Wanting to switch math programs

[Chez J]

My 3rd grader is using a math program that I really like. It's from France, so you wouldn't instantly know about the program. My daughter is not enjoying it, I "think" because she's having to think about math in a foreign language. This just makes her work too hard.

Here is an example of the past two week's work:

She created a point graph to mark temperatures to dates and then answered questions ussing the graph.

She calculated travel distances using a map and train itineraries.

One question presented a gas station attendant who tracked the amount of gas sold each day by time period. He spilled oil on some numbers, so she had to figure out the missing numbers.

She had to create circles of a certain size, then create other circles of other sizes that intersected with the original circle.

There is a lot of logic and variety. We tried Singapore last year, and she got very bored very quickly. I think it was because there was no variety.

Can anyone recommend a math program similar to what we are doing now?

Thanks,

Lesley

[Lori D.]

Sounds like you're doing an amazing amount of math work with a 3rd grader!! To reproduce that, you will most likely need to pick a "spine" math, and then add in either a second full-fledged math program, or other interesting math booklets. There are loads of these available through Rainbow Resource Catalog (www.rainbowresource.com). Here are a few ideas for math supplements:

- Miquon (the last 2 workbooks of the series: Yellow and Purple) (gr. 3-4)
- Math Discoveries with... series (books using various manipulatives on specific math topics) (gr. 1-4)
- Calculus for and by Young People (gr. 1-6)
- Family Math (gr. 3-6)
- TOPS task card activity unit (Lentil Science = gr. 3-6; Metric Measuring = gr. 4-9; Measuring Length = gr. 6-12; Math Lab = gr. 7-12; Probability = gr. 7-12


BEST of luck! And congrats on finding and using such a challenging math program! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Jodi-FL]

maybe just a different approach to presenting the material is needed. and supplementing with living math books (www.livingmath.com is a great place to start. Instead of getting out the book and going through the problems, read it ahead of time, and then present it to her yourself like it's a fun activity for the day: "let's plan a trip to Grandma's and see which will be faster, train or car" that kind of thing. Several of my kids have had the boredom flu on occassion, and taking that little break is usually what heals them.

Jodi
mom to 7