Janine in Ca
03-21-2008, 01:44 AM
I have a 5th grader who doesn't *love* math. We've worked very hard to get her not to *hate* math and she has just finished Saxon 6/5 with no problem.
We became part of a part time school and they want her to use Chalkdust's Basic Math now. She assessed very well going into the program and up til now has developed pretty strong math skills (though she still doesn't love it) As an example of my struggles, in chapter 1, they use prime factorization to find both the lowest common multiple and the greatest common factor for very large numbers.....all in one lesson. Am I just so used to Saxon's incremental approach or is this a bit much for a 10 yr old to wrap her brain around? Later in the book, many of the examples use stock market details and even references to David Letterman...once again....it doesn't seem really geared to a 5th/6th grade level. The book even advocates the use of calculators (I typically don't allow calculator use until Algebra as developing strong calculating skills is so important).
Does anyone have experience with this? She can *DO* the math but some of the ways they go about things just go way over the top of her. I get the feeling the book is geared for high school review of basic elements and might not be the best for a young child in the early years of skill building.
What do you think?
Janine
We became part of a part time school and they want her to use Chalkdust's Basic Math now. She assessed very well going into the program and up til now has developed pretty strong math skills (though she still doesn't love it) As an example of my struggles, in chapter 1, they use prime factorization to find both the lowest common multiple and the greatest common factor for very large numbers.....all in one lesson. Am I just so used to Saxon's incremental approach or is this a bit much for a 10 yr old to wrap her brain around? Later in the book, many of the examples use stock market details and even references to David Letterman...once again....it doesn't seem really geared to a 5th/6th grade level. The book even advocates the use of calculators (I typically don't allow calculator use until Algebra as developing strong calculating skills is so important).
Does anyone have experience with this? She can *DO* the math but some of the ways they go about things just go way over the top of her. I get the feeling the book is geared for high school review of basic elements and might not be the best for a young child in the early years of skill building.
What do you think?
Janine