Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Any suggestions for math?

Mia, Thanks so much. I just found that site through our local library web page. I can't believe all the steps my son goes through to add and subtract thanks to everyday math. Timez attack is rote disguised as a video game, and he has learned multiplication and gained speed. He needs comparable rote skills for addition and subtraction.

Re reading, I downloaded reading blaster, which seems to keep his interest as the characters are aliens (not that they look it, and not that the activities relate to aliens, but it seems to keep his interest).

I'm going to bookmark funbrain. Thank you!

I couldn't get Timez attack to work ... is something supposed to happen when you're walking around that first room? Ds could probably figure it out, lol!

We had tho watch the tutorial. They make you walk around for a while. Eventually, a hole in the floor appears. Go through the hole and walk up to a door you find. It will open and game will begin. If you buy the full version, you get different environments to choose from from about level 3 or 4 on up. Otherwise, it's just the ogre and the snails. DS loves the lava part.

Ooh, ds is obsessed with lava. I'll try it again!

Update:

DS6 spent a week or so trying math in ways other than Singapore.

He read one of the Sir Cumference books and another plot-based one on geometry ala Egyptian pyramids. They did nothing for him. Blah.

Bummed, but not bowed, we tried some of the online math sites. He goofed around a bit for a couple of days, but he just didn't enjoy anything he did. He was actually asking "When can I get off the computer," if you can imagine. Strike two.

So I decided to let him write his own math problems for himself. He was all excited about it, so I thought I had a winner! Yippee! The only problem: the problems he wrote were ridiculously hard! It was crazy! So we were right back to the disinterest, only now he was throwing in tears of frustration as a bonus! We went down swinging!

Today I said, "Screw it. We're going back to Singapore."

He was as happy as a clam with it.

I had to nudge him a little (as always) to stay focused and not get distracted with questions about unrelated subjects or with just staring off into space. But he did his math, he did it well, and he didn't argue, whine, complain, cry, etc.

I think perhaps we were just having a bout of "the grass is always greener." A week of actually tasting the other pastures seems to have cured him.

Thank goodness! This was one looooooong week!

Sometimes they do crave a bit of novelty. My oldest fought against change of any kind, but my two school age kids seem to need to shake things up a bit every so often.

Glad to hear that your son is back on track and enjoying his work!

Yes, the novelty seemed to help. And I think he thought something else would be more "fun." It turned out doing Singapore was more fun than the other stuff.

I think, too, that when it comes to math, he's got a bit of Goldilocks Syndrome. Most of what we've done has been too easy because he learns so fast. I'm not spending loads of time giving him dozens of problems he can already do, but if I give him even just a couple to check his knowledge, he's bored. Any review work is met with moans and groans, even active refusal to cooperate once, which isn't his style. (He was with the babysitter for this; she didn't handle it well, which is why I think it got to that extreme point.)

But the flip side of the Syndrome is that if the work is too hard by even a little, he does nothing but stare into space, or he just makes wild guesses.

I think HSing might be very important for him right now because I don't let him get away with these behaviors, and I think a classroom teacher would. I just don't want to make him hate math along the way! That's my big fear.

Thanks, Lorel. I'm glad I can talk about this here.

Sometimes we need to look around what else is available just to find out that we already have the thing which fits us the best

Singapore is a good program, hopefully he stays on the track for next few months. May be you can let him choose a math topic from the workbook here and there so he feels more in control.

We too have very little space between this is too easy and this is too hard. Where is the manual for these kids?

Glad you're back to Singapore and cruising along!

This sounds eeriely like my DS. Everything that comes easily to him is SO BORING. But if you push him past a certain point (which seems like a very fine line), he becomes frustrated extremely fast. And I definitely think his classroom teacher totally lets him get away with things I wouldn't stand for in terms of trying his best and laziness.

That really is part of the beauty of homeschool! You can take a break for a week or 2 and roll right back into it.

So right! The past two days have been a dream! He's learned a thumbnail bit of geography (agricultural and industrial products, attractions like the Grand Canyon or Mt. St. Helens, and fun facts, for example) about all 50 states and finished memorizing them by shape (his choice). He's doing math well and without complaint. He's really enjoying his reading of "Old Yeller." He's writing tongue twisters.

I feel like he was really getting something out of school this week. Some weeks I feel like I'm doing a crummy job, but other weeks I feel like this has been the best thing ever! This was a "best thing ever" week!