Shelly in VA Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 Struggling with how to tackle computation skills with ds who is about to turn 13. He is technically in 7th grade, and he is strong in math, but not advanced. We used Singapore Math K-5, then in 6th grade he did Singapore 6 and some LOF. While he understood the concepts in LOF, I felt like he wasn't getting enough computation practice, so we switched to Khan Math at the start of this year, in part because I feel strongly that his computation skills need to be sharper before he starts algebra. He claims to like it, but in my opinion he is relying too much on the multiple choice options (sometimes using them to avoid actually doing the math), and he still isn't really getting the solid computation practice I am looking for. I am considering switching to AOPS Prealgebra, but I'm not completely sure on that. I have an older ds who used AOPS for all of his advanced math following Algebra I/II and Geometry, and he loved it, but I also have a dd who tried the AOPS Geometry and Counting & Probability and hated both (even though she is a very capable math student). If I can get ds to tackle the program diligently, will it give him the pencil-and-paper practice I am looking for? He tends to get very frustrated with what he perceives as busy work once he has mastered a topic, so I am hesitant to pull Saxon off the shelf. I really feel like with kid #4 this should not be such a struggle! ? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 With my 7th grader, we're doing both AOPS Pre-Algebra (done with me) and independent computation practice. I bought the Math Mammoth Blue series during the HSBC sale, plus I got some of the Key To books, and as part of her independent work, she does 30 min or so a day in them as "math review". 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 Can you clarify what you mean by computation practice? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in VA Posted September 26, 2018 Author Share Posted September 26, 2018 10 minutes ago, TheAttachedMama said: Can you clarify what you mean by computation practice? ? As an example, he was working through a set of problems multiplying and dividing powers of 10, and he had "forgotten" how to handle exponents. When I showed him, he remembered and worked several problems quickly, until one of the questions had a negative power of 10, and that threw him. I feel that the computation skills are present, but not so solid that he can work problems automatically, if that makes sense. Does that clarify it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 If you already own the AoPS prealgebra book, I think chapter two is on exponents so you could use the exercise problems there. I don’t know if you could set Alcumus to both book and topic but that would be another source of practice problems. I have done that years ago for my kids. If you want something pencil and paper, Key to series and the Pizzazz series are useful for drills. DS12 finds Pizzazz more gimmicky while Key to is more traditional drills. I won’t use Khan for drill unless you are free to sit beside him. My DS12 is such a good guesser that he rather guess that work it out. If I give him anything that is multiple choice, I have to ask him to show me the working or explain verbally or he would just guess all the way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in VA Posted September 27, 2018 Author Share Posted September 27, 2018 (edited) 32 minutes ago, Arcadia said: If you already own the AoPS prealgebra book, I think chapter two is on exponents so you could use the exercise problems there. I don’t know if you could set Alcumus to both book and topic but that would be another source of practice problems. I have done that years ago for my kids. If you want something pencil and paper, Key to series and the Pizzazz series are useful for drills. DS12 finds Pizzazz more gimmicky while Key to is more traditional drills. I won’t use Khan for drill unless you are free to sit beside him. My DS12 is such a good guesser that he rather guess that work it out. If I give him anything that is multiple choice, I have to ask him to show me the working or explain verbally or he would just guess all the way. I didn't think about Alcumus! That's a good idea. Key To is also a good suggestion. I'm not familiar with Pizzazz. I don't own the AoPS Prealgebra book, but I'm not opposed to buying it. Your ds12 good guesser sounds a lot like mine in this regard! ? Edited September 27, 2018 by Shelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 (edited) 19 hours ago, Shelly said: I'm not familiar with Pizzazz. Edited to remove link Edited September 27, 2018 by Arcadia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in VA Posted September 27, 2018 Author Share Posted September 27, 2018 Thank you, Arcadia! I'll take a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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