homeschoolally Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) We're doing a short season of unschooling right now because we school year-round. I want to ensure that we don't lose any ground in math--I'm fine with not gaining much, but want to use the time to review and target any weak areas. Want DS (5th grade) to have 20 minutes of math a day that is streamlined and productive. We've always used CLE math and will return to it when we're back full-time. He tried doing just one or two pages a day of CLE but it doesn't seem like he's getting much out of it. We've tried some online options (Beast Academy, Scootpad Math, Manga High, Elephant Math) but feels like he is doing a lot of random math without clear focus on progress. I used Aleks many years ago with one of his siblings and I'm thinking about returning to that so he can track his progress and also brush up on any weak areas. Before I purchase it I'd like to make sure there aren't any newer/less expensive options that we should look into. This will be completely student led, so immediate feedback on incorrect answers is important as well as some instruction he can read himself. Fine with workbook or computer/ipad, as long as it makes the most out of his 20 minutes. Thanks in advance! Edited February 26, 2019 by homeschoolally clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I agree with OKbud, you can't have it both ways. You said you are fine without gaining much but then in the next paragraph you are lamenting about him not getting much out of doing his regular math at a slower pace. Math Mammoth dark blue, the topical books rather than the grade level books, would be a good way to target weak areas like Okbud mentioned. And a studious and self-disciplined student could make reasonable progress in 20 minutes a day working on their own. If what you are wanting as a more hands off approach to math during a difficult time in life where you are needing to trim school down to the bare essentials, I would think that Math Mammoth, ALEKS or even something like Khan Academy (it goes all the way down to kindergarten math now) or Prodigy Math would suffice for a season. But I wouldn't necessarily call any of that "unschooling" or "student-led". An unschooling approach would be to let the child decide when and what kind of math they need to learn even if that means they learn all of middle school math in a few months as a teenager because another interest requires that they learn algebra so they need the middle school math to learn the algebra. A "student-led" approach would be similar but I think of student-led more as we will do math everyday but we will follow the student's interests I would design the lessons to intertwine with other interests such as science or history topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolally Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) Sorry I ha I haven't posted here in a while and can't find the button to reply directly. Square 25: My son is a perfectionist and very driven. He prefers to do math on his own using curricula that teaches to the student because he says I make it take too long and/or confuse him. He's a good student and has always been able to work above grade level in math so I've decided to keep letting him work independently as long as it keeps working. OK Bud: Great idea with TT, I'd forgotten about that one and agree that might be a good direction to go long term! I love CLE, my older children used it through middle school and there isn't much about it I would change. This particular kid is maybe better suited for something like TT in this situation. Thanks for the suggestion! Edited February 26, 2019 by homeschoolally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolally Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 21 minutes ago, sweet2ndchance said: I agree with OKbud, you can't have it both ways. You said you are fine without gaining much but then in the next paragraph you are lamenting about him not getting much out of doing his regular math at a slower pace. Math Mammoth dark blue, the topical books rather than the grade level books, would be a good way to target weak areas like Okbud mentioned. And a studious and self-disciplined student could make reasonable progress in 20 minutes a day working on their own. If what you are wanting as a more hands off approach to math during a difficult time in life where you are needing to trim school down to the bare essentials, I would think that Math Mammoth, ALEKS or even something like Khan Academy (it goes all the way down to kindergarten math now) or Prodigy Math would suffice for a season. But I wouldn't necessarily call any of that "unschooling" or "student-led". An unschooling approach would be to let the child decide when and what kind of math they need to learn even if that means they learn all of middle school math in a few months as a teenager because another interest requires that they learn algebra so they need the middle school math to learn the algebra. A "student-led" approach would be similar but I think of student-led more as we will do math everyday but we will follow the student's interests I would design the lessons to intertwine with other interests such as science or history topics. We are unschooling in every area except math. I wouldn't say I was lamenting, lol, more that it doesn't seem very productive. Thanks for the ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolally Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) Thanks so much OK Bud, I checked it out and Teaching Textbooks online is exactly what I had in mind. It was only available as a disk last time I looked into it. Thanks so much for suggesting it. I have been homeschooling close to 20 years and have a pretty good handle on it, but there are always new things out there and only so much time in the day to investigate them all. Thanks again! Edited February 26, 2019 by homeschoolally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smfmommy Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 If you are still looking for ideas - how about Mastering Essential Math Skills? Book one covers most of elementary math. One page per day. There are videos to go with the lessons too if you want that. But it can be very self directed. https://www.mathessentials.net/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homemommy83 Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Just throwing another option out there😉.you may be interested in Khan Academy...he can earn badges and that motivates many kiddos😁. Free videos, problem sets with hints, and it will test him to place him...all for free😁. Brenda When we get our internet up and running Inplan to place all of my kiddos for the summer😁. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Maybe Life of Fred? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Yeah, Khan Academy or Life of Fred... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Just echoing the idea of Khan Academy and/or a Spectrum workbook. When one of mine went through a very convoluted health issue, he did pretty much nothing but read alouds and Spectrum workbooks for a bit. No bad things happened afterward. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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