Bay Lake Mom Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 I have used a variety of math curriculum over the years to teach my now 10 yo daughter. She doesn’t really like math, but says she wants to be a scientist. She loves Science! All of the curriculum we’ve used is mainly a procedural approach. I am thinking she would benefit from understanding “why” math works, not just the steps. She might even enjoy math more. She was doing BJU DLO 5 until I realized she wasn’t actually retaining anything! She knows multiplication facts and can do division. She doesn’t really have much knowledge around fractions. I recently started CLE 4 just to backtrack and see what we need to work on. I am trying to figure out which conceptual math curriculum to use moving forward. Her younger sister (8 with LD’s and legally blind but can see text in books well enough) is working through R&S1. I would like to consider conceptual math for her too. Any recommendations on switching approach in 5th grade? Would one curriculum work better than others at this age? Which programs should I look into? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Lake Mom Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 I believe she has a good understanding of place value. We have used manipulatives to explain addition, subtraction, and multiplication. I think she understands why those work. She does not like puzzles. I try to get her to do mind benders, or activities like that and she gets annoyed. I did try Math U See with her about a year ago. She liked it because there wasn’t much work each day, but I think that’s the only reason. I have Alpha and Gamma on my shelves. We didn’t stick with it because I felt she needed to be doing more. That’s when we went with BJU. (Big mistake). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 We are currently taking a step "back" and reinforcing conceptual math with Gattegno. The very first book starts out with teaching the rods, basic addition, and then jumps straight to fractions of numbers under 20 and manipulating those. Honestly, it's something that can be done in about 20 minutes each day and works well for an older child because it's not the standard math sequence. Most of it can be done orally, too, since it's all working with blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 (edited) My first question would be are you sure she only understands procedures and not the concepts behind what she is doing? If she truly understands only procedures and no concepts, I would not progress to any math curriculum and simply play with concepts. It doesn't take a curriculum to teach concepts. It simply takes teaching them what they are doing and why. I know nothing about BJU materials, but some posters will assert that math programs only teach procedures and skip concepts when that is not accurate but that the program simply teaches concepts in ways that are not in line with Asian math (which does not hold ownership over teaching concepts.) FWIW, my kids have all used Horizons math (one of the programs that posters claim does not teach concepts and is procedural only), and they all have excellent conceptual understanding. (if you can't see my siggie, most of my kids are now adults including a chemE and a physics grad student who doubled in math.). If you simply want to supplement what you are using to strengthen her skills, Hands On Equations is good for applying what they are learning. Edited February 17, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bay Lake Mom Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 I think I’ve decided to go back to the BJU math, but not use the distance learning. I will do the teaching myself. I’ve spent some time looking through the resources we have on the shelf, and BJU does teach conceptually as well. I think we’ll make this work. Thank you for your responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wathe Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 4 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said: <snip> If she truly understands only procedures and no concepts, I would not progress to any math curriculum and simply play with concepts. It doesn't take a curriculum to teach concepts. It simply takes teaching them what they are doing and why. <snip> This. You can use the MUS Gamma you already have to review multiplication conceptually - maybe use the videos and the tests only Education Unboxed has a fantastic set of videos that you can use to supplement to re-inforce conceptual understanding. I particularly like the videos on long division. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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