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mom2mpr Forum All-Star
Joined: May 16 2006 Location: N/A
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Posted: May 08 2009 at 7:06am | IP Logged
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I have almost always fought ds with math. I am tired.
The other day I threatened to send him to school to have a teacher for him to report to, and he smiled at me, and said, nicely,"that might be nice."
I sent him to a friends yesterday for school and he did what I assigned without problem(many subtraction problems that probably would not have been done if we were home)and since he had some extra time, and the dad told him to, he did extra pages!!
I have switched math programs many times and am trying not to do it again. I am trying Aleks' one month trial(taking myself out of the picture)but only on our second day.
My biggest meltdowns, fits, etc. are for math. He is a pretty smart kid. Is creative and a global, auditory learner. He tested great in the LA area last year so I have relaxed on that side--he reads a lot. I am concentrating on his weakness-math. We are doing Singapore and it has been a pretty good fit. But we are only just finishing up 3b, and he is finishing up 5th grade. His 3rd grade friend is in 3B.
This is hard. I love that homeschooling you can meet your child where he is but I am just wondering if maybe he might have some LD. I can't believe we can go on like this for years and not improve. I think part might be discipline as he doesn't like to be told what to do. But, I am starting to be curious and I am weary.
So, experienced ones, what do you think? Should I start looking into a LD or continue on my present path and just keep doing math each day?
Thanks for your help.
Anne
PS- and I have to throw this in, I am the one and only here who tells the kids to DO anything. Dh does not. I tell them to do school, chores, get up, go to bed, and reminders to brush teeth, etc. This is just the way it is here and I realize it is what I have to do. So, he is probably tired of me telling him what to do all the time too.
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melanie Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
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Posted: Oct 06 2009 at 11:47am | IP Logged
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I found this in the archives looking for reviews on Aleks math. How did this work out for you all? I just signed my 9yo up for a one month free trial. I could have written your post, lol...his big weakness is definitely math, math, math, and it's what we fight about the most. I do know, for certain, that he has a wide range of various developmental delays...this is my nephew, we are his guardians, and his poor brain was marinated in drugs and alcohol for nine months, he was born very prematurely, and then lived through untold neglect for the first six years of his life...and he has lots of issues, among them an exceptionally poor ability to retain almost anything...this makes math very difficult since he can't retain, without great and constant repetition, things like math facts, which is the hour/minute hand on a clock, what a multiplication sign looks like, etc. He has been working in a second grade math workbook so far this year, with difficulty. I wanted to do some serendipty math with him...he *loves* hands on stuff, loves stories and anything I can do to make school fun, but I know he needs that constant daily repetition too, so I thought we would give Aleks a try along with the Serendipity...hopefully this will be a good mix between making math fun/meaningful and giving him the practice he needs to progress as well as he can. I don't know that we will use it indefinitely or just to get us through this developmental wall we have hit....he is being re-evaluated by the psychiatric clinic after the new year and we'll see what recommendations they can share with us. I have a feeling their big helpful suggestion will be to put him in public school. Because, you know, public middle school is THE place for an overweight, asthmatic kid with learning disabilites, lousy social skills, and a speech impediment. Oh yeah. No problems there, he'll fit right in!
Anyway,,,didn't mean to go into all of that, my main goal here was to find out if Aleks math was helpful for you or not!
__________________ Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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mom2mpr Forum All-Star
Joined: May 16 2006 Location: N/A
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Posted: Oct 06 2009 at 12:38pm | IP Logged
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Sorry, Melanie.
It just didn't work for us.
Ds got frustrated that they were asking him questions that were never explained (order of operations) and we had never covered. I think we did about 45 minutes total. The placement did help me see where he was in math though, so not a total loss. I e-mailed them a whole bunch and while they were responsive, I just couldn't make them see the issues, and they couldn't help me get past them.
But, ds is doing better. Attitude has improved some. And we are still finding Singapore to be the best for us--though it is a lot of work for me.
Good luck in finding a solution. Take this for what it is worth but in talking to other mom's 9 through about 10 or 11 seems to be a hard age for boys. Hang in there.
Anne
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melanie Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2007
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Posted: Oct 07 2009 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
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No! No, you are supposed to tell me that it fixed everything!
Ah well. We'll carry on with our free trail and see how it goes. I have to admit, today was hard. This was the first "real" day, yesterday he did the assessment stuff. He has such a hard time. And one problem he will know how to do, and then the very next problem, just like the previous one, he will not know how to do. And he works sooooo slowly, mostly due to his inability to concentrate well. So, I don't know. If this doesn't work, I don't really know what else to do. I realize I won't find anything that fixes his learning problems,,,
__________________ Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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mom2mpr Forum All-Star
Joined: May 16 2006 Location: N/A
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Posted: Oct 07 2009 at 5:57pm | IP Logged
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Could you try Teaching Textbooks?
I know a lot of moms have found it helpful, it explains things well, the kids can do it on their own, it IS engaging so your ds might find it fun. My ds enjoyed playing around with it online--doing some sample lessons.
You can check it out somewhere out there on the web. Sorry, I am technologically deficient and don't know how to post links. Most of the reason we don't do TT.
Good luck.
Anne
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Jody Forum All-Star
Joined: March 16 2009 Location: Ohio
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Posted: Oct 07 2009 at 6:20pm | IP Logged
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Here is the link to Teaching Textbooks
__________________ Jody,
Mom to 10 blessings
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