For a couple weeks, I went down to just the basics. To tell the truth, it was refreshing. Instead of checking off the boxes of things that needed to be accomplished every day, Laura just did four things: Math, Writing, Bible, and Reading.
Laura's math woes have been a part of our homeschooling since the first day she came home from public school. She isn't a "mathy" kid. She would rather read or do nearly anything else. I have used many different programs to try to find the "perfect" one for her. I kept thinking that if I could just find one that fits her, she would excel. I knew that she could do math, she just had trouble retaining the information.
I thought we had found a great program for her using Singapore. We stuck with it for several months. She would excel, understand the lessons well, and do great on the work. However, when we would hit the reviews, she would do horrible. She wasn't retaining the information. I was heart-broken. I so wanted the program to work. It was affordable and one of the best in the world. When we began school after our short summer break, I felt like she'd lost so much ground that I knew we had to do something.
I didn't have the extra money to purchase an expensive program. Then, I watched a video of Art Robinson of the Robinson Curriculum. In this video, which is nearly two hours long, I learned a lot about self-learning. I have researched the curriculum extensively, and some of the suggestions are amazing. However, the Charlotte Mason approach has worked very well for us and I have not been led to change things at this time.
Some of the math suggestions really impacted me, however, First, Robinson suggests the use of Saxon math. Saxon math is a spiral program that reviews constantly and learning occurs in incremental amounts that build over time. I had tried Saxon with Laura before. She detested it. In fact, it would make her cry. However, I think the problem was that, with copying the problems, it just took so long for math to be done. And then, if she copied even a single problem wrong, the whole thing was wrong.
I didn't want to try Saxon again, buying the books and such. I did think that maybe a spiral program would work better for Laura, though. I felt that the constant review might be beneficial in helping her to retain facts. I began looking for a spiral math program that was in workbook form, to avoid recopying problems, and was affordable. I also liked the idea of Laura working as independently as possible, so the explanations had to be clear. After some searching, I happened upon Christian Light Education(CLE) and their math program.
We have used CLE before with other subjects. We used their Language Arts last year. Laura also loves their Bible program. I ended up adding their Bible to this year's Heart of Dakota stuff because Laura asked me for it repeatedly. I had heard many good reviews of CLE math, but I didn't seriously consider using it because it looked too much like Saxon. I figured Laura would not do well.
I ordered a few of the lightunits and a teacher's guide. I figured if Laura didn't do well with it, we still had Singapore sitting here. I made sure that I didn't compare it to Saxon to her. I also stepped back a bit, and had her sit and do the lessons on her own. Most of the first lightunits were review, with only new material here and there. There is also a flash card system that reviews basic facts over and over for a long time, plus speed drills, to help with retention. To my surprise, Laura loves the program.
Within the two weeks we spent focusing on basics, Laura excelled in math with CLE. She had such a blast too. She actually likes math. She is feeling more confident in her math skills than she ever has. We have some catching up to do to have her at the point where I would like her, but we will take things step by step, day by day. Just seeing her excited about math after all this time is thrilling.
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