"Create-your-own-curriculum" guide for Mathematics
Read
over Tanglewood's math "philosophy" below. I love
math and have had
a lot of practice and success teaching math to classes and
individuals
over the years.
Here are
a few of my beliefs concerning the study of math.
1. The most important thing to learn is the addition/subtraction
facts.
-The child should know these backwards and forwards by the end of
1st
or 2nd grade.
2. The next most important thing to learn is the
multiplication/division facts.
-The child should know these
from memory by the end of 3rd grade.
3. If you move too fast and cover too much ground, your child will
become
unnecessarily frustrated.
There is no reason for a third
grader to learn to add
fractions with different
denominators or to change fractions into decimals. If your
child gets very frustrated when
covering a 'nonessential', keep it brief and then
move on. If you have time,
you can come back to it later. Rest assured though, it will
be covered again the next
year (and the next...)-- and your child will probably be
more ready to
learn it.
*Doesn't my child need to know those things for standardized tests?
While those
problems may indeed be on the test, your child is not expected
to know everything
on the test. He will most likely score better if he is able to
do the various add/subt/mult/div
problems quickly and accurately, than if he tries to
know a smattering
of everything- ending up with less accurate 'basic' problems
and a few right
answers here and there on the non-essentials.
4. IT IS OK to skip problems in the book (especially for those
who use Abeka or Saxon).
If your child takes too long (more than 1/2
hr for lower elementary) to do the lesson
problems, cross out a few of the
repetitive ones. I've found that most books contain
too many problems
anyway!
5. Don't overuse manipulatives. While the use of manipulatives are the rage today,
many students are actually frustrated by
them. Use them to illustrate a concept,
and then move on.
6. I know I'm going to get in trouble for this one...but:
don't get hung up on whether
your child really 'understands' a topic.
You can drill hundreds place, tens place,
and ones place all day long and
your child may not get it. Don't worry, just move on.
Continue
having your child work those problems that utilize borrowing (sometimes
called trading) and carrying. Use the proper terminology when
explaining the
problems: 26+45 : First add the numbers in the
ones column (point to the 6 and the
five). Oh look, you need to carry a
1 to the tens column.... I promise that eventually your
child
will learn the terminology and when the time is right, understand the
concept.
Cover the specialized lessons when
they come up in the book. Strive to make them
understandable.
And then move on.
*Everything is covered again next year- and
next year may be the right time for your
child to really understand it.
*Check out the programs we like!
"Create-Your-Own-
Curriculum"
CYOC- How
to do it!
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Our Curriculum
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Modern Curriculum Press Mathematics
Saxon 5/4
suggested for 4th grade