ugh......what's behind Door #1...?

It's August.
We're due to start school in a few weeks.
I HAVE NOT BOUGHT MY CURRICULUM yet....!!

I know I am behind schedule. I don't know about your house, but in MY house, every penny counts. And I am VERY cautious about where I am spending this year. I have to buy Math, Science and possibly Spanish.....and I want to invest in just the right programs.

Because that's what it is: an investment...

So am I talking to myself? I wonder if anyone is reading. If you are here, gimme a shout out and telling me what you're using this year. We'd love to hear from you! One thing's for sure: I gotta get movin'!!

girls and Math

I have one son, Adam, who's REALLY good at Math.
Freaky good.
And his sister, Micaela, age 8 (almost 9)...not so much.
She has fragile x, full mutation. (If you are the curious sort, you can look at the Fragile X Syndrome Checklist for more info...) But long story short, it makes math VERY tough for Micaela.
Especially when she sits beside the Math Wizard...

So I often split them up. And spend some one-on-one time with her, gently hammering away at the Math Facts. That's why she loves the interactive nature of

Online Math Curriculum - Time4Learning

It's completely non-threatening.....and colorful. (Color matters a great deal to my budding fashionista....so it engages her mind, and I'm all for that!)

And sometimes, I'll admit, I push Math more for Adam than I do for Micaela. He's just so darn comfortable with it and she's not. But then I ask myself, "Am I cheating her? Am I short-changing her by NOT offering it more often?"

So our compromise is to tackle Math with

Time4Learning.com and a whole bucket loads of freebie sites that offer a wide range of ideas and fun for her.

Because Math SHOULD BE FUN, shouldn't it? Next week, we're doing CAMPING MATH. (Don't ask me what that REALLY means, I'm totally wingin' it.....)

Math Drills -- Are They Really Useful?

One of the problems with elementary school math is the dreaded math drills. I believe you will find very few children who actually love math fact drills. I was one of them, but I believe I was in the minority -- preferring to repeat page after page of things I could do well, such as addition, subtraction and multiplication tables. I liked the self-competition. I liked scoring better than myself on the previous page. I liked striving for perfection, though I rarely achieved it.
This was a piece of cake compared to learning something new, which took more effort. I think math facts and drills are useful for reinforcement, but not for teaching the concept -- I believe that a set of flash cards take the skill out of context, and if the skill isn't mastered, then the drill will be pointless, frustrating hard work. I believe also, that drills help show the pattern of the fact, but that they should not be used to teach the pattern. Some kids just don't get it on their own and have to be "spoon-fed" the pattern, but really understanding the pattern is what makes them really know the concept. I would say that random drills, and mixed math facts should be used once the facts have been mastered, only for reinforcement, never for teaching.