Homeschool World Forum

I have a 6 year old. She is a very active, very smart, kinestic learner. She is like her father and I, if we get bored, we are in trouble. She has trouble sitting for too long (unless its something very interesting). Part of my problem is that she also has her own learning style ( ie, had the strength to walk at 9 - 10 monthes, couldn't get her to take any steps on her own. the day before her first birthday, she is standing by the couch, turns, and runs about 20 steps. Stops, looks back at the couch, shrugs, and kept on running. This is typical of her). While we were living in the States, we had her in kindergarten. She loved it. Now that we have started homeschooling, she fights it, especially math. I love school, I love math, so this is especially difficult for me to understand. I would send her to a local school, but the education is so bad, you want to sit down and cry. I would bring some of the neighbor kids in, but they are already having difficulty with simple addition and subtraction (these are girls ages 8 - 10. Some of these girls still are unable to read the simpliest spanish - their native tongue). I am in a tough spot. I have a smart, strong-minded kinestic only child, being raised in a very ignorant culture (the people are ignorant, but not stupid.) Simple discipline is totally unheard of in this area. So I have alot I'm dealing with. I'm not sure what all are the problems, let alone the solutions. Maybe some input and discussion may shed some light on what I need to do.

Anything that involves hands-on activities will be good. Math manipulatives, tracing letters and numbers, dressing up as historical characters, mixing (safe) chemicals to see what happens, etc. For reading, you'll want to start with a phonics program such as Sing, Spell, Read and Write that involves songs as well as workbooks.

EDIT: I see you only asked about math, you can ignore the rest of the post if you want

Interesting post. Good for you that you are homeschooling, yes, all of us have probably decided it was the best choice for our children no matter what circumstances. Some math manipulatives you can use can be as simple as food that you have .. macaroni for instance. You can show addition and even multiplication by the way you lay it out. You could use + or = signs that you have made, with a pen and cut out. For multiplication you can lay the items out in a square or rectangle and show that the that two side "multiplied" together equal the total items. While doing this, also show on paper,what the equasion looks like. You will also come up with other ways as you begin.

My dd is very visual, very hands-on. We LOVE Math-u-See (in our 2nd year of it)...the curriculum program uses lots of manipulatives, DVD taught by the instructor who created the program. The webstie is: http://mathusee.com/ The Home page offers a free demo, might be worth looking into and she if she likes it!

I'm glad that you have decided to homeschool.
Don't let your area slow down what you want for your child.
It sounds like you have been doing some moving. Give Your daughter some time to adjust.
Sounded like she loved school, make sure she still gets the socialization.
Watch what her interests are and apply it with the math and reading.
is she more attentive in the morning or afternoon?
Does she like to help you cook? there is following directions and math, and chemistry right there.
Does she like to be outside? take her on nature walks, plant a garden, lots of science activites there. math count the animals you see, count the seeds ect. Tells and draw stories of what she saw, heard ect.
Have her help you go shopping. Lots of math there.
Read before going to bed, to wind down, quiet time. Read books on her interests.
Look up on line Kinesthetic learning and see what ideas they have. www.cuyamaca.edu/eops/dsps/resourceskin.asp looked like a good one.
they of course mentioned hands on, there are also field trips, Short study breaks.
any way check it out.
I hope this helped.