[ChristaN]

If you were going to buy a math curriculum for a very visual child, which one would you pick? Dd is being driven to distration by Everyday math and is having a very hard time understanding the way they word things. Her confidence in her ability to do math is eroding and she thinks that she is bad at math. She actually has very good number sense, but sees things in a very different manner that I must admit I don't understand.

What I am looking for is something that would work for a child who needs pictures to understand math, who tends to look at things backwards (i.e. -- 2 minus from 9 rather than 9 minus 2), who does not do things in a step by step manner (really needs a big picture first), and who tends to guess (and is often right, but has no idea why and is erratic as well).

I saw the link for Algebra tiles in the thread on showing you work in math and plan to show that to her b/c I think that she'll really take to that. She's 8.5 and a 3rd grader right now. Curriculum for late 4th to 5th grade would probably be appropriate, but I would be good with reviewing 3rd-4th grade stuff (fractions, long division, multi digit multiplication, decimals and converting btwn fractions and decimals) in a way that makes more sense to her than what she has learned thus far.

TIA!

 

[Bird Girl]

We are very happy with Singapore math. It shows several different methods for attacking problems, places a high priority on mental math, and is inexpensive; i.e., about $9 for the textbook and $9 for the workbook, two of which are required for a year's study.

 

[ChristaN]

Thank you! I'll take a look at it.

 

[LauraLoo]

Christa -- I'm having great luck with Miquon with my ds, but I think it might be too easy for your dd. I've heard that some people go to the Key series afterwards (the authors are related, I believe, so maybe a similar approach.) I haven't looked in depth at those books, but they are relatively inexpensive.

You can check out some sample pages here.

http://www.keypress.com/x6469.xml

Here's a review:
http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/rev...ws.aspx?id=113

Let us know what you decide to do, so some of us don't have to create the wheel.

 

[SashaBreeze]

Our 8yod dd is using the 5th grade Teaching Textbook this year and LOVES it! It is a little pricey but if you can swing it (I used income tax return money) its definitely worth the price.
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/

 

[AAK]

I am liking Math Mammoth. She has a lot of stuff available for free on her website, so you can try it out without putting forth any money.

www.mathmammoth.com

Amy

 

[tarasam]

Teaching Textbooks? We didn't use it for levels lower than Math 7, but it is pretty visual.

Tara

 

[SashaBreeze]

From what I gather the lower grade math texts are a fairly new product from this company. They just came out with a fourth grade book as well. I'm not sure, but I think they only had pre-algebra and above before.

 

[ChristaN]

I looked at the samples on math mammoth and key press and get the impression with both of them that they would probably work fairly well for dd, but I would be inclined to use them as supplements rather than a complete curriculum unless I wanted to piece stuff together myself. If I were more practiced (as in had homeschooled for a while and knew all of what needed to be covered in each grade), I would probably be fine with using either as a complete curriculum, though. I do think that the key press books would provide greater depth into each subject (fractions, decimals, etc.) than one would generally get in a grade by grade curriculum since most textbooks for each grade don't teach all you need to know about each subject, just the portion they expect you to know that year.

I'll still need to look more at Singapore and teaching textbooks. Does anyone know if there is anywhere where I can view a few sample pages of a Singapore textbook or workbook online? I'm still not certain what we are doing for dd in terms of school next year and don't know if I need a complete curriculum or just something to supplement or teach her the same stuff she's getting at school, but in a different way.

 

[harmonyhobbit]

Your DD sounds like my DS. We are loving Singapore. We just use the workbooks. Haven't needed the textbooks yet. he's in first grade.

 

[ChristaN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SashaBreeze Our 8yod dd is using the 5th grade Teaching Textbook this year and LOVES it! It is a little pricey but if you can swing it (I used income tax return money) its definitely worth the price. http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/

I was just watching the demo video on their website and have a question for you. It appears to me, from the demo at least, that the way problems are presented is pretty standard in terms of the same types of teaching methods and algorithms that I recall from my schooling many years ago. Also, they said something about "step by step" explanations.

Dd doesn't do well at all with step by step explanations. I've yet to figure out exactly how she does learn, but she gets very frustrated with being shown all of the pieces and then being expected to see a whole picture from those pieces. She's a definite whole-part learner: can't see the whole if it is being assembled from parts, needs to see the whole first to understand the parts.

IDK if any of this is making sense. Do you think that my impression of teaching textbooks being part-whole and fairly std approach in teaching math seem accurate to you?

 

[ChristaN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bird Girl We are very happy with Singapore math. It shows several different methods for attacking problems, places a high priority on mental math, and is inexpensive; i.e., about $9 for the textbook and $9 for the workbook, two of which are required for a year's study.

Since harmonyhobbit mentioned using just the workbooks, what value do you find in having the textbook as well as the workbook? Does it provide methods or instruction in methods that the workbook does not?

 

[SashaBreeze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChristaN I was just watching the demo video on their website and have a question for you. It appears to me, from the demo at least, that the way problems are presented is pretty standard in terms of the same types of teaching methods and algorithms that I recall from my schooling many years ago. Also, they said something about "step by step" explanations. IDK if any of this is making sense. Do you think that my impression of teaching textbooks being part-whole and fairly std approach in teaching math seem accurate to you?

Hmmm, I spent some time looking through the textbook (you get a textbook along with the cd-rom if you choose that option) and you are right. But I honestly can not think of a curriculum that doesn't do the step by step method. We used Singapore up until now and, someone correct me if I am remembering wrong on this, but I am pretty sure it does the same thing. Hmmm, maybe someone else knows of a different curriculum that will go at it a different way. The only thing I can come up with is for you to go to the teaching textbook website and let your dd do the practice/sample pages on line and see what she thinks of it?

 

[aris99]

Hi,

I'm a BIG fan of singapore...I'm not very organized as far as homeschooling and I like to skip around...I think you can do this easily w/singapore. Also their site gives you contents and you can look at sample pages for each book....just click on the book cover and click on tabs for contents/samples. Here's an example from a grade 3 book. They also have placement tests (the third link) so you can see where your dd is as far as math skills.

I buy books from ebay for MUCH less than $9...so look around...you can def. get cheaper prices.

http://www.singaporemath.com/Product...Show=TechSpecs

http://www.singaporemath.com/Product...Show=TechSpecs

http://www.singaporemath.com/Placement_s/12.htm

 

[ChristaN]

Thanks for the link to the sample pgs. I should have seen those when I was on their website earlier

. I'm not sure, but I think that the pics at the top of each lesson in the textbooks might suffice as the "whole picture" for dd before the steps are presented. I am at somewhat of a loss as to how to teach her but I've seen what does not work, so I at least know how not to teach her!

My inclination is to just get the Singapore text and workbooks for 4A and 4B which appear to be late 4th grade. I'm sure that there is some material in the 3B that she could review and learn better and some she doesn't know well like metric measurements, but at least half of it would be so easy that she'd probably get bored and upset with me.

My biggest issue is when and how to do this with her b/c she is still in school at this point and may still be next fall. I hate to make her do "extra" work, but I hate even more her turning off to school so much and thinking that she is stupid and bad at math. I want her to have an opportunity to learn in a way that works better for her without feeling like she is being punished and made to do more work than anyone else.

 

[tarasam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SashaBreeze From what I gather the lower grade math texts are a fairly new product from this company. They just came out with a fourth grade book as well. I'm not sure, but I think they only had pre-algebra and above before.

True about the lower grades (lower than algebra) being their newer products. In fact, their high school products (algebra and higher) are markedly different from their elementary/middle school products - one standout difference is that their high school CD-ROMs offer no interaction, just straight lectures.

Tara

 

[LauraLoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChristaN My biggest issue is when and how to do this with her b/c she is still in school at this point and may still be next fall. I hate to make her do "extra" work, but I hate even more her turning off to school so much and thinking that she is stupid and bad at math. I want her to have an opportunity to learn in a way that works better for her without feeling like she is being punished and made to do more work than anyone else.

I've found that the best way to get ds to do "extra work," is by making sure that he is involved with setting the goal. For example, when we started vision therapy, he needed to do exercises every night. We talked about why vision therapy would be important to him, and he came up with goals that we wrote down -- to be able to read longer without getting headaches, to catch and throw a ball better, etc. After a few weeks of therapy, we revisited the goals and asked how he felt that therapy was working for him. Since he felt that he was making progress, he was committed to working on it.

I wouldn't present this as "extra work," but as helpful practice in a way that she learns best which will make her math work at school easier. This isn't remedial work, but instruction customized for her. I would definitely open it up that way by asking her if there was something that you could provide her which would make learning math easier, would she be interested in giving it a try.

(Also, there is an aspect to Singapore that is introduced early on in solving for the unknown and Singapore is built around that. Since she has a unique way of solving problems, this process may come naturally to her. If not, I believe it is introduced in 1B, but not sure, and you may just want to copy a few pages of that so she gets it. Maybe someone else knows where it is, my books are packed away at the moment.)

I found this link last night -- It has a visual instruction on YouTube of Singapore 3A, so you could even see if she likes this method. I didn't watch more than a few minutes of the videos, but thought I'd throw it out to you. It's kind of like Singapore meets Teaching Textbooks.
http://www.khanacademy.org/index.html

Good luck -- I'm interested in hearing how it goes. After Miquon, I'm thinking that we'll switch back to Singapore, too, but who knows?