math map

The Scientist, who I thought was behind in math, turns out to be all over the board: he can plot functions, can't do long division. He can solve linear equations, but doesn't know how to calculate a percentage. This is because the last traditional math book he used was a fourth grade book. Then he stopped homeschooling, but read the entire Life of Fred series in his free time. He picked up a lot, considering he did none of the exercises! I've got him in a review worktext that briefly teaches then drills all of the skills he hasn't remembered and practiced (or possibly never learned in the first place). He's matured a lot this past year in school, even though he didn't do any math, and he's suddenly capable of breezing through a workbook. So he's going to be done with Math Skills 6 before autumn. I am wondering what to do if we start homeschooling again then. I like these review workbooks, the type design for home supplementation, like Spectrum and Math Skills and whatnot. I like them for my kids, for their situation -- children who read about math often, watch videos on it, play math games, follow math news. The lessons briefly formalize something they've "picked up in the ethers" and provides a goodly amount of straightforward practice in it. That way I know they've covered, formally, everything. It's fill-in-the-gap insurance.

My younger reader of Life of Fred is doing well with Math Mammoth. It has in common with home supplement workbooks that it drills thoroughly and teaches one topic at a time, but it has more instructional elements. It doesn't assume the student has approached this material before. The only reason I didn't pick up Math Mammoth for the Scientist was that I thought, before I saw how much his study skills have developed, that we needed a smaller book so as to move more quickly.

But it turns out we don't need to be so efficient as I thought. If our current trend continues, we'll be aged out of this approach before autumn. I'll have to pick out a post-arithmetic, grades 7-12 math program, or at least something for algebra. Do I use the same home supplementary, user-friendly review and drill approach? Those are geared towards adults who are reviewing for community college. Scientist may be put off my the small text and black-and-white books. If we choose a program that takes a mastery approach and includes lots of practice, will our sequence be out of wack with the standardized testing sequence of those years? And what have I decided we are doing about testing, anyway... oh my.