How much math do your kids do on a daily basis? We are using R&S 7th grade for Katie. I have been having her do a chapter a day, about 20 problems. She says "This is a lot of math". Am I giving her too much?
We use A Beka for math, which can tend to have a lot of "busy work." So, if I know my boys get the concept of something (or don't need extra practice on certain things), I will mark some of it out (ie: I'll mark out problems A, C, E, & G and have them do B, D, F, and H). If she "gets it," move on; if she needs more practice with a certain thing, spend more time on that. Hope this helps!
for 7th grade I don't think 20 problems is too many. Saxon has 30 plus the practice problems so I usually just circle about 20 of them...so all total he has 25 or so. I try not to make it the same every time. When I am feeling lazy I just tell him to do the odds or evens. BUT I think what the problems ARE is important. 20 long division problems are a lot....20 word problems might be too many...it depends. some days ANY math seems like too much...others they whip through making me think I forgot something.
My dd (11 y.o.) is using TT. So, it's one lesson or test per day. Each lesson has anywhere from 18-24 problems, plus 5 practice problems. My ds (5 y.o.) is using Mastering Mathematics. He does 1 page per day & flashcards. 2 days a week, we also do Math games as a fun way to review. 20 problems a day is not too much, especially in 7th grade.
I also have my 11 y/o who is doing saxon complete half the problems. It comes out to 13-14 problems. It has kept her from getting burnt out on math. Last year I made her do all the problems, and it was not fun. Usually once a week we take it easy and just do a multiplication fact sheet instead of a lesson.
When the kids were doing Saxon, it was 30 problems. Faythe (8th grade) is doing pre-Algebra. Any day that she has less than 30 is a "light" day; sometimes there's up to 50 problems! (And sometimes there's a review lesson with 100+ problems; I wil go through and not make her do all of them. The even problems in this section, just the last two of this section, all of the next section, etc. And I will usually give her two days to complete it.)
ds does a lesson a day basically, two lessons every other day actually. One on friday. He does about 31 problems the last two lessons he did. He is 7th grader too
Last year one of my dd's was doubling up on lessons in Saxon and doing 60 or more problems a day and this year she's down to one lesson a day and a once a week pre-algebra class she's in the 7th grade. My other dd has 4 lessons per week on math because that's how her algebra class is set up at the charter school, otherwise she'd have the same as last year one lesson per day unless she didn't get the new method and we'd stop and work on that particular lesson until she did.
I never have him to all the problems any more. I circle one from each category that is really old review - like one addition or subtraction of fractions, one on decimals, the word problem, etc...and then I make him to all the stuff from the new lesson and the last three or four lessons - which comes out to about 12 problems. He usually ends up with anywhere between 14-18 problems. If he seems to be struggling with one concept we stop moving forward altogether and review with worksheets I make from the internet. We did that for fractions. He was just getting confused with all the rules so we spent a week going through each type of problem and now he's doing real well.
Cut the problems in half and tell her if she gets 100%, she does not have to do the second half. That tends to work wonders. They work extra hard to do well and you get to do half the grading. They learn so much more this way too as they do not rush but still do well because they know if they miss a problem, they will have to do the rest. Or you could say get 90%, they don't have to do the rest, but they do have to correct the wrong problems.
