Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

Tagged: Math struggles

This topic has 39 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 4 months ago by 2Corin57.

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January 15, 2016 at 12:35 pm
amama5
Participant
I’m not good at short posts, sorry:) My daughter is about to turn 9 and is VERY behind in math and really struggles with it. I don’t mind her being behind, that’s the beauty of homeschooling; but it is very hard/discouraging for her being in a home with 5 other children who aren’t struggling with it and zooming past her. We started with MUS for a couple years, she didn’t understand any of the methods/tricks at all, they just confuse her. The blocks did help but she couldn’t move past them and because very dependent so we only use them if absolutely necessary now. She was in tears every day and it was miserable. I’ve found it’s best to just get her to memorize.
Then we tried Teaching Textbooks and she didn’t understand it at all, and didn’t care for it which was fine with me. After much research, I ended up with CLE, Christian Light Education this year. She does enjoy it more than the others, and is doing much better, less tears, and since siblings aren’t using that program she can’t compare herself to their level. However, when she learns anything new, it pushes out what she has learned and we have to start back from square one, even though the program does review. So this week she has missed almost every basic addition and subtraction fact, even though it should be easy for her by now with 2 solid years of adding/subtracting under her belt.
I can’t figure out how to keep doing CM methods (short lessons) and yet get in enough math review for her each day. She already feels embarrassed and punished since she needs to do much more practice/review than anyone. Right now her current lessons take her about 30 minutes to an hour, and that doesn’t include the flashcards/skip counting/multiplication fact review she is supposed to do. I am having her do xtramath.com daily for her addition/subtraction, but she misses the same ones constantly. I’ve tried triangle flash cards, pictures, word problems, copywork, hopscotch math, games, everything I can think of. I’m exasperated, and it takes most of our morning doing math together, and I have 5 other children that need me. She’s very frustrated, and is trying hard, and I’m very frustrated.
Is there something I’m missing to help her? She can’t stay behind like this, and I don’t want to push too hard and really discourage her, but I feel like even at a very slow pace she should only be one grade behind, not two.
Thank you for your thoughts

January 15, 2016 at 1:12 pm
2Corin57
Participant
Oh, how I could have written this 🙂
I can’t count the number of math programs we’ve tried, and we too are using CLE. And like you – it is definitely going the best out of any we’ve tried, and he enjoys it the most (as much as he enjoys math, period).
Have you considered putting her back a grade? Perhaps just focusing on +/- only for now?
The only other thing I can think of, and while it would mean jumping again – have you considered that she may need a mastery based math program, instead of a spiral one? CLE does give lots of review, but it does have the children focusing on several topics at once, which some kids just can NOT do. They need time to focus on one or two things at a time.
In this case, I might suggest you look at Math on the Level. It is a very, very different approach to math, completely different scope/sequence that is based on HER development, and YOU choose what hse is working and when. There’s review too, but far less at a time.
January 15, 2016 at 1:39 pm
Rachel White
Participant
I started my 12 year old on level 2, after trying other things. It has been successful. She couldn’t add or subtract multiple figures and multiplication was a disaster. Going back to 2 was exactly what she needed. Make sure you do the speed drills.

January 15, 2016 at 2:58 pm
amama5
Participant
Rachel, just to clarify, do you mean level 2 of CLE, or level 2 of Math on the Level? I started her in level 1 of CLE and now she is working through level 2.
2Corin57; yes MUS was a mastery program and I discussed going back to it with her today actually. I don’t like jumping, but I also want her to not dread math. I’ll look into Math on the Level also. As for putting her back a grade, she’s technically finishing up 3rd grade (which I don’t really care about) but doing 2nd grade math and sometimes 1st. I have her take breaks where we go back and start over with the adding/subtracting, and don’t move on until she gets it again. She does fine for a while, then we have to repeat this pattern again, despite still reviewing the +/- facts at least 2x a week.
She’s been learning easier multiplication facts and doesn’t get the concept of multiplication no matter how I show/tell her. It seems like it’s just going to be that way until something finally clicks. I was actually the same way, although didn’t struggle as bad, but finally someone would say something a different way and it would make sense.
I didn’t know if anyone else’s child is like that with keeping things solid, and problems with new concepts always.
January 15, 2016 at 3:05 pm
Melanie32
Participant
I’m no math expert and I haven’t had this exact problem with my children but if it were me, I would stick with Math U See and let her use the blocks as long as she needs to. It will eventually click and she will outgrow the need for blocks. I never had my children memorize subtraction or addition facts. I want them to know how to add and subtract and the blocks show them exactly that. Also, the addition and subtraction facts are usually memorized automatically, as time goes on, just from doing them so often.
I didn’t worry about memorization until we came to the times tables and then my daughter stopped her Math U See and played Timezattack every day for 20 minutes until she had them down cold. It took a month or more to do this.
Timezattack is a free online game that helps children practice and cement their math facts. It was the only thing that worked for my daughter. Both of my kids detest flash cards and drill but they enjoyed playing this game instead.
January 15, 2016 at 3:27 pm
2Corin57
Participant
There’s an idea = have you tried letting her play online math games? Reading Eggs actually now has a Math version, and I’m sure there’s other sites, too.
January 15, 2016 at 3:35 pm
amama5
Participant
Well, maybe just not the right ones. She has used arcademics.com and multiplication.com (not just x games, lots of math facts). Her siblings love those websites. The games just go too fast for her and she gets frustrated because she loses all the time, or runs out of time. She’s not really a competitive child either, just gets frustrated. So maybe if there was a game that wasn’t timed or competing with others?
January 15, 2016 at 4:52 pm
Wings2fly
Participant
My son has always struggled in math and he is in CLE now. It is working the best so far, but we still have to set if aside and review or supplement. And sometimes I think I have done everything to help and don’t know what to do and then it will finally click and we move on. But he is “behind” and having to stop and review just gets us more behind. But I think of how lost he would be trying to keep up in a classroom, and I am thankful we can stop and go at his own pace. I have come to realize that it is very unlikely foe him to get into higher math later. But he will get however far he gets and will have good understanding of what he has learned.
We tried the MUS blocks with Alpha years ago and they did not click for him. I then switched to RS level B and the AL Abacus and their card games. These worked well for him. We did not go at the pace I wanted to, but he did end up with a good understanding and mental strategies. He also did level C. Then we tried computer programs and it was the same way…frustrating. It was not customized enough to meet his needs. I thought about trying k5learning because it is supposed to customize as they go, but then found CLE Sunrise math and I prefer paper over computer. He has done levels 304 – 405 in 1 and 1/2 years. We had to supplement a lot too. We liked RS, but it was taking too much of my time at a point when I was very busy with other needs. Sometimes I wish we would have stayed with it and just spread lessons out more to shorten the daily lesson. But back then, I couldn’t let go of having to do a whole lesson each day. Now I could set a timer and stop and pick up there the next day.
I suggest using manipulatives with your math and mental math exercises for warm-ups at the start of the lesson. Sit and help or have her circle problems she wants your help with. Then do those problems together. You do one while explaining it, then she does one with your help. Break up the math lesson into two sessions. Since this subject is a struggle, the first session should be one of the first in the day and then do a different subject using a different part of the brain. Give a break before the next math session of the day.
We have used xtramath.org and it did not really work well until he understood it was more important to get it right than to do it fast, and speed would come naturally in good time. And when they miss one, they need to say it correctly out loud before typing the correction. If they do not have good math strategies in place first, it is not going to work very well. They need to understand the why and how before memorizing facts for speedy recall. That said, I think the speed drills in CLE are important to do once they know the strategies. But we do not use a timer. We have used Math wrap up keys in place of the CLE flashcards when they aren’t doing xtramath.org.
I plan to buy the SCM Mathematics book to use for supplementing too. I think it uses manipulatives and mental math. It may help you too.
He uses Life of Fred elementary on Fridays, town day. It is shorter, independent and helps to show concepts in a different way. He learns other things as well and likes the storyline. It has made math less dreadful for him. But I would not use it alone. You could use other living math books in this way. Livingmath.net
January 15, 2016 at 4:56 pm
my3boys
Participant
I have a child who has struggled in the way you describe, too. She’s not alone. My child is now 13 and is probably considered behind but I don’t care anymore. Not that I don’t care about him being behind or able to balance his checkbook when he’s older, but we don’t consider it a struggle anymore. It is what it is. He is where he is. No one has mastered everything.
We went back to MUS a long time ago because he needed mastery. So far it’s working. Having all the other components to a math program, like the calendar, temperature, days of the week, etc., just got him confused and took us off track from just the math portion.
I have to admit that I found a tutor to work with him a couple of times a month and that has helped tremendously. They just talk math. The parent/teacher relationship is not there so there are no arguments or pleading and crying going on 🙂
My son has never been confident with math and I don’t know why, exactly. And, he never seemed to carry the lessons into real life situations and seemed to forget that very day of what he memorized. Very frustrating for both of us. So, obviously they weren’t memorized. I began allowing him to look over the multiplication grid each time he wasn’t sure. Guessing wasn’t helpful and just caused him to feel dumb when he couldn’t remember. He has a file box with anything he feels he may need to remember but probably won’t, such as: finding the perimeter or the area of a shape, pints to a quart, quarts to a gallon, 3 ft. to a yard, the steps for division, etc. He can use the file box anytime he needs to and isn’t made to feel bad for doing so. Actually, I tell him that not using it is silly. It would be like not using a dictionary or google if you needed it. It’s there to be used. He also has a math journal that he can write in for reminders or whatever he feels he needs to. He also copies the multiplication facts onto a blank one each day, or so.
Math was beginning to ruin our relationship and it became a subject he hated and cried over how dumb he felt. I am ashamed to say that my attitude made him feel bad about himself 🙁 I’m not suggesting you are doing that in the least; just wanting you to know that many of us completely understand where you are coming from.

January 15, 2016 at 5:06 pm
my3boys
Participant
BTW, while my son works with his tutor, I can hear her praising his efforts and how impressed she is with what he really does know (she has noticed that he second guesses himself, also). He feels so proud of himself after each lesson, he beams with joy! They work on math problems that would have caused so much frustration between us…it’s just a wonderful thing to hear him explain to her how he understands it and her saying, “Exactly. You got it!”
Her son was “not good at math, either” and is now taking Trig or Calculus, go figure. She has encouraged us to never give up.
January 15, 2016 at 5:53 pm
amama5
Participant
The replies have been very helpful, thank you. So it sounds like maybe some good changes would be going back to MUS to simplify things, and making a “cheat sheet” for her, with addition/subtraction problems she consistently misses, and anything else she can’t seem to master. I liked the idea of breaking up the lesson (well, my type A personality doesn’t really like it, but I like it for her:). I could set a timer and just end that day wherever she stops. I think that would encourage her greatly to know she doesn’t have to keep drudging through it.
Thank you again for your time, if there are more thoughts I’ll still take them:)
January 15, 2016 at 7:16 pm
my3boys
Participant
I just typed something up but don’t see it.
Yes, use a timer. I think that age/grade is 15-20 minute lessons. My 9yo does two 15 minute lessons.
My ds who struggles uses his sheets whenever he needs to. We don’t make it a big deal and I encourage him to call them his tools. He’s not cheating. He’s being smart by making certain he is doing math correctly. If he doesn’t use them, well, that’s being silly. As adults, if we don’t know something or have forgotten, or if we just need to make sure, we use the tools we have. Address books, Google, dictionary (Google, lol), manuals, etc.
hope this helps!
January 15, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Karen
Participant
Just another thought: have you considered having her screened for dyscalculia? It’s like dyslexia, only for math. I don’t know much about it, but how you’re describing your 9yo with math is how I described my 9yo with reading. (Now we’re using the Barton Reading and Spelling program with very good success and much improvement in reading.)
Anyway, I just thought it might help you to look into the signs and symptoms of dyscalculia and see if, perchance, you can get to the root of her difficulties or find more ideas for remediation and accomodation.
January 15, 2016 at 9:12 pm
amama5
Participant
I’ll look into the dyscalculia, and decrease her lesson timer to 15-20 minutes, I think that would help a lot. Math isn’t the only subject that causes problems, geography is also extremely hard, she can’t ever keep the difference of a state vs country vs continent straight, no matter how many ways we’ve tried to study it as well.
I think I’m needing to learn from this that even though I felt like I was being laid back, I need to relax even a little more with her. Thanks
January 15, 2016 at 11:12 pm
kimberlymorris5
Participant
LET’S JUST MAKE THIS EASY… I have a son who is a struggling learner in math and I have tried EVERYTHING!!!
Ive come to the conclusion that it’s too hard on the child to push them!! So let them go at their own pace. NO CURRICULUM for math. Just do the basics til they are in 6th grade. Addition first. Then double digit addition. Then carrying. Teach her to add by writing DOTS beside each number to represent that number. Then she can add them together.
Then move on to subtraction until she gets it. Have her draw dots beside the number , then cross out what she taking away.
Thn learn skip counting in a song. And teach her to skip count to get multiplication. No drills. It’s too much on her.
Take a breath and try not to stress about what level she’s at. God bless!! Hope this helps