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Erin
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| Posted: Nov 17 2008 at 4:26am | IP Logged
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Things have come to a crunch, I know that I have to find or design an alternative to textbook math for ds13. He has no confidence in himself regards maths, it breaks my heart.
Where do I start, how do I go about finding/designing a systematic alternative? I feel that living math and project math would interest him, but considering his age I feel more nervous than if he were younger. Then again what we are currently doing is not working and truthfully he needs to go back to basics anyway. Oh and he is a strong audio learner, if anyone has audio suggestions for math (is there such a thing?) that would be a positive step too.
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Erin
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cathhomeschool
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Erin, when you say "back to basics" do you mean the 4 basic operations, fractions, basic algebra, math facts? How far back do you feel you have to go?
My oldest struggles with math. We have continued with textbooks (Jacobs Algebra and Human Endeavor), but I've also added supplements that have helped explain math (many from MacBeth's math page:
A Gebra Named Al by Wendy Isdell
Algebra Unplugged
The Number Devil
I use lots of stories, like What's Your Angle, Pythagoras and The Librarian Who Measured the Earth.
You might want to look at Writing in Math Class by Marilyn Burns, Janice VanCleave's Math for Every Kid and the Family Math books for ideas. And any construction or cooking project would involve math.
Games like Yahtzee, Monopoly and role playing games that use dice to multiply strength/attack/etc can help solidify math facts.
Unfortunately I have no experience with any audio programs. (Perhaps a DVD would help since it has an audio portion?) When mine are working on a difficult concept with me, I have them build (or draw), say and write the problem out. That helps concrete the concept. I also have them write out a narration that they can refer back to later if they forget.
When my kids have been struggling in math, I make a list of all of the concepts that need "work." Then I systematically go through them, starting with the simplest. We go as far back as necessary and take as long as needed for each topic. Mine have especially struggled with multiplying and dividing with fractions.
When we get stuck on what seems like a difficult concept, I go back to very simple problems using the same concept. eg. When they've gotten stuck on fractions divided by fractions, I go back to whole numbers, then to a fraction divided by a whole, then a whole divided by a fraction, then fractions and fractions. They can "see" it better when we work through the whole thing like that, explaining at each step.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: Nov 17 2008 at 1:31pm | IP Logged
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If you think he would enjoy reading the Murderous Maths books I think you could use them to create maths units. Maybe start with something fun like this one on codes?
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Erin
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| Posted: Nov 17 2008 at 2:49pm | IP Logged
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Janette
Unfortunately I am talking even more basic than that  His tables, simple computation etc. I think I have to take him right back and build up his confidence.
Kathryn
A friend has just bought one of those books, I just don't know if ds would even look at them
He is just so down about it. On a bright note yesterday he built bridges with marshmallows and couldn't believe me when I told him it was maths, he kept saying it was craft.
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Erin
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Nov 17 2008 at 3:41pm | IP Logged
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Kathryn UK wrote:
| If you think he would enjoy reading the Murderous Maths books I think you could use them to create maths units. Maybe start with something fun like this one on codes? |
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Oh, I'm so glad you mentioned those! I meant to but forgot. My boys didn't enjoy these, but I know that most others do.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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cvbmom
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We just finished Memorize in Minutes: The Times Tables (from www.multiplication.com). I am amazed at how quickly my children have gotten their multiplication facts memorized. It's still memorizing, but it's fun and funny. Maybe that would help for multiplication tables?
God bless,
Christine
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JodieLyn
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how about.. Donald in Mathmagicland.
It points out lots of things that are math that generally aren't considered math (like proportions in art).. and might help math seem less surreal.
Then I might do some oral math.. oh just any old time.. start with simple things and make it a game. You might have to start with demanding he answer an addition problem for instance.. but then after he answers it.. do something unexpected.. give him a candy or something.. and then wait a long while before springing another one on him. And see if you can't surprise him into the spirit of the game of doing math orally.
Have him help in the kitchen.. around here we have to double recipes a lot.. and I would be picking out new or less used recipes that don't have the double (or tripling or quadrupling) already written on them. My oldest had learned to double and triple before we got to multiplication and was surprised to learn that it was multiplication 
But just like when my oldest was so frustrated learning to read.. what I felt we needed to do (and it worked) was to back up.. and do something new in a different way (we gave up phonics and worked on sight words on flash cards). but I'd only work with her until the least sign of frustration.. I'm sure those first few times were less than a minute.. but I'd come back to it periodically through the day.. and as her confidence build and her frustration was correspondingly less we could do more and more.. she's reading at grade level now (maybe higher but tests at grade level for comprehension) and it only took her 1 year to go from not reading to grade level.
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Nov 17 2008 at 4:06pm | IP Logged
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Erin, do not get discouraged! He will see your concern and then get more discouraged or concerned too. The bigger we make it, the bigger it is to them. It's really ok! Once they get the basics, they can move quickly through material, and really, most of what we use is the basics anyway.
If you have the time and energy, I'd start with Family Math and Writing in Math Class. One of the things I like best about the Writing book is that she focuses on quality, not quantity. The kids work in depth to solve a few problems, often as teams. We don't have teams, but we have mom and child working together. When you're struggling, it helps so much to be able to bounce your ideas off of someone else or work together. I have my kids talk through what they're thinking when we work on problems together. I also verbally go through my thought process with them.
I'd use picture books (see Mathematical Stories and Concepts sections): LivingMathList.doc
I'd also focus on real life math as you come across it (balancing checkbook, doubling recipes, when do we have to leave to get to X by 10:15) and games that require use of the basic facts ("Battle" using 2 cards for each player and adding/ multiplying/subtracting them; Yahtzee, dice).
I think that "catching" him using math concepts is a great idea and will help build confidence.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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sunnyviewmom
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| Posted: Nov 18 2008 at 8:28am | IP Logged
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My son had difficulty memorizing multiplication facts after a bad experience with math in school. I finally tried Times Alive!Multiplication Magic Software (based on the book Times Tables the Fun Way!).It has really silly animated songs that help the child memorize the facts. It was a huge success with my son and after that his confidence rose and his attitude toward math completely changed. He was 11 years old at the time and 2 years later he is now doing Teaching Textbooks.
I purchased the software through Rainbow Resource, but the company has more products (including a CD of the songs, I think) at www.citycreek.com. It is definitely silly but it worked for us!
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TracyQ
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| Posted: Nov 24 2008 at 12:39pm | IP Logged
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Erin,
Our 13yo daughter struggles in math, because she definitely tends to use her right brain more than her left, and math is definitely more of a left brain subject!
We switched from Saxon Math (which frustrated her terribly), to Life of Fred Math (as per someone's suggestion here), and then use supplements of games, math literature, some of the Key To Math series books, and whatever we think works for her. It's been a HUGE help in her confidence, and is really working better for her. She'll never love math, but this is something that's helping a LOT, and we have many less tears, and much better understanding of math as a result! 
The thing that FINALLY helped her to learn her multiplication tables (and therefore made the more difficult math go much easier) was to have her watch The Schoolhouse Rock DVD for mulitiplication tables every day for a few months. She is FINALLY able to get her tables much faster now! 
Hope this helps some.
Blessings,
Tracy
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Leonie
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| Posted: Nov 25 2008 at 10:56pm | IP Logged
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We did just maths journalling for a year, when son nu,ber 4 was 13. He just didn't get maths and the journalling provided a needy respite.
previous post on maths journals
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Leonie in Sydney
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Creating non-textbk program for 13yr old
