Homeschool World Forum

[joann46]

My son is 9 and we are using the 3rd grade horizons math.What is a reasonable amount of time to spend daily with this?
It can take him almost an hour to get a two sided page done(one lesson).Is this too long?
Thanks JG

[hscoach]

That seems a little long...........is he just taking his time.........or is he struggling and not understanding it? Does he know his addition and subtraction facts so he can be fast with them?
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Laura L. Barth
http://www.freehomeschooladvice.com

[dkocur]

I agree with hscoach. It does sound a little long and I would suspect an underlying problem with your son's recall of math facts. If you are unsure, you can give him a timed test with just the addition and subtraction facts to see how he does. I have some worksheets on my website that you can use http://mathfacts.ubersmartsoftware.com/mathfacts-worksheets.php. (Use any of the "all" sheets.) Your son should be able to complete a worksheet with 25 problems on it in under 1 minute 15 seconds (3 seconds per problem). If your son falls short of that mark, try giving the test orally to see whether the issue is with a recall of the facts, or with the ability to write them quickly.

HTH
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David Kocur
UberSmart Software

[joann46]

Weve been doing timed drills with addition before the worksheets.He can do 20 in 1 minute, thats his max so far.He does love doing the drills and see's it as a challenge.I have him do two each day and record the best score.

Im not sure why it takes so long to do the pages, they do have alot on them, those triple digit additions are what take him longest.I usually only make him do half of those.

[dkocur]

In that case, you might want to reverse roles and have him "teach" you how to do long addition by walking you through several problems on the worksheet. Watch closely to see if there is any particular part of the process that he's struggling with.

If he does fine "teaching" you, then you might want to consider the possibility that he's just bored and needs to move on to something more challenging.

Another possibility (although I think in this case is less likely) is that he is strong on some math facts but not others. (A worksheet of 20 or 25 problems doesn't cover all the math facts.) If you suspect that's the case, you can download my program and have him take a few tests. After each test, look at the problems he missed or was slow on, and see if they're roughly the same set each time. If they are, then he needs to work on memorizing those facts.
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David Kocur
UberSmart Software

[mschickie]

There are some days it takes dd that long to do Horizons 3. It is not that she does not know the material she just gets side tracked. On a good day it takes her 1/2 hr- 40 min. On a slow day 1-1 1/2 hrs, Mom is not happy on those days.