Should I switch math programs?

[Lisa1970]

My 9 yr old has Autism Spectrum Disorder.  He is very smart though. He used to be quite advanced, as in, going in to kinder, he was reading at 3rd grade level and his math tested at 2nd grade level. But, in school, they made him sit and make hundreds tables and such in kinder. In 1st grade, he did all 1st grade level stuff. The school really did no differentiation. I had planned to homeschool him in 1st grade so I had tested where he would at, but his kinder teacher was manipulative and convinced him he had to stay in regular school. Fortunately, he had an over the top wonderful 1st grade teacher so it went well. But 2nd grade was not so great. SO, I tested his levels in everything and he was basically at the same level in everything going in to 3rd as he had been going in to 1st. It really was about a lack of learning anything really. And with entire days being spent on work well below his level (not to mention how horrible our math education is here) so he never really advanced during his time in public school. However, he was never behind based on the local public school standards. 

SO, I did Singapore Math with my older kids and it went fine. I think it is a good solid program. BUT, for my 9 yr old, it went well at first. He had to start in book 2A because they never did any sort of regrouping or math facts at all in public school. We did not do the workbook for 2A though, just the text, which was fine as he remembered quickly how he used to do regrouping before he started public school. He also already knew many of his multiplication facts so it was a quick review for him (they had not done that in public school either). We did all of 2B (workbook and text) and all was fine. Then on to 3A. Suddenly, in the last few weeks, DS fights me on doing his school work all the time!! It has been probably more like months, not just weeks. It is not too hard for him. But ds does not take well to having things explained to him. His eyes will look the other direction while I am trying to explain things, instead of at what I am trying to explain. We are on long division. He can do it in his head and I am trying to get him to work the problems out. Once the problems get too big where he can no longer do them in his head, he gets them wrong. 

Last summer, someone loaned us their Gamma dvd from MUS and DS liked it enough that he watched most of it all the way through. He has no problem making eye contact with the TV. I had him try a sample of Teaching Textbooks, but he did not like that one.  SO, I am wondering if perhaps I should just suck it up and buy MUS for him (I already own all the Singapore Math textbooks all the way through because the older kids did it). Or if maybe this is just about attitude and we will have the same problems very soon. I would rather pay the money than continue to fight. But do not want to pay the money if it won't make any difference. My idea was that because it is so predictable (25 problems a day) and he can watch the video instead of me, that we might have more success. What do you think?

[mom2ponygirl]

We have never been able to stick to one math curriculum.  We find it better to explore with 2 or more resources.  You get a better understanding from different approaches and it prevents burn out and boredom with one approach.  

You could also break up the Singapore with the accompanying computer games, or the MUS he seems to like, or books like Challenge Math by Zaccoro (or Primary Challenge Math), or fun math reads like The Number Devil and Penrose the Mathematical Cat.

MEP math is free and available online as well. 

Good luck finding what works for you!

[AAK]

Has he watched any of the khan academy videos.  They are free, but you would need to do a bit more work.  You might need to find the video that you want for the day so that you can have a worksheet or problems for him to do afterward.  

However, it might give you an idea how much he absorbs by video style teaching.  

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Also, my oldest is doing ALEKS math online.  She is currently doing a free trial.  She really likes it and she loves seeing her "pie" (a pie chart showing your progress) fill up.

It does sound like you might want to switch programs.  Or perhaps drop Singapore, but work on the skills in a different way for awhile and then pick Singapore back up to "reinforce" the learning rather than being the first step.

Amy