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Does anyone have advice on a great way to learn Math Facts? I thought about using Kumon books during the summer, but I wanted to see what others do. My daughter just did her testing today and scored low on Math skills and Math facts.

We used to do flashcards because I was nervous about the dc learning their facts - turns out Singapore taught it to them without me really needing to try to add more to help that along - I just had to give it a little more time. However, I do know sometimes dc do need a little extra practice to help them along in the math facts area. I used to tutor dc for a number of years before homeschooling, and math facts was a pretty common tutoring need . What seemed to work best was to use flashcards. Going through the flashcards in groupings one at a time worked well. So, we'd start with all of the +0's, which was super easy, but boosted confidence. Then, the +1's, then the +2's, etc. If they have a struggle with certain cards then those are set aside to practice longer. For example, if they keep missing 6 + 8 = 14, then that one is pulled out and repeated each day. I tried to have dc say the answer to each card in about 3 seconds. By doing it this way, you can systematically see which facts are their trouble areas, and pinpoint those to work on daily until they have them done pat. After addition, we moved on to subtraction in the same format. I do believe it is important to let them see the card, along with the answer so they picture it in their mind (as CM would advocate ), as they study them. Oh, I see I forgot to mention I let them "study" the cards first by running through them a few times solo, before doing them with me. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thank you so much for the suggestions. I kept hoping my oldest would pick it up, but I see that I need to be more proactive with this. This is one of the beauties of homeschool that we can take that extra time to work on things that they struggle with.

For fun, you might try playing games. I take a deck of cards, shuffle and split in two (no face cards). Then we each take one from the pile and set it down. The first one to say the answer wins. It works super for addition (and would for multiplication too). I had to make up some index cards for subtraction so we could get number bigger than 10.

As my dd was starting out, she got 5 sec to answer then down to 3 then immediately upon turn over. Just a way to keep it fun. There are also online options. www.bigmathtime.com allows you to set the facts (do you want to work on 2s or 8s or whatever) and set the number of problems. After they finish they get to play a game. I only use the free part.

Hope this helps.

kelly

Yay, we love online games. Thank you.

Just wanted to say, we tried the flashcards with my dd and they didn't help. She is auditory and the flashcards just frustrated her. What finally worked for her was a tape with the facts sung. It didn't take them long to stick in her mind after that. I'm saying that for anyone else who might have struggled with the flashcards with their dc. It really depends on your child's learning style. There are lots of options to help with math drill. We've used Singapore starting at 1A and the math drill became an apparent need with my dd. Some kids who are stronger in math may not need it. But my dd sure did!

Edie

I think it depends on how your child learns.I have a visual learner who has auditory processing.I found lots of practice with real objects rather than abstract numbers .We also made use of a free 2 month trial of ALEKS.I think there are better web games that are out there -if thats a route your child would be intrested in ..

I'm loving this feedback! I feel like I dropped the ball with my oldest with phonics and Math facts. Spelling and math are where she's weakest. She's reading at a 6th grade level, so I feel like I've done something right - or she's learning despite my teaching. LOL (j/k) As much as I hate it, I'm planning on working with her through the summer on these. When she was in first grade, I used a Math program that was boring as all get-out, but she was remembering facts. Then I switched to something else, and she forgot the facts that she'd learned. I thought that she didn't need all the repetition, but now I can see that I was wrong. So, we're going back to the very tedious Math for next year. She's actually excited about this boring Math. Live and learn. So, it's onward and upward. One great thing about homeschool is there's no behind -just forward. I struggled with Math all through school. I wish I'd had teachers who could take the time to spend helping me get the basics when I needed it.

Yeah, I'm really talky today.

Thank you guys for the advice. I'm going to take all this into consideration and just try it all with her.

I'm in a similar boat and was recently looking for something to use over the summer to cement math facts in my dc.
I ordered "Two plus Two is Not Five" from Amazon and "Times Tales" from triggermemorysystem.com and I'm going to try these over the summer. I'm really hoping that they work!! My dc said they preferred Times Tales in book form so I ordered that on Amazon as well, but there is a dvd version on the trigger memory website I mentioned.
Just a few ideas for you to ponder!
God bless,
Michele
ps. let us all know what you decided and how it worked!