Which math?

[FourSweetBoys]

My 10 year old Did 4th grade in ps this year and loved it. I have picked out a few subjects to work on this summer, math being one of them. I bought Horizons 5 but really struggled to teach him how to reduce fractions. I understand math but have a very hard time teaching it. I have thought about Singapore but it just doesn't line up to what he is doing in school. I am thinking Saxon would be a good fit but is it overkill if he is also doing math in ps? Will it make him hate math? I've heard it can be so long and boring.

Thanks!!
Jennifer

[juliecram]

If you are looking to just give him a boost in math, you could look into the Simply Charlotte Mason math series, Your Business Math Series. It offers a choice of a pet store, sports store or book store that they "run". My daughter is doing the pet store. So far she has bought inventory (adding up totals), totaled her ledger (addition and subtraction), figured selling prices (multiplying by percentages to get retail) and she will write checks, pay bills, etc. The website is: http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/your-business-math/your-business-math-ebooks/. You can also have them ship you the book, but I like the "get it now" feature of the e-book.

Math U See also offers a book that is just fractions for 36 lessons. We haven't done this book yet, but I like the overlays that it uses to teach fractions. The website for that is: www.mathusee.com (http://www.mathusee.com). We have used their other books and my kids don't mind doing the math and enjoy watching the dvd teaching.

Hope this helps some.
~Julie

[cocoabean]

I like the other person's recommendation. Becoming a virtual business owner does sound like it might be fun and interesting for your child's age level. :-)

If you wanted to boost your ds's math skills, work with him on the four operations this summer (addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication). You can do this with flashcards, timed drills, printable worksheets, math games, logic puzzles, and similar materials like that. My point is to keep your work light and fun during the summer so he will feel refreshed and well equipped to handle the next level of math when he returns to school in the fall. :-)

[juliecram]

There is also a fun game put out by Discovery Toys. It is called Number Rings or Ring-Around, depending on when it was made. My kids always have fun playing it. I purchased mine on Ebay.

[FourSweetBoys]

The sports store looks really fun! I also just discovered life of Fred and i think those books would work well. :)

[Sara R]

I'd look for the Kumon workbooks (available at Barnes and Noble) or the Key to Series for supplemental math at that grade level. I wouldn't recommend Saxon unless the kids will be switching to a school that uses Saxon. The format of Saxon makes it difficult to figure out where they teach different topics.

If those workbooks don't work, I like Rod and Staff as well.

[nansk]

You may take a look at Math Mammoth Blue series workbooks or the Key To Fractions that the PP recommended.

[Jody]

We are trying Math U See for the first time! I have used more textbook style before and need a change.