Friday, January 26, 2007

I'm Sorry

I realize I have inadvertently sent those of you with news feeds back into the archives because I am getting comments on an old post from last March. I was trying to repair the messy code that sends the table on the Math Facts entry to the bottom. For my book post, I got the table to hover where it should, so I thought I would go back and fix the old post because I am weird that way. I didn't realize that every time I edited an entry a flag would be sent up. Sorry. I will try to control myself in the future.

While we are on the subject of math let me share what I have learned since March. There is another option in the math music genre: The Googols. We love the Multiplication CD that I downloaded from iTunes to my iPod so we can listen to it anywhere. Sample Seven Natural Wonders and Yodel-Odel-Eight from iTunes. True, the tunes are not just about multiplication, but who cares. They are addictive. We have not tried any of the other activities at the Googol Power site but love the well done Multiplication Vacation.

I also found that with my "math is misery child" I should nurture while maintaining the standards. Letting him do less because it was painful to me only reaffirmed his poor self concept in math. By sticking with the problem areas, in small doses, until they were mastered let him know he could be successful if he gave himself the opportunity. We did switch from Saxon for a while and used these ebooks and Modern Curriculum Press Mathematics, yet I find that the Saxon daily review is useful, so I add a little diversity to each day so nothing is forgotten. Mostly, I just quit panicking.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I need a multiplication cd...

Anonymous said...

You've got a recipe for success there! I have to say I am agreeing with you on the sticking to it, in smaller chunks. We went through a period where we did math twice a day to get two pages done. Now, Girlie cranks through two pages in 30-40 minutes, and doesn't complain. She is actually fairly good at math, but has a mental hangup. Each new topic, she starts to panic, I help her relax while we do examples, and then she is voila...off and running. Biggest change was MY attitude!