Tuesday, December 29, 2009

2010 School Plans -- Math

In my continuing series of babbling about what we're going to be doing for school next year, let's move on to Math!

We've been blessed with a bunch of things from TOS Review Crew in the math department, so we are going to be using a mix of those.  I'll link it the first time I mention it.  Kid by kid, here goes:

Connor (12):  he'll start the year off working through The Basic Math Word Problem Tutor, which I think is going to mostly be too basic for him.  But he'll undoubtedly pick up something, and he is a great help when it comes to these reviews.  Then, he'll pick his old math back up -- he's doing VideoText Algebra and Math U See Geometry concurrently.  In addition (pun intended), he now (well, in a couple days) has a one year subscription to Mathletics, where he is required to at least work enough to earn a certificate each week.  He is using MathScore to drill his math facts (review coming in January), and he'll continue using Quartermile Math as well.  Once he completes VideoText and Math U See, well, the people at the community college said he could come in and sit for their math placement test.  I'm not sure yet.  We own UCSMP Functions, Statistics and Trigonometry, so that would be a less expensive way to go.

William (11): he will also start off by working through the Word Problem Tutor, either with Connor, or more slowly, we'll see.  I plan to make basic math facts a priority for him the first couple months of 2010.  So he'll be required to spend 20 minutes or so per day in Mathletics, another 10 minutes daily in MathScore, and about 15 minutes a day in FactsFirst (watch for a review, probably in February).  He will continue to be assigned to do Quartermile Math at least once a week.  I will also have him watch Mathtacular DVDs once a week, just so I feel like he is getting some new concepts too.  After some of these online subscriptions expire, or I feel like he needs to move on before that, we'll get back to a more traditional math curriculum.  What?  I don't know.  Right Start?  Singapore?  Scott Foresman Exploring Math?  I own those...

Thomas (9): his plan is pretty much identical to William's, except I may let him out of the Word Problem Tutor DVD.  He'll watch at least the first few segments though.  I'll have him watching an appropriate level of Mathtacular for him (though I'm sure all the kids will watch everyone's Mathtacular... have I raved on here about how wonderful this program is?)

Richard (5): he'll be using Mathletics like his brothers, and he'll be using FactsFirst, and Quartermile Math too.  And the first Mathtacular DVD.  In addition, I plan to start  working with him in Ray's Primary Arithmetic (watch for a review of Eclectic Education in January).

Trina (3): She'll be watching the Young Minds DVD, and definitely the Mathtacular with Richard.

We'll see how all of this goes.  I feel vaguely guilty that I don't have most of my kids doing a "real" math program at the moment, but I think the focus on facts while we have the resources available is the right thing to do.

I'll be continuing this tomorrow.  I'll should discuss Language Arts, but I'm still hammering that out.  I think I'll talk about history.

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4 comments:

Heather said...

Interesting to see what you are doing! I want to re-group for the new semester also--I need to sit down and walk through these things. I have Nick doing ALEKS and Em doing Mathletics for now. I am pretty happy with Math for a change:)

Heather said...

I think I just lost my comment---I need to re-group for new semester. also! I like your ideas--I am pretty happy with Nick doing Aleks & Em with Mathletics...but I am interested now in Mathtacular...Well, one step at a time, right?:)

Deb said...

Re Williams math - I have heard fantastic things about Life With Fred, have you looked into that?

A friend of mine does Singapore thru around 7th grade and then switches to LWF. She is really thrilled with it, and it's fairly inexpensive.

I am very excited to do Quartermile Math with my 5 year old. I got it as part of my TOS scubscription and am just really looking forward to integrating it. I love reading about other people's schedules!

Debra said...

Heather -- Mathtacular is fantastic. I cannot say enough good things about it. I seem to remember that the TOS Review Crew did something with it last year if you want other people's opinions :)

Deb -- Life of Fred is fantastic. My oldest son has used it some. Not exactly the right match for someone who is seriously dyslexic though. Unless I want to do all the reading, which I really don't. It's a fantastic suggestion though. :) I love reading what other people are doing too.