Simply Homeschooling
Apr. 4, 2008
Math for the struggling
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Math- the mention of the word would send me into a frustrated sweat as a child. Part of the reason was that I was instructed by teachers who considered only one way of learning, one way of fixing problems and had no resources or permission to think outside of the box. Result was intense math anxiety and much grief. My son is a different sort of learner. Some subjects he grabs onto and adores ( like geography ). Others, like math, he struggles with. We have been through Miquon, Saxon, Singapore Math, CMP math, Mammoth Math through the years , all good, but each helping only a portion of his struggles. With coin counting he still gets very scrambled switching from counting by ones, then fives and then tens ( it's just that switching factor that trips him up). With multiplication, place values are a constant, maddening problem. The other day we finally hit on a solution that works for him, and I would like to share it for others who may also be struggling with this. Multiplication is a special club, and only the original members get to behave in the multiplication way ( the factors in the equation). Our club members here are 25x 5. Start with the ones, say the answer. (5x5= 25). The last number you say is the first number you write. The other one is a wanna be and gets carried over.Now next number, another column. Do the math (2x5) say the answer (10) Now the wanna be gets to come in, but because it is not an original member , you just add him (10+2=12). No more club members , so you are done - your answer is 125. |
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