tori729 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 My son is good at math - he was great at patterns in private school K and I barely had to help him at all in first grade. However, we used Horizons Math for last year and after last year, he really doesn't like math anymore. :( It seemed to be way too much busywork to me, even though about halfway through we started crossing out problems. It was just a lot of repeat stuff and drudgery for him to get through every day. So this year, I went ahead and bought it again for him but now after talking with my friend about Math U See, I am having second thoughts. Would this be a better choice for a kid like him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 If he is really good with math Math U See might not be a good fit. Beast Academy might work well but he is a bit young. Hopefully, someone will have better suggestions for that age... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nannyaunt Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I use beast academy, math mammoth and rod and staff. They are all excellent programs designed for different kinds of kids. At that age math mammoth is good for using lots of different strategies. I use rod and staff for the kid who gets overwhelmed with the all of the different problems in the ways to solve it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateingr Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Math U See is a quality program, but it will likely move way too slow for him. I'd suggest looking at Singapore Math. I have a full review here for my take on it--I used it with my mathy guy for second grade math and found it a good fit. If you go that route, I'd definitely recommend using the Intensive Practice book rather than the workbook. It provides more challenging practice, which helps a lot for kids who are bored with the typical material but still need to learn it. Math Mammoth is a great conceptual program, too, but it doesn't provide the same level of challenge as Singapore's Intensive Practice. Beast Academy may be a great choice once he's in third grade, but he'll need full mastery of addition and subtraction (and a fair amount of problem-solving perseverance) before he'll be ready for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 For my math overwhelmed kiddo, Math Lessons for a Living Education has been a wonderful blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
u2006kids Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Math Mamoth -specially these. Youc an sit and work with the child on these. Wont tkae much time http://www.mathmammoth.com/review_workbooks/ Then Singapore math http://www.singaporemath.com/SearchResults.asp?search=+Challenging+Word+Problems Then Beast Academy Do look into TT math and CTC math Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I'm partial to Miquon, myself. It's cheap, it's simple, it's fun, and it sets kids up with good math sense. Educationunboxed.com has videos that show the Miquon/cuisinare rod method to give you insight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Have a look at CSMP. The lessons may be a bit too short and sweet in the grade 1 level, but you could easily double or triple up until you found somewhere you needed to slow down. http://stern.buffalostate.edu/CSMPProgram/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Yeah, MUS is VERY incremental. If he was bored last year, he will definitely be bored with MUS. Singapore is a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 We like Math Mammoth printed in color and take "math breaks" with Life of Fred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tori729 Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 So I guess I should say he's probably not advanced at math, per se, because he did need help with new concepts but he would master them quickly and be ready to go on and the book wasn't. So I'm not sure where that puts him, just that he used to like math and after last year, now he doesn't. It's the book he's least looking forward to. We have done Life of Fred as a fun thing over the summer and he loved that. We probably would have done it this summer but we were busy selling our house. ;) Since we're going to probably start schooling next week, I might go w/ Math Mammoth. Do I need a teacher's guide or just the workbooks? (I never used a guide w/ Horizons.) And should I just buy the textbook version or print pages? I like colors, and so does my son so I'm leaning towards buying the actual book but there are a lot of extra options with the download. I guess I could download and then get it printed, but that might end up being the same cost... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateingr Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 There's no teacher guide with Math Mammoth--all of the instruction is embedded in the worktext, so that's all you need to buy. I've never priced out the printing costs, so I'm not sure which would be more cost effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 MathMammoth is a terrific program for a child who is strong in math and doesn't mind doing a lot of worksheet problems. It is great for developing mental math skills, but if your child was overwhelmed with horizons I would think he might be overwhelmed with MammothMath too. Of course, it is easy to just have him do half the problems. I used to just print some of the sheets and skip others. For my math strong boy it was doable. My second child couldn't stand it and it frustrated her to tears. Another option is RightStart. They have nicely laid out lessons that include a warm-up for review or something small to learn like Venn Diagrams and then a main activity. A lot of the mental math is described with visuals like the abacus and the actual practice, though they have some practice sheets, is done through playing games. Be forewarned though that is comes with lots of manipulatives and so is expensive and it is teacher intensive because well, you actually teach it rather than use a workbook. Math-U-See is also thorough but I have yet to have a child not extraordinarily bored by it and I was tempted to test the waters with all 4 children, I don't know why. I think the variety of topics is better in the older grades but we never made it that far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogger Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Sorry, I didn't realize you already decided. I don't know if you have a laser copier or ink jet and that is hard for me to price out. I did like that I could print out only the pages I needed with the PDF and I could get it right away with shipping and I could use it for another child later. I do wish in hind sight that I had bought the series that goes by subject rather than grade level so I could pick out what we needed to work on easier but if you want to just work straight through something the grade level series would be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I know you're leaning toward Math Mammoth... but I have to say, for a kid who used to like math and is maybe pretty good at it but is easily overwhelmed and turned off by busy work, I don't think it's the right choice. The look of the pages is very crowded and overwhelming. Many people don't do all the problems (the flexibility of being able to do some but not all is really a good part of the program) but just the look of the page is a turn off for a lot of kids. And not only are the pages crowded, but MM tends toward overteaching things on purpose - do it this way, now do it that way, now do it another way, now pick a way, now do it with this in between step... for kids who just get it, it can be a turn off. Don't get me wrong - I think all those elements make it an excellent program for other kids and it definitely gives a solid foundation and can be used really flexibly and can help some kids accelerate and others go slow... I just am not sure it's right for the kid you describe. For the OP's ds, I would second Miquon - pared down look, less is more approach, hands on with the C-rods. Or I would suggest Singapore but just using one component, at least to start. Colorful pages, plenty of empty space in the early grades, similar conceptual approach to MM but with a lot less of that little by little scaffolding. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 My son is good at math - he was great at patterns in private school K and I barely had to help him at all in first grade. However, we used Horizons Math for last year and after last year, he really doesn't like math anymore. :( It seemed to be way too much busywork to me, even though about halfway through we started crossing out problems. It was just a lot of repeat stuff and drudgery for him to get through every day. So this year, I went ahead and bought it again for him but now after talking with my friend about Math U See, I am having second thoughts. Would this be a better choice for a kid like him? is there a way you could borrow it from your friend before committing to it? You ds is just 7? You can do math-y things that don't seem like math, until he's up to doing something that does seem like math. Don't underestimate games like Yahtzee or Uno, or even Parcheesi, or Sorry! Or jacks. There's a neat math game called "The Wonder Number Game." I big pink puffy heart that game. For awhile they sold chips that matched all the colors on the board, but not any longer; if you could find them, that would be great (it comes with four colors, but having chips in all the colors on the board is even better). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuNaturel Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 My daughter has never really liked math. I'm trying Bob Jones Math this year because I heard that kids actually enjoy it. The only draw back is that the material is about one grade behind what it should be, so I'm using Math 5 for 4th grade. She was already doing some grade 4 level stuff last year, so I'm not worried about it. Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 We use Math Mammoth. I purchased the download version. It comes with the student text, the teacher's answer book, tests, links, and extra sheets. I just print out a weeks worth at a time and keep a weekly folder. I have not noticed the printing costs being extravagent. I had a friend take it to some copy store, not sure who, and it cost her $70 to have the whole thing printed in black and white and bound. I'm pretty sure it's cheaper to print at home. Just my experience... Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Another one that might work well is Math In Focus. Lots of color and space on the page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSinNS Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 So, MUS is easy to accelerate in that you can skip worksheets. And easy to slow down if you need to add more. ds 11 skipped the middle two sheets and the test in almost every lesson. He liked MUS a lot, but it got pricy when he went through the books so fast, so I printed MM sheets that I had to cover decimals, percents, and integers rather than buy another book. But honestly, if I had to do it again, I'd have bought zeta. I'm not using it for ds 7 because he was passing dd8, but I really like MUS. ds 7 (very mathy) is happy with MM, though I honestly get goosebumps looking at it. The pages are cluttered, and I panic when I see them (hours spent dawdling over math in my misspent youth). I almost switched him back to Beta this year, but he's happy with MM, doesn't want to change, and I have it here. The word problems in MUS are a bit weak (they add some slightly harder ones in the teacher's manual around Delta but I supplement) but for good, solid, clear, conceptual, no messing-around arithmetic, I honestly don't think you can beat it. Oh, I also supplement mental math a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tori729 Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 So.... I printed out the Grade 1 Review from MM and he struggled a bit because they did things differently than he had already learned. (Like he didn't know what "half past" meant. He understood the material but I had to explain a lot of it and some of it seemed a little hard for him actually. For starters, I'm teaching math from scratch to a kindergartener too so I'm not too keen on lots of manipulatives for my second grader. Also, I'm a workbook person, not a "let's play learning games all day" type. I guess I want something that teaches a concept and but doesn't dwell on it for the rest of the freakin book, lol. My friend does Singapore and I could get some feedback from her, but maybe I should just stay w/ Horizons anyway?? I already bought the books awhile ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 My take on MUS: yes it's incremental, but you can speed up/slow down as needed. I have not used every worksheet for any of the lessons so far this year, we usually do 1 worksheet the first day of a topic, the next day is a review of the topic then a review sheet and move on. [bonus, if you are only using 1-3 worksheets/lesson, then you don't have to buy another workbook for the next kid if they use the same program. ] Then every 2 weeks or so, doing a general review to make sure it is still there (and it always is, at least so far). Last year, though, we had a few lessons where we did a whole 2 weeks on just one lesson, because that was what they needed. I've also done two lessons on the same day if we already know the topics or they seem very closely related. I like the manipulatives and it is not intimidating for kids, if this is an issue. If he likes patterns, the manipulatives would probably be good for him to build with on his own. I don't see him using these as a detracting from the teaching of the kinder; it may actually free you up some after the first initial examples, then he can build on his own without you. You CAN do games with the manipulatives, but we use them more as a tool/illustrator and I don't feel like the program is based around manipulative games to learn the concept. But, if you aren't thrilled with manipulatives, then MUS probably wouldn't be a good choice. The main problem, I see, is if you are flying through a book, you will have to buy another book sooner. Not necessarily bad, but if you want one book to last the entire year, this probably wouldn't fit what you need. Whatever you decide, good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof4babes Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 I switched my kids over to MM this year from Singapore. We are about a month in, and they are doing really well with it. I have one mathy kid in Grade 4, and one non mathy kid 10 working in grade 5 math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 I have kids that are rather good at math and intuitive but they have various visual issues (not acuity) and are very affected by how things look. Math U See is great visually but Singapore is, too, especially the US edition. I purchased MM this year and from looking at it, I tend to feel that Singapore would be better for those who feel overwhelmed at math, simply for the visual aspect. We decided to keep going with Singapore. (Our only problem with Singapore is that dd wants to do it alone.) I have experience with Horizons and think the look of the material as the grades progress could lead to kids who are sensitive feeling overwhelmed. It's a little thing but for kids who may already have a little anxiety, it might be enough to cause problems. The significance of formatting and my kids' reactions to it is something I've come to appreciate over time, and I don't remember ever talking about it in front of them. But this year, littlest dd is using Daily Grams. She came to me right away on the day we started school and asked, "Have you looked at that?!!" and started complaining about the font and formatting, not the content or having to do the work. She's in vision therapy right now, and DG is so light that I think we'll keep it. But if she said the same thing about math which requires much more time and effort, I'd be inclined to take the comments seriously and be attentive to signs of overwhelm and frustration. CLE has lots of white space, too, but the lessons are longer and that could turn a kid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 Math Mammoth has been a great fit for us this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachingmomster Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 We love Life of Fred! My daughter was reluctant at math in the beginning, but the silly stories helped her do math without realizing she was doing math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 My son loves math and seems to catch on quickly. We use Right Start and he loves the hands on element. He moves fairly quickly through the lessons. And we actually use Beast as a supplement. The challenge is fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tori729 Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 Ugg. I might go to the local homeschool store and look at Singapore w/ him. I already told him we were trying something different in math and he got excited about it and this morning I tried to have him do the first page of Horizons and he gave up and got frustrated because he just wants something different. So I'm going to have him look at Singapore. I feel like maybe if we just change it up, no matter what it is, that would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tori729 Posted September 14, 2015 Author Share Posted September 14, 2015 So I picked up Singapore 1A Textbook and ordered the Workbook... but upon doing the lesson w/ him I think that the Textbook will be plenty for him right now. He did the review in the first section with no problem so I know he won't need more of the same work. Maybe I should get the IP book for him instead? I let him write in the textbook because he was having trouble using a separate sheet of paper. Should I get the teacher book? I have a feeling I need to go back to the store again and re-look at the books again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Princess and the Jedi Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 So I picked up Singapore 1A Textbook and ordered the Workbook... but upon doing the lesson w/ him I think that the Textbook will be plenty for him right now. He did the review in the first section with no problem so I know he won't need more of the same work. Maybe I should get the IP book for him instead? I let him write in the textbook because he was having trouble using a separate sheet of paper. Should I get the teacher book? I have a feeling I need to go back to the store again and re-look at the books again! We started Singapore at 3A, so I can't speak for the earlier grades, but I am glad I have the Home Instructor's Guide (Not the teacher's edition which is for the classroom). The first part of every new concept has a hands on lesson, and the instructions for the hands on component are only in the HIG. The hands on lesson helps my son discover something about the concept before I teach it. In some of the harder concepts, the hands on component is really helpful. The text has the visual component and some practice problems. The workbook is designed for independent practice, and the problems are usually a little different than in the text. After doing the hands on lesson and discussing the visual examples in text, your child should be able to do the workbook independently. The workbook isn't just lists of problems like the text. There's usually a puzzle to work out, too, so it's a little fun. I usually skip the text practice if my son gets it after a practice problem or two and just go to the workbook. We could always go back to the text, but I've never had to. There's plenty of room to work out problems in the workbook, so he likes that better. The instructor's guide also teaches how to teach the Singapore way (Hands on first, visual next, then just numbers). It also teaches how to teach the mental math component of each lesson and includes the practice sheets for that. The HIG also has explicit instructions on teaching the Singapore bar model method to visualize word problems, which you will see throughout the series. I feel like we missed a little too much of that foundational concept, but we get by. Toward the end of each unit, instead of a hands on activity, there is either an enrichment or challenge activity or a reinforcement game for each section. Amazingly, whenever I stress out because my son isn't getting part of a concept there's a reassuring message about his struggle being normal right in the guide and a reinforcement activity that helps us get over the struggle. Oh, and the answer key is in there, too. Long story short, I know other have done it, but I wouldn't teach Singapore without the HIG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I would probably wait a few more lessons before making any decisions on additional materials. As for additional materials themselves....I personally like to have the WB and IP on hand. My eldest kiddo is very mathy and doesn't need all of the materials. But...he does not use the textbook for problem solving (if any of the books, I would have ditched that one in the earlier grades). He primarily uses the WB and then we use IP to review and enhance. I like to take any of the extra pages that he did not complete, and rotate them into his independent work folder in later weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tori729 Posted September 16, 2015 Author Share Posted September 16, 2015 Man, I'm confused. I know for each set there is a teacher's guide, workbook, textbook and optional intensive practice book. So what should I get?! Ahh!! hehe And I actually got the 2A book - but should I have gotten the 1B book instead?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 For each grade there is: HIG (Home Instructor's Guide) Teacher's Guide (You definitely do not need this extra expensive piece...don't ask me how I know) Textbook Workbook Intensive Practice Extra Practice Test book All of the above have TWO books per grade. So, 1A and then 1B Then there are other Singapore pieces that are grade-level specific: Challenging Word Problems (highly recommend) Sprints (I think that's what it's called) Visual Thinking in Mathematics (I believe they discontinued this) Process Skills in Problem-Solving (highly recommend) One of the biggest criticisms of Singapore (and an accurate one if I must say so) is that it has too many pieces to juggle. But...the good side of that is that it is highly customizable. You do not need all of those pieces! For example, the Intensive Practice and Extra Practice serve different audiences...IP is for kids that need more of a challenge...and XP is for kids that need more hand-holding. Many folks do not use both CWP and Process Skills. You don't have to. I like to use them both, because one is good at teaching problem solving skills, while the other has more practice to actually use those skills. You don't need the test books. I have bought them, but always find myself questioning why...because we don't use much from them. Primarily, I use them for spiral review. Singapore is probably my most involved curriculum...lol. Many pieces...lots of collaborating between those pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohop Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I have the downloadable copy of Math Mammoth for grades 1 through 6, and at the start of every year I get it printed in color through bestvaluecopy.com. Even with shipping, it's less than half the cost of any other print shops I know. I think I spend about $45 a year for color printing and spiral binding (with plastic cover and vinyl backing) the two work texts per grade. If you are a new customer, you can usually get a code for free shipping and some free pages, taking your cost down closer to $30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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