I am doing 2nd edition level A with my dd. We did the first assessment yesterday and the results were mixed. She is very good with quantities and cards. She is great with the daily warm ups, but she has a tough time with geometry. She struggles with the geoboard, only sorta get perpendicular lines and has to be talked through patterns. She is not a very visual spacial child, so those things are coming more slowly.

Should I continue moving forward even if she is weak in those areas? Any suggestions for reviews geometry? I notice that it is not often included in the warm up review section. Is that because they are looking for exposure at this level and not necessarily use of those topics? Bascially do I need to be concerned that she didn't "pass" the geometry parts of the assessment? Should I repeat those topics more? Are there geoboard games? Or should I just watch to see if that area comes more as the year goes on?

Lena

We moved on to the next lesson and I am struggling to explain the part whole circles. I was trying to explain that the whole was the same, but she was trying to make all the circles match. I tried to show her on fingers that you could group them in parts but still have five fingers, but she always seemed to focus on the parts rather than the whole. Why don't you take the whole and move it to the part circles? She was struggling with what was supposed to be equal to what. I hope as we look at more it will sink in, but at this point she just guesses wildly, because she doesn't get what is supposed to match.

So, final question, is there any concept in level A where you should hold up until they understand or should you just continue slowly and hope that with some repetitions more and more will make sense?

Lena

Hi, Lena. I just saw your second post...so here is the response to that one as well...

Sometimes the part/whole concept is a little difficult. I had to explain to my kids that the whole includes EVERYTHING - like a whole pizza or ALL the Legos. The part circles have only pieces of the whole thing. With a little bit of time, this concept will sink in. You may want to make the 'whole' circle in a different color and you definitely want to make it larger than the part circles. Sometimes, this helps separate it in their minds.

For your final question, I would say that there are some concepts that you should 'linger' on if your daughter does not understand it. I would linger on this concept because it is used throughout the curriculum. In fact, I would review/go over Lessons 32, 33, 34 and 35 until your daughter feels more comfortable with the Part/Whole concept. Then when she seems to have a better 'handle' on it, then you can move on in the lessons.

Again, if you need anything else, please re-post.

Enjoy your afternoon!
Rachel

Hi, Lena.

Don't be too concerned at this point. Kids get some concepts more easily than others. I recommend that you 'review' the parallel and perpendicular concepts during the Warm-Up time, even though it is not in the lesson plan. You can write a pair of parallel lines, a pair of perpendicular and a pair of lines that are neither parallel nor perpendicular on the board or on a sheet of paper. Have her tell you what they are and then recreate them on the geoboard.

Also, I recommend that you find parallel and perpendicular lines at various times during your day. For example, when you are in the grocery store pushing the shopping cart, have your daughter find the parallel and perpendicular lines using the wires on the shopping cart. If you have a deck at your home, have your daughter pick out the boards that are perpendicular and parallel. When you are eating lunch, have carrot sticks and have her show you perpendicular/parallel with the carrot sticks, etc. Use everyday items/situations to include math. She will start to get a variety of mental pictures in her head that will help her distinguish those concepts.

I hope that helps! If you have any further questions or concerns, don't hesitate to post back!

Have a great day!
Rachel