HELP Math Mess!!

[gotpeace91]

I'm going to try to make this post as brief and to the point as I can. I have a 12yo son in 7th grade who is way behind in Math. Here is a list of what he has done in Math over the years.

PreK--2nd grade: ACE private school

3rd grade: Upheaval in family. We begin traveling with daddy. Didn't finish his Paces for 3rd grade.

4th grade: We begin Christian Liberty Press. They place him in 3rd grade Math. He finishes it.

5th grade: CLP still. He doesn't finish 4th grade book all the way.

6th grade: We begin HOD. It is determined (with Carrie's help) that we would have to go too far back to do Singapore. He finishes 4th grade CLP book and because I think he is struggling still with Math facts we did R&S 3. (bad idea, mad at myself)

I was raised doing Paces. I don't know how the Math schedule is supposed to go. I just did the Paces that were handed to me. I mistakenly thought that I had until he hit 11th grade to get him caught up and then he would do Algebra but reading the threads on this board I'm finding that's not true at all. I am starting to panic.

He is a very smart boy. It is not his fault that he's behind. Since he was little he's been fascinated with how things work and was able to put together elaborate Lego projects by himself. I think he could be an engineer or architect and I know that he will need lots of Math in order to succeed. I don't want to fail him.

Any advice on how to get him caught up would be appreciated. We found http://www.aleks.com this week and did the 3 hour free trial and he really responded well to that. The Geometry was his favorite part. Does anyone have experience with aleks.com? I am also willing to try the Singapore placement tests again this year to see if that would work. I mainly want to know how I can catch him up and have him done with all the courses he needs before graduating.

[MistyP]

I grew up doing ACE also. When I was in the 4th grade we came back to the States and I went to a "regular" Christian school. I was behind in math; they were doing long division...I had no clue! 5th grade, back to the missionfield and ACE....by 8th grade I was AHEAD in math compared to my friends in the States.

If ACE is what you feel comfortable with, then switch back. I think there is 12 PACES per year unless it has changed..... I would see if you can get a placement test; I know they have them because my brother-in-law is a prinicipal for an ACE day school.

As far as catching up; personally, I would start with the 4th grade or where ever he placed and then have him work hard at it. If I felt it was something he understood; instead of doing 4 pages of the problems, maybe do one page and then skip the next 4.....

I haven't had much experience so hopefully someone else will have some good advice!

[gotpeace91]

BTW I just wanted to clarify. Carrie's advice to me was good. She told me to move forward with the Math that we were using if possible. This was because when I tested them for Singapore placement it would have placed them too far back because it is quite different than CLP. I started off following her advice by finishing the CLP grade 4 book and then I forgot about it. I wasn't happy with CLP because I didn't feel that there was enough review to really help him retain the information. I should have come and got advice about what to do next.

Thank you Misty for your quick response. I agree that ACE is a great program and I may consider going back to it. I'm just weighing all my options. Trying to figure out how I'm going to squeeze in geometry and algebra.

[deltagal]

Another option ... would be simply to remediate in the areas he needs help. You can do this many ways - one is to use Math Mammoth's placement test and email the author, Maria Miller, the scores. She'll recommend a remediation plan and then you can pick up your old program OR take whatever course you feel led. You may find he's not as far behind overall, as you think, but even if he is imagine based on his interests it would be an easy fix. We're doing some remediation using MM's materials this summer. And it is going VERY well. Here's the link...http://www.mathmammoth.com/

[inHistiming]

I just wanted to let you know that ACE does have online placement tests available....just do a search for them. I had my daughter take one and she actually enjoyed doing it b/c it was done on the computer instead of paper. So, just a thought if you decided to see where ds places now.

[gotpeace91]

Thank you very much deltagal for the tip on Mammoth Math! I have been looking it over today and gave my son a couple placement tests. I did find a couple gaps in things like measuring and telling time etc. It is so hard to teach kids to tell time these days with digital clocks everywhere. They just get lazy about it.

Anyway, can anyone tell me what grade he is supposed to do Algebra, Geometry etc. I noticed Carrie mentioned putting her son in pre-algebra in grade 8. I'm not sure if I can get him caught up that fast. That gives me one year to cover 5th, 6th, and 7th grade Math before he goes into 8th grade next year. I would like to figure out a way to stay with Rod & Staff because I really like it and my kids respond well to it. I may try to move through it a little more quickly while working on remedial math from Mammoth a little bit too. Not sure...

[gotpeace91]

Oh and thank you also inhistiming for letting me know about the ACE placement tests online. I didn't know that!

[John'smom]

My dh went to an A.C.E. school from 1st all the way to graduation. I used A.C.E. from 9th grade on and my in-laws have an A.C.E. school. In 9th grade I did Algebra, 10th was Geometry, 11th was Algebra 2, and 12th I did Precalculus. I don't know if that helps as far as a timeline. I will tell you though not everyone in my in-laws schools follows that some schedule. Some of the students just weren't able to keep up with that in-depth of Math. Praying you find what will work for you ds.

[gotpeace91]

Thanks John'smom for the math schedule! I did ACE K-12 too but Math was not my strong suit at all and it was apparent early on that I had no intention of going to college. I vaguely remember doing some Algebra 1 but I guess my mom worked it out with my principal not to go further because I really struggled with it.

OK, I have been working on some plans and I think I'm getting somewhere.

Plan A: Start off doing some remedial math with Math Mammoth and then do MM Grade 5 this year, MM Grade 6 next year, and then follow this plan http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Hi ... l_Courses/ (scroll down to see the Math) which includes pre-algebra when he is in 9th grade.

Plan B: Start off doing some remedial math with MM and then do Teaching Textbooks Grade 6 this year, TT Grade 7 next year, and then the same as Plan A for Grade 9 and up.

In looking at the placement tests for MM and TT I have found that TT is much easier which is why I could get him into 6th grade sooner. I do feel however that getting caught up through MM grade 6 would be a good foundation for Video Text Algebra.

So what do you think?