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something else I should/could do?
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Let’s talk more about math. I know I’m sick of it also. BUT so glad to be homeschooling it!!
I LOVE math-u-see, it’s a great program. In every family you have one that just doesn’t get it in one subject or another. I have one that math is the subject. So here’s the deal: We’ve been trying to memorize times tables for about 9 months. We’ve used the videos’ by math u see, we’ve done flash cards, we’ve done the book times tables made fun, we even bought a math “rapping” (though it’s not rapping) multiplication facts CD. So do I just keep on going at these various things till he just gets it NO MATTER how long it takes? Or is there something you’ve tried that helped get it to “stick”?
Any suggestions would be great?! Thanks Misty
Hi Misty,
Did you happen to follow this thread posted a few days ago?
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/why-is-it
There were some great suggestions – I personally loved the “chart” idea.
Also, have you tried Math-It by Elmer Brooks? This is great for all math facts.
Blessings to you Misty!
Heather
My daughter is 6 and we are just working on addition facts. We just finished adding by 2’s and it took us 2 mos of games to get it! I stopped the worksheets after 2 weeks and decided to google search addition math games online. We came up with some fun homemade games such as rolling dice and adding the 2 numbers–one had us using a caterpillar with the numbers 1-12–we put tokens on each space and took away when the two numbers added up to number in each space. We also did something similiar with an egg carton but FILLED UP each space as the sum was the same as the number in each section. My 4 yr old daughter would also *quiz* Julia at the dinner table every day until she finally could remember. We played online computer games to figure out the sum to each addition problem. There is so much out there to make math fun!
So yes, I would continue to use various games and such to help him remember until it sticks before moving on!
Tara
Just a thought, maybe the connection is not there yet? My two boys do well some days, not so well other days with the math. We are alternating days with MUS and Math-it and just using oral/visual/manipulative drill for skipping/odd/even/clock/money; sometimes they get it, but other times there is a LOOONNGGG wait for an answer to simple/often reviewed questions. Mine are 6 yrs.-old, good readers, good handwriting skills, great balance and agility; You have great tenacity! You’ll know when the light bulb goes on. Hang in there.
Ok, you may have heard this before, but I strongly recommend Times Tales, the trigger memory system. My 11yodd understood the concept of multiplication so well we couldn’t get past the concept and onto the memory part. We tried the rhyming story programs, the skip counting songs, computer games and homemade bingo games, as well as many others. She would constantly be stopping and doing”long addition” on her fingers or grouping with her manipulatives. I purchased Times Tales 1 week and 4 days ago. We got it the next day. We started last Tuesday, and I kid you not, the girl has them memorized as of today. Now we are still a little slow, no break neck speeds yet but no counting on fingers and toes either. Not only that but the trigger memory system works so well she has her division facts memorized also. We only worked on it about 20 minutes a day, no tears, no problems. I am just sold. It is by far my best purchase of the year.
Blessings,
Melissa
What is this Math it, and where would I look for it? Also, do you let them use the chart than to do there work? Fingers, etc. and as long as they understand how to do it dont’ worry about them doing it fast or without the other tools? Just wondering your thoughts on this. Misty
Hi Misty
I am using Math-It with my 8 year old son on alternate days of A Beka math. You can look at it here: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=934928
It is quite expensive, I got mine used.
Blessings, Danielle
Math on the Level has a system called 9’s down. It is just timed tests, but it starts with the 9’s and gradually adds problems one at a time. They don’t move on to the next test until they have mastered the problems in 2-3 sec. per problem. Her theory is that you start with 9’s because they are the hardest. So, you will practice the hardest problems the most. I have used this with my son. Also, I tutor public school kids. I have used it to tutor several 5th-7th graders that just can’t get their multiplication tables. It is very gradual and super easy from a teaching standpoint. I just start the timer. The child finishes the test completely. Then, I stop the timer. I don’t make a big deal over whether they pass or don’t pass. But, I make a mental note as to whether they are ready to move on to the next test or not. That way it takes the pressure of it being timed off of the student. I can’t remember how much it costs, but it seemed reasonable to me. Also, try the website Abiator Times Tables. This helps to increase their speed after they have mastered the facts, but are just slow at them. It’s free.
Jennifer
Misty, I returned to your post just to see what you had ended up doing! My 8yr-old doesn’t use finger to add now, she has her addition facts pretty well under her belt. I think with MUS he says part of the point is for finger counting to not be necessary, which makes sense if you really know those facts before you move onto a new topic. I encourage my 6yr-olds not to use fingers, but to use the colored manipulatives-there again, some days they click with it, some days not! I will do clock reading with them on a puzzle, I write the time on the board, they build it with the puzzle(did great! no problems)…next day, give them worksheets and have them draw in the hands, for the exact same types of times…they were stumped! Go figure! So, I think when the concept clicks they can comprehend it from any angle you present it, and we keep reviewing on alternate days until it sinks in or another noodle grows into their noggins! The post about Times Tales sounded profitable also.
Grace and peace, Anita 🙂
Hi, my eight kids are absolutely ANCIENT now (my “babies” are 17 and my oldest is 30), and we homeschooled them all until they went to prestigious colleges. The oldest had extremely high MCAT scores, went to Yale Med School, and is now a missionary doctor, the next is an Organic Chemistry researcher working on a cure for mad cow disease at Berkeley, etc, on down to the youngest twins who just scored 780 and 790 on the SAT Math tests. So I’m kind of guessing that they all pretty much know their multiplication tables now! But they certainly “never” learned them! One day when I was reading Barbara Pym, or comforting a friend, or baking bread, or otherwise “wasting” time I “should” have been teaching them, and they were busy “wasting time” playing, the tables were just there in their brains. For one of them, this moment happened at age 6, but another one, now proven equally mathematical, or more so, by subsequent accomplishments, didn’t get to that point until nearly 15! (He was too busy figuring out all the deep secrets of mathematics to bother with boring rote stuff–until HE saw a reason for it.) But it was all okay. For all of them, it happened. So, in addition to all the good ideas of great materials and techniques already offered, I’d like to counsel patience, and faith that they will learn their tables when the time is right. There are so many opportunities to practice them in real life, and it’s so much faster to know them than to figure it out again each time, that eventually the tables will start to “stick.” Relax, enjoy this time, and remember that the most important thing is to be sure they never get the idea that they can’t do it. Sometimes the best way for them to feel your faith in them is for you to keep working on it with them in different ways, but other children need a break from “failing” and the best way for them is to just let it slide for a while, knowing that they will catch on in their own time, whatever you do or don’t do. Only you can figure out which approach is best for your children. In my opinion, the absolute worst that can happen if you drop it though, is that they will go out into life confident, excited about learning, with a good understanding of mathematics, but having to use a calculator. And if so, that’s not so very bad. I know this sounds almost like sacrilege, but really, do YOU balance your check book by hand, or do you use a calculator or computer? (In any case, I have never seen this happen with any of the hundreds of homeschooled kids I’ve known over the years. They all did learn their tables one way or another.) The day will come before you know it when they know all kinds of amazing things which you have no idea how they ever learned. Best wishes, Sue
thanks sue that was great insite and much needed. What we did was buy a times tables CD that he listens to, we do flash cards, he is doing the times tables the fun way (reading it daily) and just trying to find games that help in that area. We will just sit and wait till it clicks and then we’ll move on. He will be behind his younger brother but we’ve assured him that it’s ok. God made us all different and you’ll get it when you get it. Thanks for the support here and the reasurance.
Misty
This may or may not be helpful to you, but thought I’d share anyway.
We are still in the learning process as well (some days better than others!), and I’ve found that the kids catch on faster when they see it in terms of life as opposed to a series of numbers. For example, we sometimes use Ray’s arithmetic word/story problems. The kids seem to get it because there is meaning there (“at $3 a yard, how many yards of cloth can you buy for $21?” or “a man bought 4 pears at $0.05 each. How much money did he spend?”). Or I’ll make up a story problem on the spot for an equation they’re having problems with (this works really well with my 7yo boy). Just a thought…
-Tanya
Glad to be able to help, Misty! I know I could have avoided a lot of my own Homeschool Panic Attacks if I just could have seen some grown homeschoolers who “mostly just played” for years, like mine did. But in those days, there were very few grown homeschoolers visible. It’s easy to forget how much they’re learning and to worry needlessly. Best wishes, and keep on believing in yourself and your children! –Sue
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