Math

** We will continue to do math through the summer. Too much ground was lost last summer.

Math is one of those subjects that is easier to keep up with. You just do the next lesson in the book. We've been the most consistent with math because of this.

7yo - The mistake I've made with 7yo is thinking she needed to be able to count through the teens before starting her math book. In January I gave up on the idea of her counting to 20 without leaving out something. She is now working through Rod & Staff's Counting with Numbers (preschool workbook) and R&S's Math 1. The preschool book is for fun practice. R&S focuses heavily on memorizing the math facts and starts teaching them after a short review of the numbers 1-9. We've been using the workbooks only, but I think I need to start using the teacher's manual to help me remember to review.

11yo - R&S Math 4 (finished lessons 135/170). She has made great strides in the past year! Last spring she was struggling to learn her math facts (addition and multiplication) and now she is studying fractions and decimals. Technically one would expect her to be in the 5th grade book, but I've found that the 4th grade level is right for her in most subjects. We will finish the book and go directly into Math 5 during the summer.

13yo - It has been a year of bouncing around for her. After using R&S since 5th grade, she was overwhelmed with the amount of problems in a lesson and most likely bored too. Instead of making her continue with Math 8 (pre-algebra), we tried to start Algebra. We briefly tried Lial's Intro. to Algebra (comm. college workbook/text) and then moved to Teaching Textbook's Algebra I. It didn't seem that she was retaining, so she is currently taking a break from TT's. I had her read through Math Doesn't Suck. I tried having her work through the last chapter (all review lessons) of R&S Math 8. She couldn't remember how to do much of the basic math. Soooo, she is currently working through "Key to..." curriculum's online Key to Tracker spot check lessons for fractions, decimals, and percentages. Once she is finished with standardized testing in May, I hope to retry Algebra with the help of Kiss My Math and the Key to Algebra workbook series (with Key to Tracker online).