Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Any experience with STMath?

Our school wants to place my 5 year old kindergartener in 1st grade STMath, an online program based on video games.

In his outside testing (still incomplete) his lowest subtest score is writing. I'm concerned about him learning the writing part of doing math and in showing what he does. I'm not sure at what grade level that starts to become more important, but something I want to watch. He does have Singapore books at home that he pulls out with some frequency.

Does anyone have experience of a child using this as a replacement for the classroom curriculum?

No experience with STMath, but based on watching what others in DS's classes have been doing in maths and at what he's been doing, I wouldn't worry about doing maths without writing being a problem for a year or two, even if he is or becomes very ahead. Maths for age-typical children this age very seldom involves a creative step that they record. I'd make sure your DS can write the digits, and occasionally note whether or not he's consistently writing them the correct way round (it's normal if he's not now!), but beyond that, I'd say do what otherwise seems best, and think again when he turns 7.

ETA: solving problems and being able to explain how he did it, e.g. to you, is also great - doesn't really matter whether he writes it down.

He can explain his reasoning verbally for a 2-3 step problem. With sound effects.

To the school's credit, they're thinking of doing this for just this semester to figure out where he belongs. The muttering around the table was 2nd or 3rd grade. DS does not have the writing skills to do 3rd grade math. Yet. (Of course, the scheduling doesn't work for 3rd grade.)

Geofizz
Totally not related to the math part but my writing challenged K DS has made enormous strides with 2 weeks of handwriting without tears - from 4.5 to 5.5 everything was a struggle and he literally could not remember the way to make the letters on bad days. Yet he is a very advanced reader - everyone here had recommended it -I was waiting to see what k would do - they have the program and it's made him confident, and he now gets it in a way he didn't before (which makes me want to shoot his pre-k but that is another story).

I mention because this program might get you closer to what would be appropriate quicker than you think. Seriously, no lowercase letters to sentences using lowercase in 2 weeks - he still needs help and prefers the boxes to make the letters smaller. But consistent use is really working!

DeHe

Thanks!

The writing is not so much a letter formation problem at this point as being able to write and spell words. Our third grade math curriculum requires a lot of sentence responses to explain the reasoning behind a solution. At the moment, as far as I know, he's constructed exactly two words ever that weren't his name. I place his reading level at late 1st grade with barely emergent decoding skills. Writing sentences is very honestly a ways off. I'm not putting it out of the question for next year, but I'm highly skeptical for January.

It's always so interesting to me, the different asynchronies! For DS it was a problem the same way it is for your DS, that they could do more in other areas if not for being perfectly average, or below in this area! But for my DS he could move ahead in reading and science without really being held up by the writing. He could choose to tell his stories out loud or beg someone else to draw something (which we admittedly did too much of). So the fact that K insists on it, and is using something which he is responding to, is a real relief. He seems to understand the process which he wasn't getting before.

Our K is writing most days if not everyday and uses that creative spelling, where they spell the way they think it should be and then learn it correctly later. as it was explained to us, they don't then get held up by freezing over what to do whether its letter formation or size or which letters go together.

Might be worthwhile to find out their method and either add aspects of HWT or get them to. In the meantime, hope the online thing works out, it can be so frustrating when they aren't doing their passion or interest because their hands are too small or some such!

DeHe

Yeah, one of the maybe-quirk-maybe-disorder thing is auditory processing problems. He's too young to test it yet, but it's looking like a challenge have to face. Unfortunatly, that may make the writing/spelling thing come more slowly.

The school does that creative spelling approach as well. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll break through a bottle neck, decide he likes writing, and problem solved... I don't actually think I want him in grade 3 math this year anyways.

<crickets>

Is ST Math that new no one's used it?

I believe you can get a feel for it by using the activation code here:

http://schools.dcsd.k12.nv.us/jves/documents/ToAccessSTMath.pdf

Thanks. I didn't find that with my googling.

I now feel really dumb.

I couldn't figure out what to do at all. No instructions?? The demo online looked equally opaque. Hopefully DS has an easier time...

Heh, I'm bumping this because I now see that this thread is on the first page of results when googling STMath.

I'm not impressed.

I couldn't get anything to work using the code that aculady posted because that screen you then see is the password.

My general comments are here: http://geofizzgirl.livejournal.com/144918.html

I don't comment much there on how it teaches, but the general structure is to have kids do things pictorially, then matching the numbers to the picture, then using the numbers while the picture animates your result each time. It's slow and tedious.

Since I wrote that entry, DS' love affair with the program has waned significantly. The animation you now must watch to see the solution to each successfully solved double digit addition takes 10-15 seconds, which is enough to make DS bonkers and tired of the activity.