it had us doing measurements of rooms, objects in rooms, etc. It really gets to the core misunderstandings and glitches with my ds, and because it's keyed to standards it's still thorough. My ds enjoys it and he tests reasonably well, meaning it's not too crazy a choice. 

 

I like games too, but for me it's really handy to have something idiot-proof, something I can just put in a folder and do with him. If I leave EVERYTHING to games and good intentions, less gets done. That's my reality, and I'm probably less busy than you. :)

SaveSave

Edited March 20, 2018 by PeterPan

[blondeviolin]

I give you permission to stop formal math instruction. Everything will circle back around and he can likely pick up whatever he missed within reviewing next year when he might be a trifle more mature (don't quote me in that).

 

Do what works for you. This is not a hill to die on.

[Hobbes]

I haven't yet used first grade math, just jumped in at 2nd. We talk daily life math, so they knew how to add, etc, by the time we hit 2nd. Everything circles back around and gets covered again. My oldest two are now finishing 4th and 3rd and skipping first hasn't been an issue at all.

 

My mom went farther in her time - she started some of us in third. Same result.

[HomeAgain]

After reading both this and your post about your 12yo's math, I'd really take the time this year to read as much as you can about approaches to math and what you need to do in your house to move your children along.  Start with a fresh approach in the fall, and enforce that math will be taught and that you will be giving each child a period to work with you on it, either daily or every other day.