Math question

[cjmercer]

Looking for some suggestions/help....I have an 11 year old who used ACE in 4th grade, then we did an all together different program for 5th grade using something called "Math-It"? Well, at the end of the year, we have some HUGE learning gaps and I have been exploring the idea of using HOD this upcoming 2010/2011 year and it seems that HOD leans toward Singapore Math. My son took a placement test today and I was really shocked at how much he struggled with the placement tests. We started at 3A and it had 15 questions on it and he missed 5 and struggled with several more, but eventually figured them out. It seems to be a bit harder for him than when we did the ACE placement test for Math....anyway, just struggling with what to do for Math when we integrate HOD this fall? If Singapore is better, than that is fine. I am a relatively new home school mom and certainly can use any suggestions that would be helpful! Is it normal for a 5th grader to be doing 3A in Singapore or is he really that far behind? Just need some guidance!

Blessings,
Cindy

[pjdobro]

Singapore math is considered to be more advanced than other programs with many children having to step back 1 grade level when they start Singapore. It seems that math programs vary greatly in the order in which they cover and how they cover concepts. Terminology can sometimes be different and that can make it difficult to transition from one to another as well. It's possible that the different approach and different terminology in Singapore is what made the test difficult for your son not the actual math itself. So he might not be behind per se, just used to looking at concepts differently. If you are going to use the Singapore math though, you might need to start at 3A and just let him work through it quickly to get caught up with the way that Singapore presents material. It would be far better to start easier and let him work quickly just so he can feel comfortable with the new program, than start him at a higher level and have him feel lost. Fortunately it is fairly inexpensive and the books are short so it wouldn't be too much of a cost or time investment to let him step back a couple of grade levels and get on the same page as Singapore. That being said though, you can use whatever math program you want with HOD. If you like what you've been doing, you can stick with that.

[my3sons]

Hi Cindy, and welcome to the HOD Board! I am so glad you are looking at bringing HOD into your home - it is such a blessing in mine, I'm always excited about it being a blessing to others as well. Patty already gave wonderful advice here, so I'll just second it. Singapore is considered about a year advanced. I wouldn't worry about starting in 3A. If that's where ds placed, that's where he should start. Starting with 4A and on up, HOD has a 4 day plan for math, so it's easy at that point to make up some time by just doing math 5 days a week. No worries there!

Since math is an area of interest to you, you may enjoy reading these past posts:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4271&p=31537#p31537
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=112

We all look forward to getting to know you here, and if you have more questions you'll find this board a very encouraging place to ask them as we love to help one another out on this happy homeschool journey with HOD!

In Christ,
Julie

[cjmercer]

Thank you so much for the replies on the math question! I do have a lot more questions, and look forward to getting aquainted with everyone here on the HOD board...I am very excited about the program. It truly is an answer to prayer!

Blessings,
Cindy