KelseyS Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 What math would you recommend for rising 6th grade DD who is very bright, not terrribly motivated to do schoolwork, but loves to learn on her own terms. She's a pretty intuitive learner and understands concepts easily. She tests at a college level for reading, but is just a grade level or two ahead in math and writing. When she's supposed to be completing a math lesson, I'll frequently find her curled up with a book or coming up with a new Lego creation. She thought Saxon 6/5 was boring torture and she doesn't think math could ever be fun! To help with placement, I just went through the Saxon 7/6 book with her and she could skip at least the first half and even the last half would be a lot of review. We looked at AoPS Pre-algebra together and I think she would be ready for it, but again she said it looked so boring. Thanks to a very helpful Lori D. on another post, I already have a list of fun books and supplemental activities. But, we still need a spine. Can you help me find something that will help this girl get excited about math? Or at least not dread it? Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 I responded on the other thread that Saxon would drive my kids insane. It is not an exaggeration. For kids who intuitively understand math and make the big picture connections, Saxon is akin to being pecked to death bc it is so repetitive and incremental. What did she use prior to Saxon 6/5? DId the school she attend also use Saxon? If not, how did she respond to that math curriculum? Would she want to continue with it? It sounds like she is ready for pre-alg. None of them are "fun", but some that you could investigate are (in no particular order) https://www.mathmammoth.com/complete/grade_7.php https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2400784.Pre_Algebra https://www.thinkwellhomeschool.com/collections/all/products/8th-grade-math Excellent supplement: https://www.borenson.com/Products/Parent-Materials/Verbal-Problems-Book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KelseyS Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 Prior to Saxon 6/5 during our first year of homeschool, she did My Math by McGraw-Hill at a private school. She thought it had a lot of busy work and the many approaches to solving a problem seemed to be thrown together randomly - it was confusing. Thank you for the recommendations! I'll look into them. She likes the Life of Fred books too, so that may be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Math Mammoth is great. Dimension Math is challenging--their 7A and 7B would be comparable to MM 7 but offers more difficulty, particularly in the workbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I used mathematics: a human Endeavor during the preA years. It is definitely out of the box, and super fun. https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Human-Endeavor-Textbook-Subject/dp/0716713268 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Maybe have her stay in the room with you so you can redirect her. We are using the Grade 6 CK12 Kindle book. It is pretty traditional but it is written in an easy to read way and covers the basics well. There are two books each for grades 6 and 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Would the Arbor Press 'Jousting Armidillos' series work for her? Or maybe supplement with Life of Fred? I use AoPS and LOF with my older, but AoPS is wordy and time consuming. My younger picks things up quickly but isn't particularly interested in math so we're going to try JA and LOF together and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 55 minutes ago, ClemsonDana said: Would the Arbor Press 'Jousting Armidillos' series work for her? Or maybe supplement with Life of Fred? I use AoPS and LOF with my older, but AoPS is wordy and time consuming. My younger picks things up quickly but isn't particularly interested in math so we're going to try JA and LOF together and see how it goes. A word of warning. My oldest was struggling with a concept in AOPS algebra, so I got him Chuckles the Rocket Dog (the third book in the Jousting Armadillos series). We really loved it, EXCEPT the answer key was riddled with errors. Sometimes they were blatantly answering a different question than the one they asked in the book. Other times their math was just flat out wrong. I could never trust the answer key because it was wrong about once per lesson. I emailed The Arbor Center for Teaching to see if there was an errata list available, but they never wrote back. I liked the approach enough that I went ahead and bought Jousting Armadillos for my second son, even accepting that the answer key might have just as many errors. I haven't looked at it yet, so maybe it is better, but I can't trust it, so I am planning to work out all the answers myself. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Or maybe MEP7. It has a do online option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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