Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We homeschool and my son recently finished ALEKS 6th grade online math course. We have used Miqoun, textbooks, and for multiplication we used the Times Alive Software. It's a mnemonic memory based multiplication program. My son also loved Timez Attack, it's like a video game, but for multiplication. There is a free version on the web.
We have started using Thinkwell Online. It starts at Pre-Algebra and goes to Cal BC. Professor Burger is the online instructor and he is very engaging. Thinkwell is not just for homeschoolers. Anyone can use the course for a fee. It is wonderful to have a college professor teach my child from home. See below for Prof. Burger's recent achievement:
Professor Burger Up For Esteemed Cherry Award by Hank Cathey
Our very own Professor Ed Burger has been named a finalist for Baylor University's 2010 Robert Foster Cherry Award. "The Robert Foster C...more
I realize this type of pedagogy fuels the "Math Wars".
I too have a lot of frustration with the multiplication and division algorithms. I think that a lot of parents take issue with them because they are basically backward from what we've learned in hopes that it will teach kids how to "cluster" the problems. I guess it works for some kids, but with many of ours, it seems to frustrate them more than anything - particularly the division. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad if short division was taught before long. I still don't get that. At any rate, my kids joke about "lettuce multiplication" which they like, but I find that I have to draw the boxes for them since they don't come out lined up correctly, and as a result, they end up with the wrong answer.
I know the hope is that it will all "come together" by the time they're in middle school, but I frankly don't feel that will happen without intervention in the form of clandestine "traditional arithmetic' being taught either at home, or via tutoring. Sylvan does a good business here too.
We homeschool and my son recently finished ALEKS 6th grade online math course. We have used Miqoun, textbooks, and for multiplication we used the Times Alive Software. It's a mnemonic memory based multiplication program. My son also loved Timez Attack, it's like a video game, but for multiplication. There is a free version on the web.
We have started using Thinkwell Online. It starts at Pre-Algebra and goes to Cal BC. Professor Burger is the online instructor and he is very engaging. Thinkwell is not just for homeschoolers. Anyone can use the course for a fee. It is wonderful to have a college professor teach my child from home. See below for Prof. Burger's recent achievement:
Professor Burger Up For Esteemed Cherry Award by Hank Cathey
Our very own Professor Ed Burger has been named a finalist for Baylor University's 2010 Robert Foster Cherry Award. "The Robert Foster C...more
The school my children attend uses Singapore math. The local school uses Everyday mathematics, connected math and integrated math, which is why my kids don't attend the local schools. Everyday mathematics convinced me to drive my kids 17 miles one way to school to avoid it.
We're enriching with Singapore Math this summer (for my 4th grader). He's in the gifted program and they keep trying to figure out ways to enrich his curriculum but the program is getting slashed so badly the only option is to move him up to take math with a higher grade. I told them I don't want him missing something so we are buying Singapore math books and they have agreed to let him work ahead in those both at home and at school until he has covered enough material to go up a grade or two for math.
My daughter simply could not do it. The multiple methods had her so mixed up I had to spend $4000 at Sylvan before transferring her to a school that uses Singapore math, which BTW, she has excelled under.
I have an engineering degree and I had to go on line and find the instructions for the lattice method of multiplication and even then it took me a while to figure it out. Who thinks up this stuff?
I have a friend with a BS in Math and she was baffled at first by that method as well.
I suppose I should look at it again and try to figure it out.
Our local elementary/middle school uses the useless Every Day Math program. They very ignorantly spent thousands on it then realized it was trash. Instead of admitting to their hasty, ignorant decision, they still use it and stand by it despite falling scores. In private though, they do say it is impossible for kids to grasp.
Our local elementary/middle school uses the useless Every Day Math program. They very ignorantly spent thousands on it then realized it was trash. Instead of admitting to their hasty, ignorant decision, they still use it and stand by it despite falling scores. In private though, they do say it is impossible for kids to grasp.
Well, they aren't alone. Usually (much to my chagrin) the teachers get blamed for not "knowing how to teach it." I completely disagree with that statement with our situation because the teachers have been thoroughly trained (many years now). Our scores are up, but yet, I frankly don't see a lot of strong confidence with basic fact computation as EM is basically (to me anyway) a watered-down version of prealgebra and geometry.
When they come home with papers that are off by one or two or ten depending on the problem, I have to ask myself if the lack of emphasis on accuracy (because since "it will "spiral back," we won't worry about it now") isn't becoming more problematic than not understanding the "concept." How long has it been used in your district?
Well, they aren't alone. Usually (much to my chagrin) the teachers get blamed for not "knowing how to teach it." I completely disagree with that statement with our situation because the teachers have been thoroughly trained (many years now). Our scores are up, but yet, I frankly don't see a lot of strong confidence with basic fact computation as EM is basically (to me anyway) a watered-down version of prealgebra and geometry.
When they come home with papers that are off by one or two or ten depending on the problem, I have to ask myself if the lack of emphasis on accuracy (because since "it will "spiral back," we won't worry about it now") isn't becoming more problematic than not understanding the "concept." How long has it been used in your district?
Too long.
My daughter was in second grade (She's now in 10th) when she started in this district. She was behind in math (According to them), so I insisted she be caught up. I was informed that the Everyday Math spirals and everything they had learned would come back around, but the program was not designed for any student to 'catch up'. If they were behind, they stayed behind. Mind you, she was not totally ignorant in math. She knew the old way, but Everyday Math is NOTHING like the old way.
My daughter was in second grade (She's now in 10th) when she started in this district. She was behind in math (According to them), so I insisted she be caught up. I was informed that the Everyday Math spirals and everything they had learned would come back around, but the program was not designed for any student to 'catch up'. If they were behind, they stayed behind. Mind you, she was not totally ignorant in math. She knew the old way, but Everyday Math is NOTHING like the old way.
My frustration never ended.
Yes, I had a great deal of difficulty working with my son last summer. I tried to just focus on what he had a hard time doing by finding resources to use in conjunction with the EM books I had, so that I could find a way for him to grasp the concepts more readily. After a while, I just taught him using the other resources, which interestingly enough, he thought were "kind of cool."
Sighhh...thanks for the input.
Our district uses Every Day Math as well. Prior to enrolling, we homeschooled and used Singapore Math. The two are very opposite in approach. Singapore Math teaches children to think "mathmatically" - lots of mental math (teaching children strategies to add/subtract/multiply/divide in his/her head) and lots of word problems, but it uses traditional algorithms to solve problems.
I think that Every Day Math has its positives, such as approaching math in a problem solving/hands on manner. But my biggest problem is that while attempting to give children "latitude" in using creative problem solving, it gives them too many options. Sometimes I feel it would be less confusing to a young child to be given a set of rules for solving a problem. Once that is cemented, then you can give the latitude of using different methods. My 3rd grade child was extremely confused with "column adding" and then the test expected her to do one the "traditional" way and one the "column" way. What is the point of that? In math, the right answer is all that counts. What message does it send to a child to get the right answer, but lose points because you didn't use a specific method?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. 
I still don't get that. At any rate, my kids joke about "lettuce multiplication" which they like, but I find that I have to draw the boxes for them since they don't come out lined up correctly, and as a result, they end up with the wrong answer. 
