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ladybugs
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| Posted: Sept 11 2006 at 10:42pm | IP Logged
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Hey Angela,
The past 3 days have been very busy days.
Tomorrow, I should have some more time and will search for those items!
Thanks!
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Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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hereinantwerp
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| Posted: Sept 12 2006 at 9:36am | IP Logged
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Tina P. wrote:
I have 12 and 10 yo who hate Saxon math. The 12 yo is not the world's best mathematician, mostly because he gets sloppy and careless. The mistakes he makes are the kind that make you want to smack your forehead. 
The 10 yo, bless her heart, just jumps through hoops for me whenever necessary.
I have 8 and 7 yo who hate MCP. Math is our most daunting, time-wasting (because they dawdle through it), tear-causing subject. I don't care for Singapore as I don't think it was practice-intensive enough and it left gaping holes in the years our children used it. What do those of you who have older children do to make math enjoyable? I'm just about to throw the Saxon and MCP books away and manage strictly on the living books and games I own ... and then I think about double digit multiplication and long division, fractions and percents, decimals, algebra, trig, calculus.  It's all so daunting to me. I don't even know what my kids have to know by the time our hsing adventure ends.
Last Friday, the older kids played three-way multiplication war. They had a blast. I played addition war with my 7 yo. Everyone was laughing and whooping and slapping down the cards. Isn't this what math, what *all* of homeshcooling is supposed to be ~ a joyous experience? I'm so on the brink of the precipice here. Anyone want to give a gentle push for someone with older kids? Leonie, I would love a post from you showing about a week's worth of math.  |
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I just wonder if you might want to take a total break from the math textbooks for a while--like 3 or 6 months--?
During which time you could try reading some "living mathbooks"? The ones my older son has liked the best are Penrose the Mathematical Cat and Exploring the History of Mathematics by Tiner (this is so easy to assign/use, and even has little quizzes for each chapter, more about comprehension than computation, but fascinating topics!!!). I think Macbeth's opinion has a great list.
And then when you go back on a regular track--it seems to me that most math topics CAN be explored without a traditional textbook. Well, that's the idea I'm looking at myself here, but I've been amazed this week at all the info I'm finding on the web and etc!!
A book I used with my older last year that we both liked was "Arithmetic the Easy Way." He had burnt out on Singapore (and I had gotten completely lost with it), and when looking for alternatives for Singapore 6, this is what I came up with. I wanted a simple review of basic math before we moved on to Prealgebra. This was easy to use, and very inexpensive. My son liked that he could "pretest" out of topics before each chapter, and then only do and read the sections he needed to. It was a very "self-paced" thing, and put him in the driver's seat. It might be something to try with your older one.
You know I HATED math by the time I was in 6th grade. In some ways I was "gifted" at it, but then later because I got lost on a topic or two, and the class kept moving, I just got more and more confused and lost. I've kind of sworn to myself that this will not happen to my kids! Even kids who are gifted in math can end up this way. So when I've seen those kinds of symptoms in my son that you're describing, we try to re-adjust. So far with my older one things work out, eventually--with my younger one we're just starting the process and he's such a different style :).
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Angela Nelson
Mother to Simon (13), Calvin (9), and Lyddie Rose (3)
my blog: live and learn
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Rebecca
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| Posted: Sept 12 2006 at 10:08am | IP Logged
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Julia,
Thanks for the game ideas! I will see if I can find them locally.
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Angel
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| Posted: Sept 20 2006 at 3:50pm | IP Logged
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I was going to post a question about a math program for my 7 yo dd who likes math but for whom workbooks make math meaningless. Whenever I've tried to use a workbook with her, she just ends up guessing answers that make absolutely no sense. Last year I used Singapore along with Montessori materials (mostly a set of Montessori beads), but Singapore just doesn't seem to have enough practice. My dd likes the Montessori materials, but we aren't to the point where she'll work with them independently; it takes me setting up a "math time" and getting them out, and then she might get tired after about 15 minutes. She needs a lot more work on her basic facts, but she doesn't like the Montessori materials designed for facts work (they're supposed to be used with younger children anyway).
Anyway, I'm using Saxon 5/4 this year with my 9 yo ds who actively despises math, and it seems to be helping a little. But he likes having *definite answers*, whereas my dd likes math games and puzzles. Last year I also made up my own program for my ds -- mostly worksheets -- and while it did work, it became hard for me to figure out what to put *on* them every day. (Plus, with my 1 yo twins getting ready to walk, I don't have a lot of time!!) This is the problem I'm running into with my daughter, too. I'd like something that could be done every day with her without scrambling to figure out what I'm doing thirty minutes before I do it.
I've actually looked at RightStart, but I think the counting system would be confusing. For some reason, Miquon has never been successful here either. Any suggestions for planning a textbook-less approach to math, particularly in a household with 3 kids age 3 and under in the mix?
--Angel(a) in upstate New York
Three Plus Two
Wild Things
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JuliaT
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| Posted: Sept 20 2006 at 10:46pm | IP Logged
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Angela,
I wanted to comment on RS' counting system. My dh wasn't sold on RS for the same reson you aren't. He said that counting the RS way would mess up our dd. She already knew how to count up to 100 the 'normal' way. She had no problem going back and forth between the two ways of counting. The RS way of counting makes place value so much easier to understand. My ds is now starting Level A of RS. He isn't having any problem going back and forth either.
I thought I should say something if this was the only reason you didn't want to get RS. If there are other reasons, then please disregard this post.
Julia
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk
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Angel
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| Posted: Sept 21 2006 at 3:48pm | IP Logged
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JuliaT wrote:
I thought I should say something if this was the only reason you didn't want to get RS. If there are other reasons, then please disregard this post.
Julia
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Juliainsk |
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No, the counting system was pretty much the reason why I'd dropped it from consideration. I'd actually shown my daughter pictures of the program before (last year) and she seemed very interested in it. Which was why I was kind of disappointed, thinking that the counting system would be confusing. Maybe I'll have to rethink it now, though. Thanks for the tip!
--Angela
Mom to 3+2
Three Plus Two
Wild Things
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Leonie
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| Posted: Sept 30 2006 at 6:11pm | IP Logged
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Tina P. wrote:
| . Isn't this what math, what *all* of homeshcooling is supposed to be ~ a joyous experience? I'm so on the brink of the precipice here. Anyone want to give a gentle push for someone with older kids? Leonie, I would love a post from you showing about a week's worth of math. |
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Well, I didn't forget - here is a log of some of our maths activities this last week.
You can see, we have some workbook stuff and non workbook activities.
1. Collaborative and internet computer games followed by discussion on problem solving and strategies.
2. Plan routes for delivery of newspaper, using street directory and co-ordinates.
3.Work on budget and wish list, check savings record and bank statements.
4. Written maths - workbook pages on fractions, patterns, probability, money and written problems.
5.Fractions and double recipes for cooking.
6.Mental calculations while playing board games and rpgs - Rum Rebellion, Tunnels and Trolls.
7. Probability and calculations - card games - Bridge, 21s,Up and Down the River, etc.
8. Play with our geoboards and discuss making another geoboard.
9. Mathematical thinking - game of RISK.
10. Maths journals - mathography - when and how did you learn to count? How old were you when you first counted to 100? When you were younger, what did you think about maths?
So - every day we are doing something mathematical, but sometimes it is formal and sometimes informal. Sometimes suggested by me ( the written maths, the maths journal, the budgets) sometimes initiated by the dc.
HTH!
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: Oct 01 2006 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
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Hi Angela,
I'm late to this thread, but wanted to answer that we're in the "no math text" group too. I have no purchased program (I made my own math topic schedule for the year). I do have a workbook which covers the skills they need to know for standardized testing (for the 5 and 6yo), but they are just for whenever and because we've kept them "special" the boys love them. They are really not very challenging at all. Instead, on most days we use lots of living math books (at least one a day) and lots of hands-on activities. I love the "basket of math books" idea I stumbled upon here at 4real. The boys dig through them constantly. They're always telling us something they've picked up just from thumbing through the books during quiet time. I also love the integrated math & literature ideas found in the Marylin Burns books and in the different Scholastic publications you can find at the local teacher's store or online. I'd rather spend my money on manipulatives and games than resources though. Dh and I think that the "quality" lessons in math at this age involve a story for inspiration and manipulatives for playing. We're amazed at what our boys have come up with this way. We've spent the last 2 months "learning" about fractions and a few weeks ago we had to chuckle when the 3yo picked up his donut, broke it in half, held one half up and announced, "Look, I made a faction! One-half of donut!" We all cheered 
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Kristine
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: Oct 01 2006 at 1:13pm | IP Logged
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I love your "math activities list," Leonie...what an inspiration!  When my boys grow up, can I teach just like you? 
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Kristine
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: does anyone do math without a textbook?
