caedmyn Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 DS7 is doing Miquon. He’s slow in general and it’s taking a lot of time. I’m thinking about switching to something a little more straightforward, but I’m not sure what. He can’t really read which is one of the reasons I choose Miquon. I’ve used Abeka math 2 before and I think it would be a good fit for him this year, but I’ve heard that it jumps up quite a bit in difficulty in 3rd grade, and I don’t think he’d do well with that. I’d prefer a program he can stick with for a while. DS9 is using CLE 4. It’s his first year with CLE. He’s not a strong math student and it’s usually taking him an hour a day or more to complete lessons. I think that’s too much time for a fourth grader. I know I can cross off some problems, but I feel like a different math program might be a better fit for him also. I need something that is not teacher intensive for both kids, and not MUS. Doesn’t have to be the same program for both. Any suggestions? If it matters, they’re both dyslexic. Quote
EKS Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 For both kids, it would help to know what is slowing them down. If it is writing things out, have them do as much as possible orally. If it is learning the lesson on their own, present the lesson to them. Both of these things can speed things up dramatically. Quote
caedmyn Posted September 30, 2020 Author Posted September 30, 2020 3 minutes ago, EKS said: For both kids, it would help to know what is slowing them down. If it is writing things out, have them do as much as possible orally. If it is learning the lesson on their own, present the lesson to them. Both of these things can speed things up dramatically. I think the amount of thinking Miquon requires slows DS7 down. It just requires a lot more thinking/figuring things out than a more traditional math program, so I think a traditional program would go more quickly. CLE is just a lot of problems with four pages per lesson (one lesson needs to be done each day to finish a level in a school year). DS11 gets bogged down and discouraged because of the amount of time it takes. He also doesn’t grasp concepts easily—and I do teach them to him. Doing some problems orally would probably help, but it’s still a lot. Quote
EKS Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 2 minutes ago, caedmyn said: I think the amount of thinking Miquon requires slows DS7 down. It just requires a lot more thinking/figuring things out than a more traditional math program, so I think a traditional program would go more quickly. You can read aloud anything that requires reading to him. This is what I did with my dyslexic student. Quote
countrymum Posted October 1, 2020 Posted October 1, 2020 I'd look at Kate Snow`s website. She has a lot of good information. https://kateshomeschoolmath.com/ She even has an article about when to switch math programs. I have learned a lot there. I'm not sure if it's on her site, but from an e-mail course she did a few years ago, she said that Rod and Staff was her favorite traditional program. Memoria Press has information about that one. It is more slow and steady than Abeka. I have heard Abeka is jumpy. My sis in law used to teach Abeka in Christian school and didn't recommend it. She really likes Bob Jones much better, you could look at that one too. She says it builds concepts much better and teaches in ubits with sprial review. Its colorful. I use and love RightStart with my suspected dyslexic, but it can take a long time and it's expensive. Also a bit harder to jump into later, but perhaps worth looking at especially for younger. It is parent intensive, but for me so was anything, if we were not doing the program together, I had to stand over the child saying "look at your paper" "do the next one".... so I appreciate the interaction in RightStart. I am using the games more this year and really seeing the value in them. Actually spend the time to dig into the book. Lots of practice that is not dwalded over! Id really look at that with any program! I think there is a 15% off free shipping thing now so call them. https://store.rightstartmath.com/math-card-games-kit/ In short: Bob Jones Rod and Staff RightStart Add in the RightStart games for practice insttead of some problems no matter which program. Quote
kbutton Posted October 2, 2020 Posted October 2, 2020 On 9/30/2020 at 3:52 PM, caedmyn said: I’ve used Abeka math 2 before and I think it would be a good fit for him this year, but I’ve heard that it jumps up quite a bit in difficulty in 3rd grade, and I don’t think he’d do well with that. I’d prefer a program he can stick with for a while. I had a kid in A Beka from K-2nd in a brick and mortar school. I used A Beka growing up. Now that I've seen other programs, I am not a big fan. The 2nd grade curriculum is mostly review, and then they throw some new stuff in the end. They end first grade knowing how to regroup, and then in 2nd grade, it's not even brought up for a long time. All the little fiddly activities are cute, but for some kids, that means changing gears over and over--that was a big turnoff to my son, and he misinterpreted a lot of those fiddly directions with the end result being that he spent a lot of time doing instructions wrong for math he already knew. Anyway... On 9/30/2020 at 4:24 PM, caedmyn said: I think the amount of thinking Miquon requires slows DS7 down. It just requires a lot more thinking/figuring things out than a more traditional math program, so I think a traditional program would go more quickly. CLE is just a lot of problems with four pages per lesson (one lesson needs to be done each day to finish a level in a school year). DS11 gets bogged down and discouraged because of the amount of time it takes. He also doesn’t grasp concepts easily—and I do teach them to him. Doing some problems orally would probably help, but it’s still a lot. Are you trying to have him finish all of Miquon by Grade 2? Grade 3? Do you go straight through it all? I used most of it K-2 with my other son who had already done MUS Primer for preschool. He kind of hit a wall in certain units (I can't remember which ones), and I saved some topics until later and used them as extra sheets in 3rd grade and past. For the older one, have you considered Math Mammoth? You might have to cross problems out there too, but it was a really good fit for my dyslexic son who has issues with fast, multi-step calculation (the one that used Miquon). He did do three levels of Singapore between Miquon and MM, but I think he'd have been fine in MM all along. Quote
Ellie Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 For a traditional math, Rod and Staff. You teach the lesson first for gr. 1-3, using the scripted oral class time in the teacher's manual, maybe 15 minutes. Then your dc does the seatwork independently (workbook for 1st and 2nd, textbook/paper for 3rd). For fourth grade and up, although there are oral scripted lessons in the TM, they are not necessary, as everything is in the student text Quote
Susan in TX Posted October 4, 2020 Posted October 4, 2020 Check out Developmental Mathematics. This is what I have used for most of my kids. The scope and sequence is different from most math curricula. It is very easy to use and is designed to be self teaching. Susan in TX Quote
Janeway Posted October 4, 2020 Posted October 4, 2020 (edited) I have two children doing BJU and one doing Math Mammoth right now. I find Singapore math to have shorter lessons than either of those. But I think my children are preferring BJU right now because it requires less thinking from them. Everything is more broken down and incremental, no big leaps. When we finish the year they are on for BJU right now, we will likely go back to Singapore Math, primary edition (US edition). Not because BJU is bad, BJU is fine and great. I just happen to already own all the Singapore Math books as I kept picking them up whenever I found the workbooks "used" but not actually used. Edited October 4, 2020 by Janeway Quote
nwahomeschoolmom Posted October 9, 2020 Posted October 9, 2020 I think CLE tends to be a bit advanced and CLE 4 is very intensive year on top of that. My son just completed it...they cover A LOT. If you aren't really attached to CLE, I might consider switching. My son is advanced in math but really needs spiral review, so we are sticking with it. Also, because it is spiral, there isn't a lot of practice to grasp concepts right after something new is taught. My son grasps concepts quickly, then forgets them almost as easily, so that's why we need the spiral! Rod and Staff or BJU might be good alternatives, which could also work for your other child. Quote
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