Thanks everyone for taking the time to think about this and share your experiences.
ACS -- You are so right about using activities to learn math. I just realized he knows 360 degrees, 180, 720, etc. because he thinks skateboarding is cool. (He can't skateboard himself -- big coordination / balance problems!) Now if I could think of a fun activity that requires automatic recall of multiplication facts!
Cym -- I'll try getting some math puzzles/enigma books to see if that piques his interest. Back before elementary school started, when he was interested in math, he was pleased to figure out that there must be negative numbers and fractions. And I think he liked the idea that he was figuring out big thoughts about math, so a book of big concepts might intrigue him.
Also, I'm wondering if I should get him some regular old math text books, where he can look through and see a concept explained and the arithmetic steps shown. He might learn just from browsing through them. He is foundering with TERC, which doesn't really have a text book that spells out math concepts OR arithmetic steps. In TERC, the concepts and algorithms are supposed to be "discovered," but the discovery is set up with problems that move along so incrementally that the "discovery" occurs in tiny pieces rather than chunks, and it doesn't feel like exciting discovery to him.
Does anyone have suggestions for big picture books, puzzle books, and text books that you like?
I've tried to explain that math is important for science. He responds with tears and worries that he wont' be able to be a scientist. I've tried to explain that memorizing the times tables is work, but it has value because it will allow him to start doing interesting things in math and science. So far, that alone hasn't been enough. Perhaps I just need to take it the next step and try to figure out some fun chemistry we can look at that requires knowledge of multiplication facts.
Also, I realized that when I spoke to the teacher at the beginning of the year, I DIDN'T say exactly what I had said the year before. I provided his IEP with test scores (which we didn't have last year) and I did not give him a copy of Susan Winebrenner's book, which I think last year's teacher found valuable. Looking over that again today, I see she has many ideas for ways students can present reports and information that don't involve handwriting. Also, I think I need to revisit the IEP and ask about substitutions for written assignments (presentations on digital recorder, assemblages, etc.) and getting something saying he can use a keyboard for all writing.
Once again, thanks for all these helpful responses.
bk
