Switching Math

Well, Little girl had been using Teaching Textbooks Pre-algebra, and doing just fine. Until this week. Up until now, the book had been all review of stuff she had already covered in MUS and the Key To books. We got to chapter 10 this week, where they started simple algebraic expressions, and discovered the weaknesses of this curriculum.

First off, I love that TT constantly reviews old stuff, so that is a positive. However, what we found this week, when going into something completely new, is that the explanations are way too wordy and convoluted. They have a way of making something simple way too complicated. I couldn't even figure out what they were talking about! I also realized that there is simply not enough practice of the new concept. Only a couple problems mixed in with the review stuff. Not good at all. Then, on top of these things, when I started to explain to her what the lesson was actually teaching, I realized I couldn't explain it my way because they hadn't even learned about negative numbers yet! So we are dropping TT.

After looking at many math programs, I ended up ordering her CLE math. She likes their language arts, and their math receives rave reviews from nearly everyone, plus, it is not expensive. So that is what we are going to try. I am sure from all I have read that it will work great. Only thing is, because of their scope and sequence being so different from what we have used from the beginning (MUS and Key To and TT), and the fact that it is quite advanced, she has to go all the way back to 4th level to catch up. But that is fine because we can move quickly through, skipping the things she already knows. I am looking forward to starting this when it comes.

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ALGEBRA DIFFICULTIES

Well, Big Girl hit a snag yesterday in her LOF beginning algebra.  She had gotten a third of the way through the book, and things have suddenly really escalated.  There were a couple problems that neither she nor I could figure out, so we emailed Mr. Schmidt.  He promptly got back to us with the explanation.  Great service!

So, I had Big Girl start with one of those problems this morning, before starting her next problem set.  Well, she still couldn't do it.  So I told her to go ahead and do the next city (that is what some of the problem sets in LOF are called).  She gave it a good try, but I am thinking she just may not be developmentally ready for algebra yet.  Not that she has any learning problems or anything.  Just that all kids develop at different rates, and many are not ready for this level of thinking at 14.  

So, we are going to start the Key to Algebra books that I already have here after our break next week.  After she has completed them, we will try LOF again.  If she still can't get it, we will figure out something else at that point.

I should mention that while Big Girl is great with words, and is a natural writer, she is not a number person.  All of us are not talented in the same areas, and I believe in concentrating on the gifts God has given us, and only doing what we need to do in the areas we are not gifted in.

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