Math Dilemma

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  • October 7, 2011 at 1:50 pm
    Tia
    Participant

    The longer I homeschool, the more I feel like I hit my stride with various subjects.  I get one subject under my belt and then tackle another one.  lol 

    The one I feel I need to work on now is Math.  We use Horizons Math and, for the most part, I’m happy with it.  My dd catches on to concepts rather quickly and I don’t really feel the need to switch to a Right Start, Math U See or anything with a ton of manipulatives.  I don’t to make a production out of a subject she is grasping just fine as we are.  (I’d rather spend the time reading lol)  Besides, my dh has a degree in Chemistry and is a math guy…he picked the curriculum and thinks it will work the best…so I couldn’t switch even if I wanted to.  lol

    HOWEVER…I do struggle with the length of time it takes to do the worksheets.  I really make an effort to stick to short lessons and, as a result, my dd does about half of a worksheet daily.  A whole one takes too long and her mind starts to wander.  I find myself being nervous about what will happen in May when we are only 1/2 way done with the curriculum!  I can hear Sonya saying, at the workshop I attended, “Teach the child, not the curriculum!”  lol  But…what about the curriculum?  😉

    Thoughts?

    October 7, 2011 at 2:10 pm
    MamaSnow
    Participant

    I haven’t actually looked at a Horizons workbook so I don’t know how they are laid out, but could you select certain problems ahead of time for her to complete on the worksheet – like all the evens or all the odds or some other combination like that? She’d still only be doing part of the worksheet each day, but still getting practice on everything (rather than just the top half of the sheet or whatever). If you feel she needs it you could always just have her do the other half of the problems the following day, or if you feel she is doing fine just move on to the next lesson. When I was a classroom teacher, I RARELY assigned all of the problems on a math page – usually just odds or evens or some other combination to give equal practice to whatever problem types were included in that lesson.

    HTH!

    Jen

    October 7, 2011 at 2:40 pm
    momto2blessings
    Participant

    I was going to suggest the same as Jen:)  I also let my eldest test out of some lessons if she gets 100% on the first page and 95% on review pages/tests.  If she is struggling with a certain concept, I’ll go back and have her do more of those.  I make my youngest do all the pages (MUS, so not a lot) because I want the math facts practice. HTH some:)  Gina

    October 7, 2011 at 3:14 pm
    JennNC
    Participant

    I agree with Jen. No need to do ALL the problems unless she needs the extra practice. I remember doing it that way even in private school growing up. And — I think 75% of the book is considered “finished” for awarding credit at the high school level, so you should be fine I would think.

    October 8, 2011 at 3:08 am
    Tia
    Participant

    Thanks! I caught Jen’s post right before math time and that’s just what we did.  I set the timer for 15 minutes and she was done with 2 minutes to spare!  Thanks so much!!

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