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I have not been on the Forum since first choosing HOD, but I read it everyday and I'm thankful for the support and encouragement that I always obtain from my reading. We love HOD. It is an answer to all the desires I had for curriculum. We homeschooled our dd using mainly Sonlight and BJU. She is in college now. Our son is a 7th grader. This is the type of curriculum that I was looking for and trying to create for my dd, but I'm so thankful to have found it for my ds. It is helping him to be independent. He loves the variety of lessons. His strengh is language arts and has struggled with math. One reason is we have switched math curriculums so often. Since October, we have been using the Math Essentials that Carrie recommended to play catch up. He has been doing the Basic Math and is almost finished. I thought it was going well, but recently he has been having trouble retaining the information. Is there something I need to add for review since there is not much review on the worksheets? He has trouble even remembering how to do problems from a couple of lessons back.

Any input is appreciated.

Judy

Judy,

Normally we recommend the Singapore Math path, however when a review is needed or a child has been a product of too many math program switches (like my own oldest son ), the Math Essentials curriculum is a good fit. It actually is a review of all needed concepts up through 6th grade which is considered to be the most foundational year of math prior to high school. So, it isn't uncommon for your son not to remember everything that is in that particular year as there is so much! If he is passing the assignments each day, then I would say he is doing alright. When he heads into whatever you choose next for him in math, he will review these concepts even more. Whenever a child needs to "shore up" some needed skills, typically he/she goes back to a 6th grade math book which contains all needed types of work for higher level math.

On the other hand, If your son is not passing the lessons, or not understanding the information, then I would have him watch the video again to be sure he has the concepts and do a few more problems of that type on paper. There are also additional specific books available on the Math Essentials site to address separate skills such as fractions, geometry, decimals/percents, etc. if extra practice is needed in a particular skill. After finishing the review course, your son would likely head into a Pre-Algebra program. Math Essentials does have one that is a good intro. to Pre-Algebra as well.

Blessings,
Carrie