# Jr high school math for summer



## jcatblum (Dec 15, 2009)

Need a few suggestions for math for DD. We homeschooled in the past. This yr she went to public school. She has ALWAYS struggled at math. Saxon is awful for her. She did very well with math u see. We did 2 yrs of switched on school house & we also have used Alex. I believe switched on school house is the closest to what she does in school. 
I am just looking for something to use as a summer tutoring. Currently considering SOS again, but thought I would ask if anyone found something that worked well, she will be entering 9th grade. 
I do love math u see but I don't know how well that transfers to what she will be doing in 9th grade @ public school. 
(I am interested in homeschooling next yr, but my girls want to be @ public school, so for now we are going to try that again next yr--- for them it is all about hanging out with friends at school)


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## jamala (May 4, 2007)

My kids grew up on saxon and now we love love love teaching textbooks math. I like horizons until grade 3 and then teaching textbooks. I taught public school for 10 years before homeschooling my kids and both of those programs would have easily transitioned to the public school. Our public schools used saxon at the time I taught.


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## jcatblum (Dec 15, 2009)

After much thought I am going with chalkboard math. DD loves learning by DVD's, she even enjoys cozy grammar, my younger one hates it. Each child is different, so for the child who loves TV I am going with video based instruction in hopes of it helping. Wish me luck! She needs to have strong math skills entering high school, so we are trying to do everything we can.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

jcatblum said:


> After much thought I am going with chalkboard math. DD loves learning by DVD's, she even enjoys cozy grammar, my younger one hates it. Each child is different, so for the child who loves TV I am going with video based instruction in hopes of it helping. Wish me luck! She needs to have strong math skills entering high school, so we are trying to do everything we can.


chalkboard? Or chalkdust? I have heard great thinks about chalkdust. =0)

Cindy


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## Mid Tn Mama (May 11, 2002)

The best kind of math lessons are ones using real data. Think of incorporating math with social studies (population statistics/graphs) and science (experiments with data tables and graphs). Here are some internet sources for math activities:

Interactive math skill builders - Sixth grade at I4C


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## jcatblum (Dec 15, 2009)

Sorry! Yes chalk dust algebra. I am using the tapatalk app & my phone often picks words for me that it believes are better than what I type. I didn't proof read it! 

I will check out the online resources when I am @ my PC. Every bit helps.


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

As a former middle school math teacher, I'd suggest doing at least once a week some logic problems that you can buy in magazines at the supermarket. Exceptionally helpful to instruct kids to think using deductive reasoning, and organizing thought problems. Helps kids to learn to approach problem solving methodically, and they love them.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Mid Tn Mama said:


> The best kind of math lessons are ones using real data. Think of incorporating math with social studies (population statistics/graphs) and science (experiments with data tables and graphs).


I agree. Most Moore homeschoolers use a cottage business of some sort. It is self motivating when kids make money. My daughter bought goats at the sale barn, then resold them. They want to make a profit, so they have to figure the cost of buying kids, feeding the kids (grain), if they have enough goat milk for young kids from their existing nanny goats, advertising costs, etc. 
You can do any cottage business your child can do, crafts, jewelry making, selling dog clothes on ebay, spinning wool from your sheep, selling eggs, or whatever. I had one older son who sold baseball cards when he was a teen. He also cut out balsam wood dollhouse parts and made doll houses. Whatever interests your child can somehow be made in to something that they can use to learn and make a little money.
The idea of a cottage business like the Moores use is great because children want to figure up how much things cost, how much they can make, what percentage of the sale price will go to advertising, how to find or make cheaper products, so they can sell for more profit, etc. It is just such a wonderful idea for children to do. Most kids around here in the Moore program sell eggs, but a lot did other things like mow lawns, clean horse stalls, babysit for summer, teach sign language or some sort of service. Service businesses don't have as much overhead, but they do take more physical labor. It's just great for kids to want to figure up their expected pay and make up a budget for that pay.


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## cjean (May 1, 2007)

Our youngest DD really struggled with math, also. She has to see what the point of it all is, if you know what I mean. Saxon was terrible for her, just formulas and no reason. 

So, we found the "Life of Fred" books. These are wonderful! I recommend them to anyone who has a student that is bored or struggling with math. They offer K-college books, and you can start wherever you need to.

Life of Fred Mathematics


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## bajiay (Apr 8, 2008)

cjean-I have never heard of "Life of Fred" books. Thanks so much for this link. I think my daughter will like this!


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## cjean (May 1, 2007)

bajiay said:


> cjean-I have never heard of "Life of Fred" books. Thanks so much for this link. I think my daughter will like this!



You bet! Hope it helps as many students (and parents!) as possible. Watching my dd cry in frustration, so sure that she was just "_stupid_", made me cry too. We were both so happy when we found that curriculum.


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## KnowOneSpecial (Sep 12, 2010)

We liked Horizon's Math. It was a spiral math course.


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## jcatblum (Dec 15, 2009)

So far we are loving chalk dust math-- I also picked up some critical thinking & logic books @ the Wichita is homeschool conference. Figure we will try to use them 2 days a wk. 
After watching the first lesson in chalk dust my youngest said -- if this is the way he explains everything this will be way easy! I am thankful we purchased the program!


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