Math Woes!!!

So its about that time of year where it seems like all the progress we made and curriculum we plugged through in math is beginning to unravel. I mean its sometimes as if nothing was retained. But I know that is not true its just like with anything else you do systematically every day burnout will eventually set in.

Now I must ask myself what do we do to bring these numbers back to life. At first I was drawing blanks. Then I thought to myself why not just x out the textbook for a while and do some creative stuff. I was thinking maybe we could do some file folder games, card games, computer games, grocery store trips, straight manipulative play, and whatever else I come across. I have been doing some searches for resources and I have even came across a set of living books that are for math. And I found that my local library carries them. I have been on the forums and message boards for homeschoolers lately and it seems that I am not alone in my year end math madness. There have been even dozens of blog post popping up about this same subject. Here are some links to ones I found helpful:

Epi Kardia
Homeschooling in a Bilingual Home
Homeschool Articles
One of the other reasons I feel like we are having difficulty with math is because I don't think our curriculum is a great match for my learner. My daughter is a young first grader and this year we have been using Horizons k from Alpha Omega Publishing. She started mid summer on the 1st book and is now finishing the 2nd book and should be done some time this week. I mean Horizons is a wonderful program and I highly recommend it for early elementary grades but it might not have been as conceptually strong as I needed it to be for my child.

We have been looking into using MathUSee from Steve Demi this next go round. I went on the website and watched the Demistration as they call it and I think its exactly what we need. It uses a See, Say, Do method. Meaning you see the problem with the manipulative's, you verbally express the the problem, then you write the expression. They use lots of word problems as well. I have read tons of reviews this far. Most all who have used it are great fans of the program. I have also read it is a great program for those who follow a Classical style or Charlotte Mason approach which makes it another plus for me. So now lets pray we receive the funds to get the ball rolling.