I really need help! I bought Level C for my 8-year-old daughter based on the questionnaire. She has been having trouble with math for the last 2 years. She will learn a concept and then act like she's never seen it before. She still uses her fingers to add and subtract some facts. We got through the multiplication facts in 3rd grade, but she never fully memorized them. I am on lesson 24 and am stuck because she is unable to do mental math. For example, she will stare into space when I ask her to add 3 ten plus 1 ten. I then say add three plus 1 ten. Finally, I say what's 3 + 1. She'll say "OH, 4." She doesn't get the concept of splitting numbers into 5 + n to add them to other numbers. I will explain that she can add 5 + 7 by adding 5 + 5 + 2, but she goes back to counting if she is on her own. She can do easy mental math like adding tens or something like 40 + 32, but she cannot do it quickly. If it goes over 100, she has trouble. She is a stubborn child and does not like the "math way" of counting. I don't see how we can continue to the next lesson on multiplication if she has not mastered adding. BTW, she can add columns of numbers on paper just fine. She is pretty good at rote worksheet work. The reason I changed programs is that she doesn't seem to be able to problem solve or grasp the concepts behind the math. Do I need buy Level B in order for her to learn addition, or is it too late because of her stubbornness to learn things a new way?

Have her use the abacus for EVERYTHING. It's ok to use a crutch, if your leg is really broken.

You might want to consider looking at the scope and sequence of B, but still...you can work with C, I bet, using the abacus, using the games, and get her more in the habit. I'd let her use the abacus absolutely as long as she needs to. My daughter also benefits tremendously from a hundreds chart. It's coming along, slowly and surely.

Hello Ilana,

The way I am reading this you have two choices,
1) Go to Level B and enjoy learning from the beginning the right way. Most likely when you did the starting questionnaire you thought she understood place value. I find that it is common that the parent thought the child understood place value and the child did not. Most parents assume their children understand place value because they can name the place of the digit ( 500 Is five hundred, because the 5 is in the hundred’s place). That is not understanding place value. To understand place value, she needs to be able to articulate (according to her ability for her age) that it is five hundred because it is five units of one hundred, which is the same as 50-tens, and the same as 500-ones. If she cannot express this, she does not grasp the concept, she has only memorized. I find that most kids can name the place but not explain what it means, so I want to make you aware of this so you can make sure she truly understands this. If she does not understand place value mental math becomes much harder to do.
2) Slow down , take your time, and catch up on some gaps she has by using the games found in the Math Card Games book under the sections Numeration, and Addition. Add more games and use the abacus much more. If need be take 3-4 days for one lesson and do more games.

Sure it will seem like you are slowing down but the truth is the program has revealed that she was on the path to being even slower. Now you have a good evaluation of where she really is mathematically, so you can act accordingly. The other programs were hiding her weakness and capitalizing on her memorization and pattern seeking skills ,not on her critical thinking skills or on her understanding. This is why I love this program so much she can’t hide in her worksheets, she has to understand what she is doing. It is so common for parents to think the child is doing well in math because the child passes tests and does one worksheet after the other, but that is not true measure of math knowledge. How is she applying is in her real life skills, that will tell you if she is learning math. The fact that she can’t visualize right now is not that she is not a match for the program, it is that she has a very bad math foundation. And this will take time to repair.

So here are some tips to help you teach this program.

1) Keep your time limited in each session, I recommend 30min per child per day. I stop once we hit that time. I find it is usually their limit of concentration after that time they don’t hear what you say, and you are only adding frustration. I also find that because I keep to that time limit that I can be consistent, and they are not fearful to do math, because they know that there is an end to the lesson in 30min. Those who leave math an open time limit, may create a fear of math in their children.

2) Be consistent. Don’t do math every now and then. Do it regularly. I personally have found that if I do school 15 days out of each of the 12 months it works for our family. It totals 180 school days and yet keeps us consistent in our schooling. We don’t get burnt out of school, because we always have at least one week off each month; and we don’t get out of the habit of school, because we are always poised to start again, it is a part of our whole lives. School is not consigned to some months and not others, it is part of life.

3) Play the games, I mean PLAY THE GAMES! :) I cannot over emphasize the importance of the games. Even on days when you are not told to play the games fit it into your school day.

Most kids who learn math only understand the theory of math, but can not apply it in real life. I liken it to learning how to drive. You get a booklet from the state and you memorize it then you take a test. Let’s say you get 100% on the test did it make you a good driver? No, it just means you memorized the “theory” of driving. In order to become a good driver, you have to get in the car and “apply” the theory. Only with practice of driving do you start to internalize the driving rules and become a better driver. The same is true with math. The books and worksheets provide the “theory” of math, while our Math Card Games provides the “application” of math. As they use both they understand math as a whole. This will help them in the long run in higher mathematics and everyday math. So make sure she can do both and she will do just fine in the higher math.

Also, the games help store the information into the correct places in the brain for better retrieval. Whereas rote memorization stores the information in the short-term part of the brain--where the information has no context of other information (like a telephone number, we dial in the numbers but they don’t mean anything mathematically). The math learned in the games gets stored in the strategy/logic part of the brain because there was context and meaning to the numbers-they have to perform certain calculations to win the game. Plus, it is done in a friendly environment where the time spent will be remembered as good time learning math, thus will be more likely to produce good feeling towards math—even if it is not their favorite subject, it will not be their hated subject.

Finally, I leave the decision with you, as to how to proceed, but I personally am leaning towards Level B, especially if you or she is getting frustrated. She will not be far behind and the foundation she gets will prop her back up to level.



Please let me know if you have any more questions. You can email me directly at Carissa@alabacus.com .

Thank you for giving your child a RightStart in Math,

Carissa
RightStart™ Mathematics by Activities for Learning, Inc.

For program questions: 888.272.3291
To place an order: 888.RS.5.MATH (888.775.6284)
www.RightStartMath.com

Our Mission: To help children understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics

Thanks. I went ahead and ordered Level B.