Math, Math, Math... A Tale of Another Math-Challenged Child

My girls are doing well in their piano lessons each week.  I am wanting them to practice more, but we do the best we can.  I have read that music lessons can improve math skills.  While that isn't the reason my daughters are taking piano lessons, I wouldn't mind if improved math skills were an effective consequence.

I've struggled with Megan's math this year. She does well on the computer playing games, but I am not overly excited about letting her be on the computer a lot yet.  We spent awhile drilling flash cards and that helped immensely.  I was setting up a math notebook for awhile, but eventually the work was too much.  I had been combining a couple of different programs, attempting to work a couple of different styles of learning.  All I ended up doing was burdening my daughter with too much work.  Her math frustrations were not helped that way.

At this point in homeschooling I have some experience.  I know that pushing my daughter too hard will only make things worse.  So, I went to my other math challenged daughter.  After years of working on her math skills, and finally being where she should be, I hoped she could tell me what she had liked best, what she thought worked best for her.  Sure enough, she had some opinions.

She didn't like the two mastery programs I had used with her.  One didn't explain the material very well or provide enough practice.  The other gave a lot of drill, but didn't review enough.  By the time she got back to a topic, she had forgotten it.  However, the trusty spiral workbook program from Christian Light Education worked well for her.

I had began Megan's math in first grade with CLE Math, but by mid-year she was struggling.  I think it moved very quickly and she wasn't ready for the material at her age.  However, though she is a little behind in the "grade level" that curriculum would have her in, it is an advanced program.  I've learned that the "level" matters less than progressing steadily.  Immediately my seven year old went from despising math to enjoying it again.  I think the spiral approach works well for her because she is reviewing skills constantly and learning new lessons in bite sized steps.  She LOVES Life of Fred, so I am keeping that going at a couple of lessons per week.

My older daughter did tell me that she had loved using specialty programs, like Times Tales and Math-It.  While I may need to reorder Times Tales (I am missing most of it after moving), I do remember it worked well at finally cementing the multiplication tables for my then elementary-aged daughter.

 

Eventually Megan will probably move to Teaching Textbooks.  I know that she can begin this at the third grade level, but I am hesitant to have my young daughter working on the computer a lot.  Yes, technology can be great, but there is something about working a problem with pencil and paper that I feel is important.   She'll be using the computer plenty as she gets older.  

This has been a relatively smooth school year so far.  Yes, I have had to change a few things, like Megan's math, but everything has gone relatively smoothly.