Back to Curriculum ~ Math

Okay, the kiddo is home so it's time for my lazy non-blogging to stop!

Back to curriculum. More specifically, this year's curriculum.

Let's start with Math. Yuck! Okay, as "mom-teacher" I'm not supposed to say that! But Math has always been a problem for me and, so, not an easy subject for me to know how to help J.T. learn.

Last year, we tried the public school math book. What a joke! I've never been so confused. Especially without a teacher's manual to go with it. Technically, we're "supposed" to be provided with all books and workbooks that the public school kids have...so the parents should have access to the teacher's manuals. But, they always say there isn't enough and it's best to leave the public school alone as much as possible in hopes that they return the favor. Plus, I've had enough experience with my son in public schools to know that given other options, their textbooks aren't the best learning tools.

This year, after asking around for what other homeschooling families liked most, we decided to go with Saxon Math. Version 7/6 to be exact. With J.T.'s almost-month-long trip, we haven't gotten as far into the book as I would have expected so I can't make any hard judgements just yet. So far though, I like the repetition that some other families don't like. But I still feel like in the very beginning they don't provide enough instruction and explanation as to WHY you are doing things a certain way and HOW to make sure you're doing that correctly. Lots of practice problems are great for making sure J.T. grasped the concept, but do no good if the explanation isn't clear enough for you to even move onto the first practice problem.

I'd love to hear any and all math programs/curriculum/websites/computer games/etc. your family uses and what you do and don't like about those you've tried.

Another quick math issue...

J.T. has always gotten good grades in math, tested highly on math standardized tests, and never seemed to have any problems. But, I found out that his last year in school...EVEN THOUGH HE MADE THE HONOR ROLL EVERY SIX WEEKS...he was struggling all year long! He never "got" multiplying double and triple digits and being the shy boy he was, didn't ask for extra help. How he was able to move beyond that baffles me...not to mention still getting good grades. The best I can figure is that he would add, add, add, add numbers until he got an answer. How frustrating that must have been! As someone who still has fraction nightmares, I feel it is extremely important for J.T. to have complete confidence in the basics before moving on to harder concepts; so that is definitely what I'm trying to stress. And we will never, ever move on to the next concept until I'm sure he understood the last one. Just another frustrating discovery of what the public school *didn't* do for him.