choirfarm Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I just don't know what to do for my boy who will be a 7th grader next year. Math is a foreign language. He was in ps and did Saxon through 1st grade. I did Saxon through 3rd. We did Horizons 4 and 5 for his 4th and 5th grade year. I found Horizons to be VERY uneven. Some lessons took him 20 minutes others 2 hours (long division). We did Key to Fractions last year. We are doing TT& this year. We took a break to do Key to Percents, but I still think we will finish by the end of May anyway. He likes TT for the most part, but gets frustrated sometimes. His test scores when I took him out of ps were in the 40th percentile. I gradually brought them up until by 4th grade he was in the 80th percentile. Then last year he dropped down into the low 70's again. He just took the SAT-10 last week, so I don't have the scores but I think he may have done worse. Then yesterday.. I gave him a 5 and told him to buy two slushies for 1.50 each for his siblings. How much change should you get back? I don't know 3.50? JONATHAN...2. 50??? JONATHAN... How much is 50 cents plus 50 cents... A dollar. Ok. So how much is it... 3 dollars. Good, how much change should you get back... 2.50??????????????? At this point I wanted to cry. To me, this was a VERY simple problem. Now if he had sat down and done it as a word problem and written it out, then I think he would have gotten it correct. But good grief... My 1st grader could do that in her head.. We do math year round with him. Even in the summer he does math 2 to 3 days a week. He wants to continue with TT, but I don't know what to do.. Good grief.. What a simple problem... Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Well I can but not very well in math OR spelling. I have to see it written down to know if it's correct or not. At that age, I couldn't do it AT ALL! Don't judge your dc's math ability just by being able or not to do math in his head. :chillpill: If he likes TT then stick with it. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth Conley Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Dear Christine, I'm feeling your pain. I've been in nearly the same place, having traveled a very similar road. We just switched to a "Mastery" curriculum versus a "Spiral" curriculum. We find it pleasanter and more encouraging to have a clear cut awareness of what we know, what we don't know, and where we're going. Our choice was MUS. There are some great minds here on the forum who will undoubtedly have better insights for you than I do. Blessings! Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 If my boys doesn't do something for a couple of weeks, he forgets. We did Key to Fractions for a solid month and then a month later, he can't do half the problems anymore....Sigh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen_and_Company Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I agree. I thought my youngest would never learn his math facts, but he did. Blaze still freezes when asked to verbally solve a math problem on the fly--kind of like your change situation. Teach your ds to count up his change to make sure he received what he should. The slushies cost $3.00, and your son was given back $2.00. Have your son begin with the total cost of the product, then count up with the change received. For example, what if the cashier gave your son back the $2.50 instead of $2? Your son would find the error by counting up: $3.00 +$1 is $4 +$1 is $5. The cashier gave back .50 cents too much-- "Hey, you gave back .50 cents too much. Here, I don't want your register to be short." or $3.00 +$1 is $4 + .50 cents is $4.50--"Oops, I gave you a $5 bill, but you gave me change of $1.50 instead of $2. Weren't the slushies $3?" Mae up your own word problems involving situation with money, and like in Saxon, have ds do the problems is drill work before his actual math lesson. I'm sure you could cobble a tome of problems off the Internet. Do you give your son money to make purchases or pay billsfor you? 6th & th grade provides a perfect opportunity to begin teaching real world finances. When you grocery shop, begin splitting off a smaller portion of your list for your son to do the shopping. Sit down and together write out the list with the approximate cost of each item annotated on the same line. Add up the total cost of the items, then subtract any coupons you may use from the total. When you go to the store, give your son the list & just enough cash to cover the bill, plus $10. When checking out, have your son go ahead of you in the same line in case he needs assistance. Also, allowing children to handle their own money when making purchases teaches them how to count out their payment and count back their change. I started them out by giving them out at the dollar stores and giving them money to purchase an item or two. If they could count the change back correctly, it was theirs. At first, the children would cry or become angry because they could not count the change back, but after a month or two, I had to hand over the change--grin. I also began requiring them to bring their own funds to make purchases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted April 8, 2009 Author Share Posted April 8, 2009 They just hardly ever buy anything..Maybe once or twice a year. They are currently wanting to combine their money to buy a Wii and games and controllers. But oldest does all the math as he is so much better and faster. This also makes him frustrated. Math is just like breathing for my older one, so he feels stupid. Walmart idea is interesting, I just don't know how much things cost exactly as it seems to fluctuate so much. Milk can be anywhere from 2.50 to 4.50. When he was younger, I kidnapped toys and had him buy them back from me with pretend money. I guess I need to do that again... Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth Conley Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 If my boys doesn't do something for a couple of weeks, he forgets. We did Key to Fractions for a solid month and then a month later, he can't do half the problems anymore....Sigh. It's normal not to retain something you've learned but not revisited. After apparent mastery is achieved, the task must be revisited, usually with just a problem or two every one in a while. Arithmatic facts continue to be the bane of our existance, in spite of using every cutesie little gadget and gimmicky toy and/or learning system out there. Now I keep a box of homemade flash cards at the ready. The two kids flash card each other about 3 times a week. We revisit facts and skills they've masted, just to cement the most vital things into their long term memories. Wrap and learn keys, counting up systems and other gimmicks have helped to a certain extent, but flash cards have helped cement the facts in place. Repeated recalling of random facts stores these nuts and bolts of Math computation in a way the brain can effortlessly access. I wish there was a one size fits all solution. There's not. I'm sincere when I say: Good Luck With This! Blessings, Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pbjmeyer Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 It may be the same for your son. When my son asks for help with a problem, he knows I have to actually see the problem and work it out on paper, or I can't begin to help him. One thing to consider- children grow in their ability to grasp math at very different speeds. Slow pace and review often may be what he needs in order to really grasp a concept thoroughly. I just encourage you not to be discouraged as long as you are able to progress (even if it is slowly). When his brain is ready, it will 'click'. And as one previous poster mentioned, I have also heard good things about "math u see" for children who have a harder time with math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~blessedmom~ Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 Someone just suggested the Life of Fred books to me for my 7th grader. He was using Saxon and started developing a severe case of "I-Hate-Math-itis"!!:tongue_smilie: We have the Fractions and Decimals books, and he is so excited about math again! It explains math in a very practical way and why you do what you do....I'm very impressed so far. It may be something you want to take a look at..... http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/11catofbooks.html There are sample pages, reviews, etc.... Best of wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MA Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 But he can't do things "in the air" (as I call it). He has to see it/write it. I can't even do the 'ol "spell it so the kids won't get it" thing with him! My kids figure it out before he does! I don't see anything wrong with letting him have paper to work it out... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmom Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I understand your struggle. We have been using Ray's arithmetic and it is a very solid curriculum that emphasizes mastery. My son has always struggled, but with Ray's he gets it and he knows how to apply the concepts. Maybe you can use it as a supplement for his weak areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Something very simple to do that has made a huge difference for my youngest is switching her from working on an amount of problems to working for an amount of time. My youngest dd does Singapore Math. She would sometimes go through a lesson pretty quickly (maybe 30 minutes), but would usually take a lot longer. Sometimes she dragged out her lesson for a full hour or even longer. I decided to have her work for a set amount of time on the timer. She had to work diligently for that amount of time, but when the timer beeped, she was done. We would just pick up from there the next day. Now she gets more done in 20 minutes than she used to get done in an hour. She often does a full lesson (and sometimes even two or three) in the 20 minutes. Just as often, she does one lesson or less. Now that she works for a set amount of time, she doesn't feel overwhelmed looking at the page of problems. When it's hard, she knows that she gets to stop after 20 minutes. It isn't going to take her all day, so she doesn't start off with a defeatist attitude and try to procrastinate. When it's easy, she flies through. With a set amount of time, we automatically fly through easy material and spend more time on harder material. I don't have to guess ahead of time about what's going to be easier and what's going to be harder. I just set the timer for 20 minutes and off we go. This isn't what you were asking about, but I thought it could make your math time go a little smoother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaof2andtwins Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 (edited) If my boys doesn't do something for a couple of weeks, he forgets. We did Key to Fractions for a solid month and then a month later, he can't do half the problems anymore....Sigh. Oh, this sounds like my oldest daughter. She did the whole set of Key's to Fractions and remembered NOTHING. It was amazing. Before that she did R&S and Singapore. I think for her Singapore was the most difficult because it left concepts for such a long time with no review. There was a degree of review in R&S. After she did the Keys to.. books, she begged to go back to R&S just to have the review of concepts. I truly believe that kids that have the math concepts "fall out of their heads" need to use a spiral program. We started her on CLE this year because he sisters had been using it. She is doing a wonderful job in math. I am so pleased with her and the program. In just a few weeks she will have her year end testing, and we will see how she does. Jennie Edited April 9, 2009 by mamaof2andtwins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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