RS B question -- too much too soon for DS?

[Mama2Three]

My DS just took the 9-week test in RS B. I've noticed that since starting with 100s and 1000s, he seems to be forgetting how to do 10s and 1s. Well, he doesn't completely forget, but he has to take some time to figure it out instead of having close to automatic recall. On the 9-week test, he got most of the questions correct, but I could tell he was guessing vs. knowing which one it should be.

 

So, I know he needs more work on numbers 1-100, but I'm trying to figure out how to accomplish this. I don't think more games would be sufficient. I could redo earlier RS lessons, then move on, although with this option, I have some concerns because there is a lot of work with big numbers coming up (adding in the 1000s and working on the back of the abacus). Or I could pause with RS and add in another program for a little while (one that holds off on the big numbers). I have Singapore and Horizons on hand, but if I go this route, I was leaning towards Singapore because it is a mastery program. I had planned to do RS during the traditional school year, then do Singapore over the summer as review, but for some reason I have some hesitation about alternating between the two.

 

BTW, DS is in ps and uses Silver Burdett, which the teacher makes into a spiral program by going out of order.

 

TIA for some insight/perspective! :)

Edited November 18, 2008 by Mama2Three

[Aurelia]

I think, if it were my child, that I would pause and redo some of the earlier lessons until he gets it easily. Once he has it down, the big numbers won't be so troublesome.

[Ummto4]

I started 1-100 with my ds (almost seven now) when he was young six with RS. I also supplemented with math mammoth grade 1 for different presentation. Right now (after 8 months reviewing) he's at the point when he can recall numbers automatically, does the number pattern, & sequencing with conventional names pretty easily. At this time, he also knows the difference and can do addition like 30+6, 30+60 and 3+6 quite comfortably. He can also do two digits +1 and also two digits +2 quite well. He still sometimes miss greater vs less though.

 

So as you see it takes a lot of time to make my 6 yo son to understand every nook and cranny of two digit place value and commit it to his long term memory.

 

I teach him hundreds and thousand now and it's not been good.LOL. Good thing is when I teach him the big nos, he still remembers his two digits.

 

I suggest you to take 5 mins a day or so reviewing those two digits for a few months and use the rest of the time to play with easy concepts, like one digit addition with total <10, 10 number bond, telling time, etc. In a few months, your dd will be ready for big nos.

[StephanieF]

I'm in a similar position to you in that ds does forget unless I keep going over stuff. I sometimes spend a lesson doing revision stuff making sure that he isn't forgetting the basics. I am not so hung up on getting a lesson done every day but do spend the occasional day getting him to do basic addition and showing me eg 42 on the abacus and then 14 etc. He does some of those drill sheets every day too. I laminated then so ge can do them over and over.

Stephanie

[Capt_Uhura]

Mama2Three - what lesson in RS B are you on now? What exactly is having trouble with regarding 10s and 1s? Sometimes in RS, a concept is revisited in more detail later after moving off in a new direction. That gives the child some brewing time on that concept....perhaps that is the case. For ex: my son is working on 2digit mental addition - he's a bit slow with it but RS has moved into money and fractions which gives time for that 2 digit mental addition (over 100) to brew, for us to play some games, but keep moving forward. There is practice daily in the warm-ups. Now if he can't move forward b/c of something, then obviously if you have to stop, review, maybe present it in a different way.

 

I pulled out my RS B, what part of the 9week test do you think he was not totally comfortable with?

 

BTW, I afterschooled my oldest in RS (did half of RS A, all of RS B, and RS C - he's now HS'd and half way through RS D). I'm not afterschooling my other son with RS as well. It's not easy but it can be done!

 

Capt_Uhura

http://afterschoolers.yuku.com/bafterschoolers

[Capt_Uhura]

Also, I photocopy the worksheets and will have DS re-work them if he starts getting rusty. If you're going to do RS C, there is alot of review in the beginning so either you work to mastery now, and quickly/or skip parts of RS C, or you work to "fairly solid" and then work to mastery in the beginning of C.

 

And continue to play those games! Also add in games like Chutes and Ladders and don't allow counting up but use addition to jump to the next position.

[Mama2Three]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. Sounds like the general consensus is to pause and keep reviewing what we've done so far. I'm still thinking about throwing some SM in there, but maybe that would muddle the waters even more.

 

To answer some questions, after we started with big numbers, DS couldn't look at the abacus and "see" 7 or 37 -- he wanted to count -- and for the 37 he wanted to start at 1, 2, 3... He hasn't been counting since we started B, except on rare occasion (sometime he'd get confused between 7 and 8). Since we began the big numbers, he just seems a little muddled with everything. Thinking back to his test, he wasn't sure of himself for several of the questions. Perhaps some of that was just test anxiety (although I sat with him and walked him through the questions just like a normal math session), but I don't think that's all it was.

[Capt_Uhura]

I would play some games w/ the abacus and switch it up, he makes a number and you say what it is. WHen my son needed a hiatus, I did some SM with him. We took a few weeks break b/c I jsut haven't had time to do RS with him and he's been working in SM Primary 1B. The methods are very similar and just seeing the visual representation in SM is helpful. My son needed work on 2 digit mental addition over 100 so in SM he's been doing 30+70, 30+75, etc.