Our ongoing Math drama

[BalanceSeeker]

Hi everyone,

Could you precious people give me some guidance (again)...

DD8+ (almost 9) struggles in math terribly. In private school she completed Saxon 1, 2, half of 3. She did just awful - and she hates math. I purchased Singapore for our first year of HS but after 3 weeks I knew it wasn't going to work (we started her low, on 2B - but she was tearful and an emotional wreck the whole time). So, I started dd6 (almost 7) on Math U See Alpha. Thought dd8+ would enjoy the light review and teaching her sister, which she does. Problem is, she is going to get very far behind what a 9 year old should be learning if we stay on this track for too long. I've been having her do drills and simple worksheets like counting money and time for skill reinforcement (something she has struggled with as well), but I don't like it that she isn't moving along somewhat with this current plan. She certainly can't have 2 years of review of 1st and 2nd before learning what she needs to know for 3rd grade, because by that time she'll be in 5th.

what would you do?

Christa

[Rosy]

Well, I'm not speaking from experience on this (we're still pretty new at all of it), but I think you need to let go of what she "should be able to do" and focus on what she can do. It's no big deal if she's doing 3rd grade math as a 5th grader, especially if you don't have plans to send her to public school. It's totally fine if it takes her a few extra years to get to where she needs to be with her math, and it's likely that it won't happen--the light will come on at some point and she'll "get it", and get caught up to her grade level.

If you can let go of where she "should be" (which is really an artificial construct based on what public educators thought would be best for teaching large groups of children) and just let her enjoy getting comfortable with math, it will be a much more positive experience for you both and the "I hate math" feeling should lessen. If you try to push her, that pressure to understand something that doesn't make sense to her could keep her feeling trapped. Letting her learn at her own pace may have her behind grade level, but at least she's learning.

[VaKim]

I agree with the above poster. My dd is going to be 10 next month, and is just now doing MUS Gamma, learning to do multi-digit multiplication. Not because she had any trouble, but simply because I didn't start formal math until later. She is doing fine, really getting it, and without all the struggle she could have had if we had started earlier.

I discovered with my older dd that in the middle years, math is pretty much the same thing year after year, with just a few new things thrown in. Once they have learned to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, and a bit about fractions, there is not much else to it until pre algebra, except a lot of repetition. My youngest will finish the Gamma, then Delta, then we will go into LOF, and she will be on the same track as her older sister was, even though she started earlier. She just won't have as many years of doing long division problems over and over. :)

[arcara]

I agree with the above 2 posts. She needs time to get comfortable with math. If she keeps an "I can't do it" attitude, she'll never be able to do it. You can always plan to work year-round in math. Eventually she'll catch up. If she doesn't get the basics, she'll never be able to do the other stuff later!

[Kim in SouthGa]

I'll put in a fourth for going at her speed. When my oldest was in 5th, I started him in Gamma because he was having such a hard time with multiplication. Once he got it, he has been progressing through the books pretty quickly. He is in 7th grade this year and almost done with Epsilon. When he finishes, we are going to switch to Teaching Textbooks 7 or maybe Lial's Basic College Math. He'll be right on target by the end of this summer.
Also, most curriculums do not start PreAlgebra until 8th, and if you go by MUS's Alpha=1, Beta=2, etc. that would put PreAlgebra at 7th. So I think you have an extra year to get all the basic books done.

[MIch elle]

3rd grade math is addition, subtraction, multiplication and simple division. I would recommend that you firm up add. & sub. with math u see, and orally skip count to get used to multiplication.

Write down 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20,22,24 & look and say them aloud everyday, then move to say them w/o looking. Do this until it's mastered. Then do 3's, etc. When up to 9's are mastered go to flash cards for 2's - master those and then on to 3's, etc. Continue doing skip counting everyday with flash cards.

Oral math is a lot less intimating than pencil & paper math and lays a good foundation.

I recommend Rod & Staff math 3 (http://www.rodandstaff.info/samples/3/math/)with teacher's manual for laying a strong math foundation.

[OhElizabeth]

Christa, if the MUS level is working for her, STICK WITH IT! All you need to do is up the pace a little. You said it's light, so try combining lessons and moving her forward a little faster. If you school year round, which it sounds like you should certainly do, at least till the math is happy (we do, many do), then she's going to go through more than one level or grade in a year.

It's been an entire year since I changed math curricula with my dd, and I'll tell you, it's taken that long to finally get us to a comfortable point and where I wanted us to be (where things are going well and she feels good about her work). So give it some time. Pick a reasonable path, make sure you're doing as much work on it daily as she is comfortably capable of, and keep moving forward. With my dd, I got her the Abeka tests and speed drills books to use alongside our regular math (BJU), and they've been a big hit. My dd is finishing out the BJU4, but I have her doing the abeka2 drills. I'd say with your dd to go back even to the abeka1 drills. It has 4 small timed sections and a spiral review test for each week. I have my dd do a week's worth each day, and it really is just about right. That would give you a forward progression on the drill and spiral review without it ever being too hard. At least it's been really good for us.

[Cadam]

Hi everyone,

Could you precious people give me some guidance (again)...

So, I started dd6 (almost 7) on Math U See Alpha. Thought dd8+ would enjoy the light review and teaching her sister, which she does. Problem is, she is going to get very far behind what a 9 year old should be learning if we stay on this track for too long. I've been having her do drills and simple worksheets like counting money and time for skill reinforcement (something she has struggled with as well), but I don't like it that she isn't moving along somewhat with this current plan. She certainly can't have 2 years of review of 1st and 2nd before learning what she needs to know for 3rd grade, because by that time she'll be in 5th.

what would you do?

Christa

Sure she can. It isn't review if she doesn't already know it. Math is a building skill. If you leave out the foundation in the name of keeping her on "grade level" you will destroy any chance she has to really understand higher math. I am not trying to be melodramatic here but you really need to get rid of "grade level" and be realistic about where your dd is in her math education.

MUS is a wonderful, complete program. Did you watch the introduction where Mr. Demme talks about going at the student's pace? If not, go back and watch it!

What you will find is that your daughter will find some concepts challenging. She will spend a week or maybe more, on those concepts. Other things she will get immediately and move through 2 or 3 lessons in a week.

The scope and sequence is different with MUS but don't let that scare you off. It is all in there (money, time, everything) just not in the typical order.

You will also notice that MUS has 30 chapters per book. So if you are running a typical 34 week and averaging a lesson a week you will find that you are gaining ground, without any extra effort. I know a 10 yo who just started Alpha because his mom pulled him out of ps this past Spring. I know an 11 yo and a 9 yo who started in Alpha last year. My ds spent 18 months in Delta because he struggled with division but it is no big deal because he is getting through Epsilon quite quickly.

If you can find a local friend who has more levels of MUS, go look at them just to set your mind at ease. You will see that many is taught in Gamma along with skip counting and the other little things are all in there, in very logical places.

I suggest you keep up with at least a little math over the Summer so your kids don't forget everything they learned and if you do, they will obviously get through even more lessons. Your dd will be just fine, really. let's put it all out there....

3rd grade - Alpha, start Beta over the Summer
4th grade - finish Beta, Start Gamma in the Spring
5th grade - finish Gamma, start Delta in January and finish over the Summer
6th grade - Epsilon and start Zeta
7th grade - Finish Zeta and start Pre-Algebra in January
8th grade -Algebra

This is if you want to be aggressive and get to Algebra by the 8th grade. You will find that because of her past math exposure some things will come easily to your dd and you may go quickly though parts of the books but the real goal is to give her a good math foundation right?

Oh, and your next question will be about testing so I will just answer that. My son is on Epsilon. We have had him tested after second, third and fifth grades. He got in the high 70 %, in the 80% and on this last test he didn't miss any problems at all! All of these were the CAT btw.

Relax. This is why you homeschool and your daughter will be "caught up" before you know it.