Encouragement to keep trying new things, if what you're doing is not working with one of your kids...
Hannah has a math problem. And possibly an attention/focus problem. She seems to not be able to memorize math facts at all. Totally foreign to me, as I never have to teach my boys math...they are always a step ahead of their curriculum. It's okay...not everyone is good at the same things, and everyone struggles with something, right?
So...I held her back a year, just in math (3rd instead of 4th). She just finished the second time through 3rd grade math. She is currently working through three different 4th grade math programs simultaneously: Kitchen Math (found online, free, no longer available), Mammoth Math 4, and Bob Jones Math 4 Review Sheets (I already had these). She does 2 days of KM, 2 days of MM, and 1 day of BJU. All have totally different teaching methods and goals. In Kitchen Math, she can use a calculator. In Mammoth Math, she is learning new concepts (this is rough...) and we are moving very slowly and using lots of manipulatives. In BJU, often the concepts are ahead of MM, so we do it totally together. There is also a lot of drill review. She uses Unifix cubes for these drills and it does seem to be increasing her speed.
Ten years ago, when we started homeschooling, using three different curricula in this way would have never occurred to me. But it's working for her! The constant change in methods and levels seems to actually help her.
If what you're doing is not working...try something new! Mix it up! Think outside the box to do what each individual child needs. Isn't that why we homeschool?
