Have older dc and moving very slow in CLE math...will we ever make it to Algebra??

[mcmom4]

Hi all,

My children use CLE math, so I also posted this question on their board. I was just hoping to get some other ideas here, too.

I was planning ahead for our high school years and started getting very discouraged while looking at our math portion.

I have a 13dd & 12 ds, both in CLE Math 504. We are very behind in
math, mainly because I kept dumping and switching curricula until I
finally found a fit for us all: CLE. However, looking ahead, if we
stick with each grade level as is, my daughter will be 17 before we
ever hit Algebra! How in the world am I going to move them along
faster and also take into consideration that she struggles so much in
math. My ds does very well in math.
Any thoughts on how to continue with CLE but get to Algebra, Geometry,
etc for high school?

Thanks!

[mcmom4]

Any thoughts at all from anyone on what you would do?

[Kathy in NC]

Did they take placement tests? Are they moving slowly because they don't understand the concepts? Are they moving slowly because math just takes a long time for them to do?

Could you just assign a few problems from each lesson and move on if they get them right?

On the other hand, are they college bound? Do they have to finish "high school maths" to finish homeschool? My oldest had a few learning issues and didn't even finish pre-algebra in high school. She ended up taking it in community college (twice), then went on to successfully finish Algebra and Chemistry in community college. There are usually ways to work with the kids "where they are" and still be successful - That's the beauty of homeschooling.

Perhaps someone with more experience will have better ideas than I have, but this at least might give you some food for thought.

[Rhonda in TX]

He's doing 2 lessons a day in order to catch up. He does the new portion of each lesson, then I hand pick problems to give a review. So far, so good.

[Rhonda in TX]

We skip the first book in the series. So, you would skip 601 when you get to it. If you think they can handle the lack of review, I would skip it.

[mcmom4]

as I said. We have done many math curricula: started with Singapore, MUS, BJU and finally went to CLE, which we really like. However, they taught concepts that we had not yet covered in the other programs we used, so I had to back them way up to grade 4. They are working one lesson a day. This is no problem for my 12ds. He usually gets all of his problems correct and works quickly through the lesson.
However, my 13dd who struggles academically does one lesson a day, but it takes much longer and she still gets many wrong. Most of this is simply because she gets overwhelmed with everything and loses focus. Some days she can focus and do quite well. She was so proud that she made her first 100 on her test recently. Most of the things she gets wrong is just forgetting to reduce fractions, or other simple mistakes from lack of focus, imo.
I'm not sure if they will go to college or not...neither of them are interested right now. But neither was my 21 dd, who now is in college. But either way, I want them to be prepared as best as possible should they decide to do so.

[GVA]

If they've done well on the lessons, you might consider skipping the quizzes, reducing each Light Unit by two. As Rhonda said, you can also skip the X01 Light Units if you don't need the review. And you might consider doing math six days a week and/or year-round. Even 3-4 days a week during the summer if you normally take off then will help. I know that's not a popular solution, but we've done that to catch up and it won't kill them, I promise!

[Cadam]

Can she do half of the problems in the lesson so she doesn't lose focus? How about a note card to remind her of steps, to go back and check her work, reduce fractions, check decimal points exc. Don't grade it until she has gone over it again and I bet her scores will go up.

Can she work on Saturdays and through the Summer to get caught up?

[hischool]

If they've done well on the lessons, you might consider skipping the quizzes, reducing each Light Unit by two. As Rhonda said, you can also skip the X01 Light Units if you don't need the review. And you might consider doing math six days a week and/or year-round. Even 3-4 days a week during the summer if you normally take off then will help. I know that's not a popular solution, but we've done that to catch up and it won't kill them, I promise!

:iagree: Working hard is the only way to catch up. There are no miracles.

[mcmom4]

for your suggestions. At this point it sounds like we are doing what some of you mentioned....we do school year round, working 3 days per week in the summer and we skip the first book in the level. I can and think I will have my ds do 2 lessons per day as I know he is capable OR I even thought about just having him take the LU test and see how much he now knows.
I realize that I didn't mention that we have done lots of math: Singapore, BJU, Mastering Mathematics, MUS and finally came upon CLE which was a hit with all of us. The problem was that each curricula teaches things at different grades, as you know. SO in order to go with CLE, we had to back all the way to 4th grade in order to fill in gaps. I knew this would slow us down, but I wasn't looking at the big picture of when we would get to the high school material and what will we need to do to get us up to speed.....until the other day.
So here we are....yes, my dd struggles with math, as I always did, but she is capable. I only wish I had been pushed and challenged more. So I am going to step up the speed with her....and I really like the idea of the notecard to remind her of things like reducing fractions, etc...I think this will help her to focus on those things and follow all the way through on her problems. Thank you for that suggestion!
And thank all of you for your time and ideas. It always helps me to talk this out with others and hear ideas that springboards me in the right direction!

[NJKelli]

I think I remember reading here that you don't have to do the 800 level of CLE but can go right into algebra, assuming everything's okay at that point. That would give you a boost into high school math.

[mcmom4]

that....that is one thing I was wondering about as well! I will check in to it.
Blessings!