math help

She may not have a learning disability, but if she’s had poor math instruction for a couple of years, she may well be lacking the basic foundation that would enable her to succeed in math. If the summer school program focuses on helping kids “keep up”, rather than going back and learning the concepts she’s missed, then it probably won’t help. Some kids understand the concepts but have a hard time remembering the math facts- there are several posts below that have good info about learning math facts. Perhaps you could work with her this summer, but you’ll have more success if you can identify what problems she’s having with math.

Jean

Thanks, I am going to talk to the school and see what the summer school program is supposed to do. I doubt it will do much.
Thanks!

Nancy,

If your daughter has an existing IEP, call an IEP meeting immediately to address this issue. Under the IDEA (I don’t know which state you are in), students are required to receive services for all their “unique needs.” If the school system is suggesting that your daughter go to summer school for math, they have already identified math as one of her unique needs, and it needs to be addressed in her IEP. You are right, going to summer school will probably be a waste also. She needs math instruction that is individualized to her way of learning, not rote practice at summer school.

Of course, after spending a lot of time trying to get my son appropriate services through his IEP, I realize this is easier said than done! :)

Good luck!
Lil

make sure that your child has been identified with a disability to make sure that your child has a special need, then the team must decide if your child is making effective progress with the general curriculum without modifications and specially designed instruction. If your child is eligible for special education, then your child may have an IEP.

Nancy,
You may want to look at some software available through the web. One I am familiar with is Aleks at: www.Aleks.com. They advertise K-12 as well as college math classes.

This software uses artificial intelligence to assess and continually adapt to the students current knowledge and needs. Aleks begins with an Assessment Module that asks a series of adaptive questions (decides what it asks based on responses to previous questions). Its purpose is to determine what the student is currently ready to learn. (An individualized assessment)

Next comes the Learning Module containing topics the student is most ready to learn. The software uses artificial intelligence to constantly adapt to the learning needs of the student. For example if the software detects the student is struggling with a problem and has read the explanation several times, the software may suggest reading some definitions or to abandon the current problem to work on another easier but related problem or to try another topic. Anytime the student logs back on to their account, the software will pick up right where they left off.

There is also a Reports Module that keeps track of progress, preferences and statistics. (If you have more than one student, you can get a family report showing this info for all students in the family account in one place).

I have not actually used this software but it does look interesting. At the website they advertise a free 48 hour trial and a regular price of $17.95 per month for unlimited use. If you try Aleks, you may want to post any feedback to this discussion group so others can benefit. Good Luck!
Greg