Help!! Dd (grade 8) standardized math testing!

[Shelly in MD]

Hello, all! My dd grade 8, who does (I thought) a fine job with math although it is not her forte, took a practice standardized test last week in preparation for the real one that we have to take and submit in VA. She got a ZERO on a very simple algebra section, out of a possible 20. ZERO.

I was not happy.

I was less happy when we started to go over the material, and she claimed she didn't know how to add/subtract/multiply when the +/- signs were mixed, she claimed she couldn't remember how to graph, and she claimed she had never heard of the associative or distributive properties.

We used Singapore math in grades 1-5, Saxon 65 in 6th, Saxon 76 in 7th with TT7 for reinforcement, and she is doing Lial's Basic College Math in 8th. She has seen these concepts before, although clearly she has been just parroting back the information in the lessons and not conceptualizing anything. Arrgghh!!!

So what do I do now?? Should I try Aleks for some reinforcement, or make her review previous concepts by pulling out old books and redoing chapter reviews and tests, or something else? I'm not happy. Really, really, really not happy.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have!!

Shelly

[Shelly in MD]

Bump! Any suggestions for 'remediating' an 8th grader in math?

Thanks!

[AnnetteB]

"Key to Algebra" books might be helpful. Was she taking the tests all along in the Saxon books? Going back and taking the tests might help you find the place that she got "lost." Key to Fractions and Decimals are also great at drilling the procedures. I offer the dc "Applying Algebra" and "Algebra Quadratic Equations The Easy Way" to supplement the Saxon series. Your dd might need some hands-on algebra examples to fully grasp the concepts.