Math to catch up 7th grader who is a plodder

[historically accurate]

My youngest has unfortunately fallen behind in math, partly due to her style, partly due to life happening. Long story short: she was running a year behind in math already (she did McRuffy a year behind since 1st grade took 2 years - she could NOT understand subtraction for a solid year). She was set to do McRuffy 5 last year in 6th. However, during her 6th grade year, her older sibling had severe mental health issues that affected the whole family. Math did not get done on any consistent basis, and what did get done was not understood and/or retained. I am now dealing with a 7th grader who needs to do 5th grade math.

There may be some learning disabilities in play here as my oldest has some, and I suspect this child is similar. However, we are tapped out financially having dealt with all of the mental health bills this past year, so I cannot afford to get her a neuropsych eval at this time. I am hoping to get her ready for Algebra I by 9th grade. I don't know if that would be possible even going through both summers, but I'd really like to get her there. She will not be hurried to get through math or any topic really. Once she knows something, she needs some review, so a mastery approach won't work. However, sometimes I need to cut down the amount of problems as she will get overwhelmed.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me? I am thinking Math Mammoth or CLE may work well. $ is definitely a consideration here for me as well; I cannot spend over $80 on math for her. I don't need much help in teaching math, so I usually don't have to buy the teacher's guide which saves $. 

[Kendall]

1. I haven't found the kind of program that does retrieval practice perfectly (see retrievalpractice.org), but making your own set of index cards with the different types of problems (1 per card) and having the student cycle through reviewing them regularly has been the most effective for my children. This works with any program.  Also, I don't know what topics are covered in McRuffy 5, but so much of 7th/8th grade math is just a review of grade school. Get that all solid by a regular system of review and Algebra 1 in 9th is quite possible. 

[kristin0713]

I would look at Math Mammoth and target the topics that she really needs.  Long division, fractions, decimals, etc.  My DD who just finished 7th grade did CLE this past year and I wish I had put her in it sooner.  It was SO good for her.  But I feel like if we had needed to start at the 5th grade level, it would have just taken forever.   Some other things you could look at are Learn Math Fast,  Mastering Essential Math Skills, and/or Evan-Moor Daily Math Practice.  If you can get her caught up on all operations of arithmetic in 7th, maybe she can try Pre-Algebra in 8th. I will say that the key for my DD was consistent review of EVERYTHING, which is the strength of CLE.  I'm not sure I would go that route if you need to start in level 5, though.  

[jens2sons]

I realize this may be a bit late to reply but I thought I'd reply just in case. My 7th grader has been struggling to catch up in math for some time.  Because of this, I was looking in to the Saxon D.I.V.E. program and saw the parent resources they suggested reading through.  Reading through their info, I found that as long as the student is 12 yo/ 7th grade, there is no need to put the student in a lower book (in a nutshell).  So, I ordered the Saxon 8/7 math along with the D.I.V.E. streaming and so far it's been a great program.  We DO NOT complete one lesson a day.  D.I.V.E suggests taking as long as 3 days to complete a lesson if needed.  My son Is definitely challenged but it's not so hard that he can't do it.  Saxon 8/7 used to be a remedial math before going in to Algebra.  Now Saxon has Saxon 1/2 which you can go to AFTER the 8/7 or depending on how well 8/7 was completed, you can go straight to Algebra 1.  I'll be honest.  I used to be one of those homeschool moms that hate Saxon.  After going through so many curriculum (Teaching Textbooks, Math- U-See, Right Start, etc) choices I was at my wits end and I guess I was desperate.  My son still isn't in love with Saxon but oh well.  I can at least say that I feel that he is learning at a pace that pushes him to think harder and not just dawdle and float. Here's the D.I.V.E site if you are interested: https://diveintomath.com/saxon-math/ . Hope this helps!