 |
| Laura, in the third grade, playing store to help learn math. |
For me, my Laura soared in every area in our homeschool, except math. Oh, she hated it from day one. There were times I killed her with drill and kill lessons, hoping that she would "get" it. There were times that I spent so much money on this program and that program, most of them not helping much because my daughter wasn't ready to learn those concepts.
About three years ago, I decided to quit. I bought CLE math at the level my daughter was actually performing. CLE is advanced, but not three years. I decided that having a firm foundation in the basics was more important than what grade level work she was completing. I decided that the frustration and tears, from her and me, was not worth it, and she needed to take her time. So, she started very far back. She did a lesson a day, at a level that was a bit too easy at first. However, having a bit of ease with her work cemented her skills she already knew and gave her a bit of confidence that she could do math.
 |
| Using beans as manipulatives for math work |
We never skipped levels. I would take out the workbooks that began the year because they were review of the previous year. I did supplement with Khan Academy last year for some of the lessons just because the video presentations were so excellent at explaining concepts and showing how to do them. However, at the end of the last school year, she was only in CLE 7. I feared she would NOT be ready for Algebra. However, I decided to try. If it didn't work, I would purchase a pre-algebra program and she would simply be a year behind.
I was surprised this year when, as she began Algebra, she wasn't struggling the way I thought. I purchased Teaching Textbooks, hoping that she would enjoy the video presentations and explanations. While we are only a couple of weeks into the lessons, she is doing very well. Her scores are almost always in the upper 90s.
 |
| My Laura today, with her daddy and me, is on track with math. |
This was a great lesson for me. Don't push a child. Often pushing children into lessons they aren't mentally ready to learn creates worse problems. I watched over and over that my daughter wasn't understanding something. When I backed off and reviewed for a bit, letting her practice her previous skills, when we came back to the concept, she almost always "got it". I think this was because, even after a few weeks or occasionally a couple of months, her brain matured and was ready. I also believe that continual reviewing of concepts helped to make sure she was ready for the next level.
Sometimes I had to approach things a different way. Learning her multiplication tables was a nightmare for a couple of years. She would be doing well, then we would have a break for Christmas or summer, and she would forget all that we had worked on. Eventually I tried Times Tales. The story-like way of learning the times tables was perfect for her and she never forgot again. There were times where I would back off of the CLE and work through some Singapore math, because it is so visual. However, my daughter needed lots of review to maintain concepts, so I would go back to CLE.
 |
| Focusing on the basics for a strong foundation |
I've learned that children can learn, and they can do so with a great ease when it is presented well and on their level. I see my youngest, seven, beginning to have similar struggles in math. Already I hear from her that she "hates" math. I don't want her to feel that way, especially in second grade. So I am backing off. We are going to spend time playing math games and reviewing facts. We are going to slowly go through the fact families so that she might grasp them well, and not feel pressured. Later, I will pick up where we were and move on. Once she has a greater understanding of the math facts, and her brain matures, higher levels of math won't be an issue.
In public school, my husband was labeled. He struggled in math. He was not helped. However, there are countless stories of great minds that struggled in the early years. My husband today loves to study the Bible. He taught himself to play bass by ear as a young man. Later he picked up the guitar and taught himself to play that. He now has learned chords because it benefited him in playing worship music at church, but he was playing extremely well before that time. He is not a dumb man. But his struggles in math in his early years left him discouraged and with an extreme lack of confidence in his abilities. To me, that is abuse. To treat a child as inferior because they don't learn as quickly as others, usually because they don't have the maturity yet to do so or because schools think all students should learn the same way. Learning a different way doesn't make you learning disabled. It makes teachers and schools teaching disabled. I get that teaching thirty children requires a standardization of methods. However, this does not help those students that have difficulties.
 |
| My high school junior, finding freedom from labels |
My high school junior is a prime example. She spent years in LD classrooms, with a tutor, and told that she wasn't going to be able to compete with the rest of her peers. One "expert" stated that she didn't believe my daughter would ever be able to get decent grades in a classroom... WHILE SHE WAS GETTING GOOD GRADES IN A CLASSROOM!!! When I brought this child home to learn, it took a bit of time to adjust. Once she did, she took off. No longer feeling like the odd child that couldn't learn, she is successfully completing the requirements for a Core 40 diploma and learning faster than ever.
God has taught me a lot about teaching and learning over the years. It is so wonderful that we can learn in freedom at home!
No comments:
Post a Comment