Math problems

[sixcloar]

My ds11 is really struggling in math. I has never been his strongest subject, but he seemed to be average. Recently he started missing many problems on tests. I'd have him go back over them, and most of the time he'd get them right the second time. So, I thought he was being careless. We backed up about 20 lessons (Saxon 76) once already this year. I'm trying to get ready for next year, so I've had him take a couple of placement tests. Once was for TT 7. He scored well within the Math 7 range on that test. So far, so good. I decided against TT because of the expense, and I bought him SOS because I got a great deal on it. Yesterday, I had him take the placement test for SOS to make sure we were OK. SOS starts placement tests 2 levels behind, so he took the level 5 test first. He did not pass it. I was shocked!!! After looking at it, the two sections that he failed (which brought down his overall score) are things we have not yet covered in Saxon.

My question is... Should I stick with Saxon as to avoid the gaps? (He hates Saxon.) Should I start this book over since he still makes so many mistakes? I hate to not use the SOS after I've bought it, but I know I need to do what's best for him. UGH!! I feel like I've done him a terrible injustice here. Any thoughts?

[KrisRV]

Pam, yo have to use what will work for him, I know sometimes that meaning giving up a book you already bought and getting another one, we have done that so many times. But, I do what works for the girls.

[Deena]

We tried a few Math and Engilsh programs before settling on the ones we have now. If we are all frustrated and hate doing our work, we're not going to accomplish much!

I always say, if the child hates something, DON'T force them to keep doing it! I'd try the SOS. It doesn't matter what level it is, just try it as a change and see if he picks up on the concepts he needs to know without hating it so much! You want them to enjoy learning. Sometimes math isn't a joy, but it should be at least tolerable so they're willing to keep learning and going!

[Emma's#1fan]

Is it possible to keep the SOS book but not use it right away. Perhaps you can suppliment with online printables until he grasps the concept. Then pick up on SOS again, when he is ready. I agree with not using Saxon if he hates it.

[sixcloar]

I think I'll let him go ahead and start the SOS. The beginning should be review anyway. When we get to a trouble spot, I'll just find some reinforcement activities for him. Thanks, ladies!

[Ava Rose]

I agree with Deena 100%! In fact, I was going to post something very similar. When my dd was having a terrible time in spelling, I changed books and she started doing great! She literally went from F's to A's. If my kids hate a book we are using, I do try to adjust. I know it is part of life to just buck up and do what you are told but I think we all have to keep take our kid's feelings on this into consideration.

[dalynnrmc]

When we switched curriculums, there was also a bit of gap or overlap. It's one of those things where you just have to decide to go with a gap, or go with a lot of reviewing.

What we did was to do a lot of reviewing, which I now see simply held him back from getting to what he needs.

We ended up having to stop what we were using, and just grab a supplement to cover the gap so we could start a NEW curriculum. We used the "Key to..." series to cover that gap, and it worked wonderfully!! Wish we'd done it first instead of spending $30 on a set of books we hardly even used. ;)

[sixcloar]

I'll check into the "Key to" books for areas that we haven't covered before.

I told ds that he could start the SOS tomorrow, and he's very excited. I hope that will motivate him some to do better.

[dalynnrmc]

YAY!

Be sure and look through all the Key to books in the series. We were using Measurement... only to find that book 2 has some pretty complicated multiplication in it. LOL MUS Gamma to the rescue, and we'll go back and cover more measurement later!

[sixcloar]

I let ds start the SOS math today. He did well. He still missed a few problems, but a couple were because we were figuring out how to work the program and once you click "next", you can't go back (until you review the lesson). :oops: We went back over the ones he missed, and he understood why he missed them. SOS had only half the number of problems that Saxon has. I didn't let ds skip problems in Saxon, because he was missing so many. I thought he needed the extra practice, but Math would sometimes take him two hours (with some daydreaming in there). Today took 54 minutes. YAY!! I hope this continues. Thanks for your suggestions.