Clueless about math supplementation, but I know I want to provide it

[Anonymous]

I would like to enhance my 2nd graders math offerings outside of school. He loves math, he's good at it. His teachers agree and standardized IQ tests do as well. I hope not to start a flame war about how he's not actually That Great or "don't push him," etc.

The problem is that I have no idea how to enrich him outside of school beyond handing him a workbook that I buy at Costco. His math-god father is not really in the picture much. His private school is the one-size-fits-all, Everyday Math nonsense and there's no Math Olympiad or club after school like GDS has. There's no MoCo or FFX HGCenter on our horizon because we live in DC, etc etc etc.

What do people do in this situation to support a math kid? Kumon? Johns Hopkins? private tutoring maybe? I am unqualified to help him myself past multiplication tables

[Anonymous]

Khan Academy

http://www.khanacademy.org/

[Anonymous]

You might want to ask if he can work with a higher grade when they do math. I have a friend who's nephew is doing that at local Catholic school. Also look for a local college kid who is in the math department.

[Anonymous]

EPGY open enrollment
CTY online K-7 math
Khan Academy
Kumon Math
AG Math
Art of Problem Solving
MathQuiz
Borders Math Grade level workbooks (e.g., Spectrum)

Take one or two of these supplemental sources and stick with it daily and consistently for the long haul. Your child will develop a rock solid foundation and do well. Twenty to thirty minutes/day is all you need.

[Anonymous]

Second Khan academy.

[Anonymous]

OP another approach would be to find creative ways to supplement Math that build concepts and give it more real world substance. Workbooks are fine but in the end developing love for something is more about understanding and enjoying how it fits into your world.

You can search Amazon for math games and math puzzles. You'd be surprised how much you can do with some dice. If you like computers or iPhone/IPads there are some fun math games out there for all levels. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, probability, graphing, and estimation easily translate into different games.

The Sir Cumference book series is a good way to build more advanced math vocubulary. My kids love math but struggle more with reading. Mummy math and the other books by these authors are a good way to get my math oriented kids into reading.

Geometry can be supplemented through many types of art projects or building activities. Tanagram art is great fun. Kids who like math recognize patterns easily so many optical illusion type art activities are enjoyable for them. Origami animals, legos, equilibrium blocks and other activities like this all build understanding of symmetry, geometric shapes,and spatial relations.

If he is still into those matchbox racing cars, give him a stop watch to time his races. Let him chart each car's score over multiple runs. He can determine by how much each car is faster, find out the average of each car or the race. keep a score of the world record and best times by cars. You can even have him do this once on a flat track and the raise the elevation. He probably already knows that you raise the elevation and incline the cars will speed up but let him figure out how much they speed up by doing mutliple runs at different elevations.

The other thing you can do is just build it into everyday activities. You are going to the grocery store with your kid. Let him know that you need 2 slices fo cheese (or whatever) for every member of the family (4) and have him figure out how much you need. You want to hand a picture? Let him use the tape measure to measure the frame, the wall, and help figure out where it should go to be centered in the room. You are going to clean up your loose change that you've collected in the couch and your purse throughout the year? Don't use the coin counters in the grocery store, pick up the wrappers at a bank and have him sort and count the change. Let him keep it in the end. My kids now have over $200 in their saving accounts from doing this over the years. You would be surprised how often math is in your life and you don't realize it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP another approach would be to find creative ways to supplement Math that build concepts and give it more real world substance. Workbooks are fine but in the end developing love for something is more about understanding and enjoying how it fits into your world.

You can search Amazon for math games and math puzzles. You'd be surprised how much you can do with some dice. If you like computers or iPhone/IPads there are some fun math games out there for all levels. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, probability, graphing, and estimation easily translate into different games.

The Sir Cumference book series is a good way to build more advanced math vocubulary. My kids love math but struggle more with reading. Mummy math and the other books by these authors are a good way to get my math oriented kids into reading.

Geometry can be supplemented through many types of art projects or building activities. Tanagram art is great fun. Kids who like math recognize patterns easily so many optical illusion type art activities are enjoyable for them. Origami animals, legos, equilibrium blocks and other activities like this all build understanding of symmetry, geometric shapes,and spatial relations.

If he is still into those matchbox racing cars, give him a stop watch to time his races. Let him chart each car's score over multiple runs. He can determine by how much each car is faster, find out the average of each car or the race. keep a score of the world record and best times by cars. You can even have him do this once on a flat track and the raise the elevation. He probably already knows that you raise the elevation and incline the cars will speed up but let him figure out how much they speed up by doing mutliple runs at different elevations.

The other thing you can do is just build it into everyday activities. You are going to the grocery store with your kid. Let him know that you need 2 slices fo cheese (or whatever) for every member of the family (4) and have him figure out how much you need. You want to hand a picture? Let him use the tape measure to measure the frame, the wall, and help figure out where it should go to be centered in the room. You are going to clean up your loose change that you've collected in the couch and your purse throughout the year? Don't use the coin counters in the grocery store, pick up the wrappers at a bank and have him sort and count the change. Let him keep it in the end. My kids now have over $200 in their saving accounts from doing this over the years. You would be surprised how often math is in your life and you don't realize it.

This is one of the best posts on supplementing that I've read on DCUM. Not the OP, but thanks.

[Anonymous]

OP another approach would be to find creative ways to supplement Math that build concepts and give it more real world substance. Workbooks are fine but in the end developing love for something is more about understanding and enjoying how it fits into your world.

You can search Amazon for math games and math puzzles. You'd be surprised how much you can do with some dice. If you like computers or iPhone/IPads there are some fun math games out there for all levels. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, probability, graphing, and estimation easily translate into different games.

The Sir Cumference book series is a good way to build more advanced math vocubulary. My kids love math but struggle more with reading. Mummy math and the other books by these authors are a good way to get my math oriented kids into reading.

Geometry can be supplemented through many types of art projects or building activities. Tanagram art is great fun. Kids who like math recognize patterns easily so many optical illusion type art activities are enjoyable for them. Origami animals, legos, equilibrium blocks and other activities like this all build understanding of symmetry, geometric shapes,and spatial relations.

If he is still into those matchbox racing cars, give him a stop watch to time his races. Let him chart each car's score over multiple runs. He can determine by how much each car is faster, find out the average of each car or the race. keep a score of the world record and best times by cars. You can even have him do this once on a flat track and the raise the elevation. He probably already knows that you raise the elevation and incline the cars will speed up but let him figure out how much they speed up by doing mutliple runs at different elevations.

The other thing you can do is just build it into everyday activities. You are going to the grocery store with your kid. Let him know that you need 2 slices fo cheese (or whatever) for every member of the family (4) and have him figure out how much you need. You want to hand a picture? Let him use the tape measure to measure the frame, the wall, and help figure out where it should go to be centered in the room. You are going to clean up your loose change that you've collected in the couch and your purse throughout the year? Don't use the coin counters in the grocery store, pick up the wrappers at a bank and have him sort and count the change. Let him keep it in the end. My kids now have over $200 in their saving accounts from doing this over the years. You would be surprised how often math is in your life and you don't realize it.

Isn't this simply Every Day Math (University of Chicago)?

What do folk think of Every Day Math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP another approach would be to find creative ways to supplement Math that build concepts and give it more real world substance. Workbooks are fine but in the end developing love for something is more about understanding and enjoying how it fits into your world.

You can search Amazon for math games and math puzzles. You'd be surprised how much you can do with some dice. If you like computers or iPhone/IPads there are some fun math games out there for all levels. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, probability, graphing, and estimation easily translate into different games.

The Sir Cumference book series is a good way to build more advanced math vocubulary. My kids love math but struggle more with reading. Mummy math and the other books by these authors are a good way to get my math oriented kids into reading.

Geometry can be supplemented through many types of art projects or building activities. Tanagram art is great fun. Kids who like math recognize patterns easily so many optical illusion type art activities are enjoyable for them. Origami animals, legos, equilibrium blocks and other activities like this all build understanding of symmetry, geometric shapes,and spatial relations.

If he is still into those matchbox racing cars, give him a stop watch to time his races. Let him chart each car's score over multiple runs. He can determine by how much each car is faster, find out the average of each car or the race. keep a score of the world record and best times by cars. You can even have him do this once on a flat track and the raise the elevation. He probably already knows that you raise the elevation and incline the cars will speed up but let him figure out how much they speed up by doing mutliple runs at different elevations.

The other thing you can do is just build it into everyday activities. You are going to the grocery store with your kid. Let him know that you need 2 slices fo cheese (or whatever) for every member of the family (4) and have him figure out how much you need. You want to hand a picture? Let him use the tape measure to measure the frame, the wall, and help figure out where it should go to be centered in the room. You are going to clean up your loose change that you've collected in the couch and your purse throughout the year? Don't use the coin counters in the grocery store, pick up the wrappers at a bank and have him sort and count the change. Let him keep it in the end. My kids now have over $200 in their saving accounts from doing this over the years. You would be surprised how often math is in your life and you don't realize it.

This is one of the best posts on supplementing that I've read on DCUM. Not the OP, but thanks.

I totally agree. Look for books from the library to get more ideas. There's a lot you can do with cooking--undernstanding fractions (half cup), increasing/decreasing recipe size, etc.

[Anonymous]

Isn't this simply Every Day Math (University of Chicago)?

What do folk think of Every Day Math?

We are not there yet so I may have the wrong impression but doesn't it involve lots of word problems? There is a difference between doing math and reading through word problems in a worksheet. Kids can excel in math but have more difficulty reading, slower processing, or more difficulty with reading comprehension. If you give them straight numbers, an experiment that uses math, or an activity that they will do that involves math they speed through it. If you wrap it in language skills they can get bogged down with the language skills and not enjoy the math.

I know that my kids enjoy things like word scrambles, finding words that can be spelled backward and forwards, or word activities that are more pattern oriented but other reading activities including word problems or anything in paragraph form almost makes them zone out. They can do it but they hate these things. My 5 year old was in tears when the math assignments started becoming word problems. She quickly figured out which words to look for and the numbers so she could just do the math and get the right answer but her teacher made her read out loud the full paragraph which brought her to tears.

Again I could be wrong but its seems like EveryDay math had some good ideas but ended up being more a combination of language skills along with math. Most teachers that we have met and curriculums we have seen focus much more on language skills than math so I think Everyday Math may dilute math even more in the classroom application.

[Anonymous]

Do most kids need math supplementation?

[Anonymous]

In DCUMland, most parents need their kids to have math supplementation.

[Anonymous]

"In DCUMland, most parents need their kids to have math supplementation. "

Is something wrong with their kids? If not, what idiots would buy this crap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: My 5 year old was in tears when the math assignments started becoming word problems. She quickly figured out which words to look for and the numbers so she could just do the math and get the right answer but her teacher made her read out loud the full paragraph which brought her to tears.

At 5? There is something very, very wrong with a system/teacher/school where 5 year olds are brought to tears because of the work.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree. Look for books from the library to get more ideas. There's a lot you can do with cooking--undernstanding fractions (half cup), increasing/decreasing recipe size, etc.

Nice approach. My 7-year-old accomplished this the traditional way mastering the EPGY K through 7 online curriculum on the computer (he loves the computer and this mode of learning) and Math Olympiad competitions. Another go around of pre-algebra for reinforcement this school year and he'll move on to Algebra.

There are many fun ways to skin a cat.