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Student-directed math?
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We have used RightStart from the beginning and LOVE it. I truly do. And the boys do very well at it and are ‘good’ at math, unlike their mother. The 2 oldest boys (age 13 and 12) have moved to Teaching Textbooks for the time (after finishing RS) because I needed them to be completely independent. Now I’m looking at the 9 and 7 year olds and wondering if there is a solid math program out there that will give the same excellent math foundation that is more student-directed…as in can (possibly) be done without teacher help, or very little of it.
This year has been horrible health-wise. My chronic stomach issues have flared many times, making me terribly sick for a month at a time. Kidney stones that lasted a month with 3 separate hospitalized procedures, an emergency removal of my appendix yesterday and a whole lot more! The boys are doing really well on their weekly checklists and some of the work they were doing with me they are doing on their own now, out of necessity. Can I tell you I almost cried when I found out that while I was in surgery yesterday morning, they got up, cleaned the house, and did all their independent work. They just did it. It was amazing.
But now I worry that the youngest 2, who still need me to teach them the lessons, are getting short changed because I am often too sick to teach. Would they be able to do MUS? Does that require much parent involvement? Any other great math programs?
I hope this makes sense. I’m on pain pills and not thinking all that clearly! And I hope you don’t feel like I’m taking the easy way out or don’t care about their education, because I do, deeply. I just want to make sure they are taken care of when I’m down and sadly, that seems to be more often than I’d like.
We use TT here for both 8 and recently turned 11! Now, sometimes I have to help and I do add some worksheets from time to time to solidify what they are learning as well as online math games. I found this great site to join for a great price! The kids compete w/ other kids in homeschool/public school and can even compete each other in the same house! My boys LOVE it even my non-competitive son!
http://www.arcademics.com/about/
And sometimes I include some videos from Kahn academy. Basically, we have a mostly self directed math. HTH
And I am sorry you are having so much health problems! And surgery just yesterday?? Hope you feel better soon!
We use RS too. I have done only to level C so far. Would your older boys be able to alternate days playing RS math games with your younger boys? Can you put RS lessons on hold for now and do LOF this year? Or other living books like Mathstart by Stuart Murphy? We tried MUS before RS and they do it differently. What RS levels are they on?
So sorry to hear of your health matters this year. It sounds like you have successfully trained your boys for smooth and easy days!
Sorry about your health troubles. That has to be rough. We’ve used MUS from the beginning…kids are 5th and 8th now. It’s very independent for my kids. I just watch the 5-10min. video w/them once a week. My 5th grader usually doesn’t need any more than this…he often goes at the pages on his own. ut I’ll help him get started if it’s something totally new or that he should see w/blocks. My 8th grader needs me to show her the first few problems and then she’s pretty independent after that for the rest of the week…I just help occasionally with trouble spots.
I just read “The Self-Propelled Advantage.” I don’t think she uses MUS, but she talks about how she lets her kids grade their own math. With MUS, you could have them do the first page and show them how to grade. If they get 95% or 100% (whatever adequate for you) on the first lesson they could move on to the review pages. Pages A-C are new concept, pages D-F are review. So, if they got a high % on page A, they could skip to D. HTH some! Blessings, Gina
I think I’ve heard that Christian Light Press is very good for independent work (I think that is what URtheMom lady uses…) – I don’t know how well it teaches math compared to RS though.
Khan Academy can be done independently (you get each child an account, and you get yourself an account – and make yourself the coach.) My kids have played around with Khan Academy…. and I know some people use it as the main curriculum.
Could one of your older kids teach RS to the younger ones? It is pretty scripted…..
Thanks. Today my 9-year-old gathered all the supplies and brought it over to me on the couch. I did not ask him to….he just did and later told me he liked doing math with me. Some days you just want to cry your kids are so good. Once I’m thinking more clearly I’ll look into what it would take for my oldeer to help the younger ones without losing too much of their own time. And I’ll look at MUS again. I think someone asked and one is on lesson 80-something of Level C and the other is 3 or 4 lessons from finishing Level A.
That is about where my ds 9 is in level C and, imho, I would not change if it is going well with him. For your younger son, I could see it more feasible to change if math is not a struggle for him. My dd6 is more math-minded and could do MUS (or any other math program) and I have considered starting her on it to free up some of my time. I could still play RS math games with her. I tried MUS with ds and he really struggled. He does well with the AL abacus and math games.
That is so sweet that he likes doing math with you. I would not change for him. Maybe slow down and play more math games for a season. I read all the time from moms who have been all through the levels and they wish they had played more math games.
Another option is watching Mathtacular dvds and playing some of their games and activities. We have done some of that for lighter school before. Your older boys could join in and/or help with it.
I have a 2nd grader using Teaching Textbooks 3, and a 4th grader who is more than half way through TT4 and then plan to go onto TT 5.
My 7YO is doing TT3 and my 6th grader is doing TT Pre-Algebra.
That said, we used MUS last year and my then 6YO watched the videos with me and did the lessons on his own. There was very little involvement from me. (He’s a natural at math, though).
Ha, suzukimom, I have you beat. My 10yo (entering 5th grade now) is still on Lesson 21 in Level C! Yikes! My 9yo is in the middle of B, and my 6yo (almost 7) is in the middle of A. So pretty much all of you, including the OP, are way ahead of us! No health problems here, no interruptions, we are just “slow and steady” and sometimes disorganized. 🙂
And truly, I’m not worried. Math is easy to teach when they’re ready for it, and then they catch on quickly and we fly through lessons. It is amazing how much they learn from life itself that is written in textbooks but doesn’t really have to be.
Lol Sara! Yup – you have me beat. Most of the time I don’t worry about it – but then I get a wave of worry now and then… And yes, my almost 10yo (also entering grade 5) is on about lesson 100 – but he seemed to lose all his abilities to subtract when we hit lesson 90ish, and we spent the summer reviewing basic addition… I have no idea if he can subtract anymore. (gotta love dyslexic kids!) – we are moving into the multiplication section of Level C – so I’m just going to keep moving forward slowly – knowing that subtraction is reviewed in Level D, and I’ll worry about subtraction when we hit it again then…
I’d rather go slow and steady rather than them getting to hight school totally lost!
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