My 9 yr old daughter is in the 4th grade and exposed to Everyday Math at school. She reads at a 2nd grade level and works extremely hard on everything. She has never been able to get Math! She knows the scores on the baseball games and knows more and less, can identify numbers to 100 but cannot add or subtract without a number line. Her basic concepts are not there. Her sped teacher has tried everything and now she uses a calculator at school.
We have a giant number line and if I ask her to find 43, she doesn’t even know which direction to look in. We have tried touch math, the language based-story math, flash cards and more. I feel like there is a big hole somewhere. She missed lots of K and 1st grade due to surgeries and I feel those basics were never learned. She is a slow learner but always makes progress in other subjects. I have started back with the basics and lots of manipulatives. Is this the correct route? She is bright and I know it’s in there somewhere!! On the Geometry unit in Every Day Math she did really well, but that’s where it ends. HELP!
Thanks, Chris
Re: 9 year old daughter with cerebral palsy
Yes, basics and manipulatives and building skills are the way to go.
I have previously posted an outline on how I teach math facts; you can look it up using the search, title long outline. If it’s not there ask me and I’ll email it to you.
[email protected]
My understanding of Everyday Math is that it is very language-heavy. Many children do not do well with it. Plus, math is a very foundational subject in that mastery of certain basics should be accomplished before moving on.
Your direction is right, but you might want to consider using a structured homeschooling math program to build mastery incrementally. Math-U-See is a very good manipulatives-based program that provides this kind of incremental mastery. They have just come out with a re-designed program that is much better than their old one (which was still very good).
Website for MUS is http://www.mathusee.com . You might want to talk to a company representative before ordering.
Nancy