OK, Long story short: I give up! The public schools system stinks and is NOT helping my #3. They are telling me if is "progressing" nicely has a 5th grade math level, blah, blah, blah. I need to work with him over the summer so he doesn't "loose" what he's learned blah, blah, blah. (he has dyscalculia and dysgraphia) I get him LOF "Fractions". He he's lost! He can't multiply a 2 digit number by a 1 digit number. (He barely knows his multiplication facts at all. Sort of, some of them IF he skip counts and adds on his fingers.) Division?? What's that? He can't divide (example 81/9= ?????). Decimals what is a decimal??? I don't understand them at all! We were going to start him in Teaching Textbooks #5. But I gave him the placement test today and he didn't "pass" it. He came close but since he can't do fractions, decimals or division, I'm afraid for him. DH is totally supportive and said he has to learn "sometime". And I get that the Special ED teacher I'm working with told me he is at the age to start teaching him compensate for his disability. Well I'm not sure I can do that with TT. (Sure I can hand him a calculator and teach him to use it.) So I thought we would try Life of Fred Elementary. I was thinking about "Honey" or "Goldfish" but I'm really lost and don't know really where to start. I ordered BIT book from Diane Craft and will be starting him on that program ASAP. And I'm considering the right brain flash cards. (even though I've tried other picture flash cards, Memorize in Minutes, he remembers 1 fact.......)
if he works well with computer, why not figure out which level of TT that he tests into and let him start in that? Tell him it's "Levels" not grades. He can go at his own pace, so if he catches on, you can move faster....you could always "test out" of the chapters he DOES know!
I agree totally. Start where he is and work up, not where they say he is. Whatever math program works for him... you may have to try several.
I do NOT recommend jumping into the middle of LoF elementary. They're not designed that way. They're one continuous, building curriculum with a lot of information from several (non-math) sources thrown in as well. They're wonderful as a set, but if you try to jump in the middle, you'll be completely lost, and you'll have a frustrated kid. To work on skills, you need to use a more traditional curriculum or online program.
I'd try TT at the level where he tests. Then, as KBabe said, he can work as quickly or as slowly as he needs to.
I love LOF. I think you could work through LOF fractions and then LOF decimals slowly while improving his basic multiplication and division skills. I'm guessing that he understand the concept of multiplication and division because he's trying to figure it in a less efficient by logical manner. He's just a little rusty on the algorithm that makes it faster and easier to figure out. I'd just brush him up on the algorithm and then patiently let him practice those skills as he learns new concepts. My So, my son struggled with remembering the algorithms for multiple digit multiplication and long division too, and I hung back trying to drill them into him. He turned his brain off after a while until I started introducing new concepts. I had him practice the old concept in conjunction with the new ones, and it renewed his focus. Starting him back in an earlier curriculum would be more thorough, but you just have to know your son and whether or not he'd tolerate that without feeling frustrated. My son would describe feeling like he were on a treadmill and not getting anywhere when I just kept making him go back and go back. I don't learn the way he does, so it was hard for me to get how he could move on without being 100% solid on the foundation, but for him, he needed the next step to make that foundation solid. Without moving forward, the basics were just a meaningless piece in a puzzle; he needed more pieces to really get it.
Ok, So we used TT 4 last year but didn't get all the way through it. (He did very well with TT 4, but I could only get him to do it on days when he didn't go to the school for his Special Ed class. I think we got 3/4 done. (And silly me I exchanged 4 for 5 already.) This year the school system wanted to enroll him in 3 classes Full time at the middle school. He could ride the bus to school for Math and Writing (and PE) and then I would have to pick him up at lunch. I refused that plan. So I'm trying to help him understand the concepts he needs work on. (Division, Decimals, Fractions) We like the way LOF explains stuff and he seems to understand it even if some of it is above his skill set. So now I'm thinking Keys to -. To help him get the missing skill sets he needs.
