| Author | |
Donna Marie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2530
|
| Posted: Sept 06 2006 at 1:34pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I have no clue where to post this...math...special blessings...hmmm
How do I not get burnt out with math?? I have so many levels I am teaching I feel like a rabbit running over hot coals. I think I am pacing myself wrong.
You would think that someone like me that has been homeschooling...some with special needs...for so long would be cool calm and well put together ...LOL...I think I forgot how to do EVERYTHING....well...maybe not everything...I am just so afraid of being too far "behind" with each person's math skills. I have to admit to there being a few people in my life that are making me feel a bit jittery (as in they are homeschool leery) as of late and I guess that has something to do with it too.
I feel so burnt out...and it is only the second day of school...my boys keep disappearing on me which makes things worse. The dh wants to keep them accountable but it is hard with him working long hours. The toddler keeps dancing on the table throwing things around the room. Having to fight so much I wish I had a self-teaching math program. I am using Right Start...should I switch to something more user friendy...I would love something more visually appealing for the mom to see what is going on at a glance .
Since running away from home won't fix this...haha...any suggestions? I wish I could go with one math program wholeheartedly but the one issue I am facing with my dd's visual and auditory processing has me confused with how to get her learning more!...not to mention what I should do with the others. Sorry I am so unclear but I can't think straight today. and if I did ask this before...please humor me anyway!
God Love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
__________________
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Victoria in AZ
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 16 2005
Location: Arizona
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 672
|
| Posted: Sept 06 2006 at 1:54pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Ah, Donna, you've made me feel better about not starting school until next week.
I don't know about having everyone on the same math program, but this is the first year we are using this multi-sensory math program:
www.touchmath.com
Touch Math claims to be for all math levels, special needs, average and advanced. Touch Math was recommended to me by the tester who found my dd to be behind in math. When I called the company for advice, I found them to be very, very helpful.
But if you do run away from home, may I run away with you
__________________
Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Donna Marie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2530
|
| Posted: Sept 06 2006 at 2:00pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Victoria in AZ wrote:
Ah, Donna, you've made me feel better about not starting school until next week.
I don't know about having everyone on the same math program, but this is the first year we are using this multi-sensory math program:
www.touchmath.com
|
|
|
Do they have any special homeschool rate by any chance??
Victoria in AZ wrote:
But if you do run away from home, may I run away with you |
|
|
What a wonderful idea!! I'll tell you what, I will even bring the chocolate!!  aah daydream over! I have to hose off my purple child! ...she thinks she looks gorgeous!! ...never a dull moment!
__________________
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Victoria in AZ
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 16 2005
Location: Arizona
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 672
|
| Posted: Sept 06 2006 at 2:08pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I don't think there are any special rates, but I did not ask that directly. What I did to save some expense was to order the workbooks only. The free teachers dvd explains the program very well.
Yes, you bring the chocolate and I'll bring the tea  Daydream over for me too, we are moving locally this week. Yes, there's a UHaul truck in the driveway and I'm procrastinating with friends at 4real  while also beginning to panic about starting school next week...
Elizabeth is trying Touch Math this year too.
__________________
Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
margot helene
Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 26 2006
Location: Pennsylvania
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 350
|
| Posted: Sept 06 2006 at 2:25pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi Donna Marie,
I am not a Math expert by any means . . .  but maybe you could start this school year with something that they can do all together. A series of projects. I do this during the year when I can't stand the monotony of page after page of the same old math stuff. But it might help them see that math is part of life, not just school time.
[Last year, I would start the day with math, meeting with each one in succession (5 of them) ending with the youngest, giving simple directions and sending them on their way. I had given up on manipulative-based math after 1st grade for each one and gone to workbook style (MCP) for my sanity. ]
Here are some projects we have done:
1. Divide them into two groups with a few older kids in each group. Flip a coin 100 times and record the results. We have a heads penny stamp and a tails penny stamp that we stamp on a big piece of paper for each flip. Or you can make tally marks in columns. Compare the results from the two groups. Is it 50/50?
2. Make graphs for individual interests (favorite food, favorite animal). These can be reproduced by the kids into lap books. Chart things in nature. (different kinds of leaves collected, rock sizes,)
3. Bake a batch of choc chip cookies and estimate the average number of chips in each one. Then sort them by the number of chips and calculate the averages.
4. Here is my favorite: sort the colors of a small bag M&M's and graph how many of each color in each bag. Then calculate the % of each color in the bag. Then find the average number of the different colors of everyone's bag. Kids could work in partners or individually. Toddler gets to sort by color and count his own.
5. Tangrams
6. Finding geometric shapes outside. Take a sketch pad out and find patterns or shapes (tree trunk - cylinder). Dog's head (triangle), chicken's foot, acute angle. Draw the item, and then in a different color pencil, sketch the geometric shape over the item. This can be done indoors as well. Door - rectangle, etc. Find all the obtuse, right, and acute angles you can find in the house.
Ok - these are probably lame, maybe other people have great projects. How about reading some Math literature.
I hate that disappearing thing!! I always find them laying in bed with a book or with Legos. "But I . . . "
I am using Teaching Texbook for the pre-Algebra guy this year and I LOVE it - very self directed!!! They only go as low as 7th grade I think.
Margot
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Natalia
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Louisiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1343
|
| Posted: Sept 06 2006 at 2:41pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Donna,
I don't know if this would help but along Margot's line: my ds (9) doesn't like math so this year we started with this book
It has lots of projects and tricks to learn. I think it will lend itself to groups activities. YOu could divide your kids into pairs or having the work together. If they enjoy hands on learning they might like the projects.
Natalia
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Donna Marie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2530
|
| Posted: Sept 06 2006 at 10:07pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Well Ladies,
I decided to join you in touchmath! I talked to a lovely lady on the phone and I think the thing that has been eating at me the most with math is a certain issue with my dd that this lady brought up in conversation. Can I tell you how good it feels to talk to someone that knows where you are coming from on this seemingly difficult subject?
I think I felt so strange teaching her the last few days because God was elbowing me to give this a try...the conversation that I had with her helped me to get a better idea of realistic goals for my dd...which I was beginning to get lost on. We needed something fresh to keep her moving forward.
Natalia, we do have that book and some of the other books for science and nature...we wanted to more of them this year...I forgot about the Math one...thanks for the reminder! We do soooo much better in "school" when we play at it...some of the hardest things were solved over a clever experiment or an unusual card game!
Thanks for all the help!! Let me know how you others are faring with this program...it would be nice to hear!
God Love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc
__________________
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Leonie
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 28 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2831
|
| Posted: Sept 09 2006 at 2:10am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hope the programme works well.
Just wanted to second Margot's idea of doing some maths all together. Maths journals have always worked very well for us as group maths and with a variety of ages - even preschoolers can draw in their journals. There is a thread on how to use journals in the Maths section of the forum. 
__________________
Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Victoria in AZ
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 16 2005
Location: Arizona
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 672
|
| Posted: Nov 17 2006 at 3:57pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Donna Marie wrote:
Well Ladies,
I decided to join you in touchmath! I talked to a lovely lady on the phone and I think the thing that has been eating at me the most with math is a certain issue with my dd that this lady brought up in conversation. Can I tell you how good it feels to talk to someone that knows where you are coming from on this seemingly difficult subject?
Thanks for all the help!! Let me know how you others are faring with this program...it would be nice to hear!
God Love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
|
|
|
Hi, Donna,
I felt the same sense of relief when I spoke with a "lovely lady" from TouchMath. She understood my frustration with dd's lack of math progress and helped me sort it out. To save money on the program, she recommended we purchase the workbooks only and begin at first grade (dd is 9).
We are faring very well with TouchMath. Last year, dd simply could not add basic math problems without a struggle. This year with the TouchMath strategy she can add and subtract with accuracy. We are both happy She is now in the second grade workbooks doing addition with carrying and having no problems. It is a joy when you finally find a program that works for your child. For some it will be TouchMath, for others something else.
How are you faring, Donna? And Elizabeth (she is trying TM for the first time too)? It would be nice to hear your updates also.
__________________
Your sister in Christ,
Victoria in AZ
dh Mike 24 yrs; ds Kyle 18; dd Katie 12; and one funny pug
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
StephanieA
Forum Pro
Joined: May 11 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 394
|
| Posted: Nov 18 2006 at 8:26am | IP Logged
|
|
|
My 4th daughter (12) is struggling with math right now. I have learned a few things from my 19 year old when I hit this spot.
First take Friday off for review. Get a different program and use this for a break from your regular textbook or video course. I am doing this with my son with ADD also. I even take 2 days off on some weeks.
Just the change of pace can work wonders.
Secondly, don't be afraid to jump ship and try a different approach, program. Most kids that really struggle with math aren't going to "understand" short cuts and all they why's of math. I have found that a temporary light may go on when you explain why we invert fractions when we divide. But ask them a week later and they are clueless. It just isn't as important to them when you are struggling just to memorize the steps.
Don't burn yourself out with a lot of math games - unless the child finds them appealing. We did a mathematical reasoning series with my oldest hoping it would open the door. He hated it. What he really needed was to stick to the basics and learn them well. The rest was really fluff for him.
Lastly don't be surprised if they don't take off in the math department ever or maybe as late as college. My oldest is taking his last college math this semester (Calculus 3). This kid struggled through algebra. That said, he "likes" math now, but still is not good at it. I ask him a question from his 12 year-old's sisters math book, and he couldn't answer the question. It wasn't something he had "memorized". His younger brother whipped the answer off in seconds. Frustrating? You bet. But they eventually learn how to learn the material: by memorization or really understanding it.
Blessings,
Stephanie
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mary G
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5790
|
| Posted: Nov 18 2006 at 9:12am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Maybe you can "play" math on Fridays -- catalog math with a favorite catalog and she gets "$25 dollars" to spend; or play various board games, logic puzzles or tangrams. I'm enamored of the Soma Cube I asked about on another post -- spatial relationships and geometry all in one! One thing mine love is cooking math -- doubling a recipe or using only a 1/4 cup to measure ingredients.......
There are some great "math for kids who hate math" books out there ... The I Hate Mathematics Book has some great ideas in it as does Math-a-Day.
I just hate that in schools they drill-and-kill with math. Math can be so cool and fun, but students get turned off by just memorizing and filling in worksheets and workbooks -- no doubt those are necessary skills but the beauty of math needs to come through too. I just wonder if I had had less drill-and-kill if I would have embraced math more (I know my dad would have been happy!)
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
StephanieA
Forum Pro
Joined: May 11 2006
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 394
|
| Posted: Nov 18 2006 at 2:22pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Games, tangrams, puzzles, CD-rom's aside, the crux of the problem is that we have to light a flame of hope for these math-challenged kids. They will like math when they "get" math....whether through understanding or memorizing. Too much drill is kill, but be willing to backtrack and get them to like the easier concepts - regardless of grade level. Different approaches will yield eventual success. My niece is a super-sharp kid (18) who nearly aced the ACT, except for a very low math score. My sister regrets not solidifying the basics before trying to move on to algebra. All the games, tangrams, etc. won't cure the problem. Friday as game day is a break, and it may be just what some kids need. But math-challenged kids are only going to derive satisfaction from math from being able to "do" it.
I think kids sometimes just need a break from constant math....a time to think, to let the information sink it, or simply a time to mature. But once this happens, we need to find an approach that will work.
I hesitate to post what we do for math, because it sounds so haphazard, but I am finding that it is working. I never go on to a new concept unless I feel that the current concept is learned. We may do games, manipulatives, speed drills, a different text, to make it work. We also do take time away from math in the summers except for a weekly review for the younger crowd (2-6th grades, usually).
Sometimes we just have word problem days. Critical Thinking books have great word problem workbooks as well as Singapore math. The are reusable, because I don't have the kids write in the book.
I feel a bit passionate about this subject, because both my mom and my sister gave up when it came to math, and it hurt their kid's self esteems. My sister is doing things a bit differently now with her younger children. I was never good at math, but I am learning to appreciate it as I am teaching my children.
Blessings,
Stephanie
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Tina P.
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 28 2005
Location: N/A
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1638
|
| Posted: Jan 18 2007 at 11:14am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I almost wrote my own Math Woes post, but then I saw this one.
I am just now printing out sheets from free downloadable worksheets from Touchmath for my kids to try. I printed off the 4th grader's first, the set with the maze. My daughter saw them as I passed them to the 4th grader. She said, "Lucky!" My 7th grader (well, he's supposed to be according to his age ) had a HUGE smile on his face and asked, "Can I do that, too?"
I like Mary and Stephanie's ideas of Play Day and have always tried to implement it. But we often get busy chasing around and skip that day altogether unless we play a math-type game in the evening.
I have an idea, after having talked with the lady at Touchmath, that my older kids are missing out on some basic skills that inhibit them later on. Would it be so bad if, on our Play Days, I have them do some Touchmath sheets? I feel sort of guilty having a 12 year old doing 4th grade stuff all over again. I already held him back once because he was barrelling through math without understanding it. And I'm really disappointed with Saxon. I thought they were so thorough and that after reading the lesson (and maybe that's why my kids just don't get it, because they didn't concentrate on it while they read it) and discussing it with me, they would just magically understand it! I guess this is not fairyland.
My oldest and second (12 and almost 11) are having trouble with triple digit multiplication. My third (9) hasn't memorized his times tables all the way (6-8 give him trouble). My 7 yo refuses to use a book. We do money and manipulative math all the way ... when I find him and find time. I completely empathize with you ladies whose children run to the farthest corners of the house when they can sneak away.
I asked the Touchmath lady whether there was anything for older students and she said that really the program was for pre-K through 3rd and then for older kids in remedial math. I asked her if they could develop programs for older kids ~ soon! She laughed and said, "I know, we do need to do that."
I love your ideas Margot, and I will implement them on Fridays. I still have to order games from box cars and one-eyed jacks because when we borrowed one from the library, that was a huge hit at our house as well.
__________________
Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
Mary's Muse
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Math woes
