Can someone help me see the whole picture? (math related)

[3 ladybugs]

My son is doing well with Miquon. He is an older child so he is not flying through it, but going at a good clip. I expect him to be done with it completely this year despite starting it in May. 

 

I have seen many on here say that he should go to Beast after he is done. I don't like the look of Beast, but I would have never thought in a million years that he would do as well as he is with Miquon. What do people go to after Beast though?

 

I have thought about testing him when he is done to see where he would go for MUS. I am thinking maybe Delta based on what I see??? I like that that goes farther in math all the way to high school math. I don't mind that it isn't very rigorous at that point as I want him to hopefully be doing college classes in high school and ANYTHING is better then NOTHING for that. However I worry that MUS wouldn't be a good fit for him as he seems to do well with the less bells and whistles. 

 

Sorry for the questions. I am a planner and like to stay a few steps ahead of my son's education. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

What about Singapore? 

[Kiara.I]

After Beast you can do Art of Problem Solving, which definitely goes all the way through high school.

 

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[MeaganS]

DD will be done with Miquon in the next year as well and our plan is to do Beast with MEP. We actually already started Beast, but she does it is on the side and only when we feel like it right now (so we're going slowly). Then hopefully she meshes with AOPS, because I have a super homeschooing mom crush on their products.

[regentrude]

I have thought about testing him when he is done to see where he would go for MUS. I am thinking maybe Delta based on what I see??? I like that that goes farther in math all the way to high school math. I don't mind that it isn't very rigorous at that point as I want him to hopefully be doing college classes in high school and ANYTHING is better then NOTHING for that. However I worry that MUS wouldn't be a good fit for him as he seems to do well with the less bells and whistles. 

 

I do not understand the bolded. On one hand you don't mind an easy math program, on the other you want your DS to accelerate so he can take college classes in high school? That is an odd dichotomy.

Math is not a race. If your student is strong in math, he will benefit more from a thorough, deep curriculum than from racing through K-12 math with a light program in order to get to "college math". And a less capable student for whom a light program is appropriate would benefit from taking more time to master the basics instead of racing to college math. THE most important math skill for success  at college is a thorough, rock solid, mastery of prealgebra and algebra 1.

 

To answer your other question: many people go from Beast to AoPS. Which goes all the way to calculus 2 and provides additional books on topics not typically part of the high school canon.

Edited September 27, 2016 by regentrude

[SparklyUnicorn]

I agree, but if your goal is to attempt to accelerate him, I don't think MUS is the best choice. 

[wendyroo]

When you say doing college classes in high school, do you mean college level classes while he is still high school age or high school level classes in a college setting?

 

The latter has never seemed like a good plan to me.  At a college, algebra 1 is a remedial course primarily taken by students who struggle with math.  By necessity, the material is watered down and not covered in a deep, conceptual manner.  A student who takes remedial classes at the college will often be unprepared for true college level classes later on.

 

As for the former, I'm not convinced that is something that can be decided for a kid this far in advance.  Certainly there are high school students that can excel in college level math classes, but to do so successfully, I think they need to be self-driven math lovers...students who would wilt in a program like MUS.  

 

Either way, I would build on the foundation Miquon has laid by moving on to another strong, conceptual program like Beast Academy, Singapore, Math Mammoth or MEP.   Any of those would dovetail nicely into the AOPS sequence which would carry him through high school.

 

Wendy

[wapiti]

Funny you should use the words "whole picture."  Miquon is great for visual-spatial kids who excel at the big picture.  Likewise for Beast (elementary), which is published by AoPS, and AoPS (middle/high school).

 

Alternatively, I'd look at Singapore, MM or MEP for elementary.  I wouldn't worry about high school math so far in advance.  In general, prealgebra and algebra are good years to make a switch.  High school math levels are relatively standardized such that it's not a big deal to switch publishers in between years, with the exception of trying to go from a light high school program such as MUS to an especially rigorous program such as AoPS in the middle of the high school sequence.  Those two are at opposite ends of a spectrum and there are plenty of choices in between.  Cross the high school math bridge when you come to it.

Edited September 27, 2016 by wapiti

[homecool]

With my youngest I used Miquon for about a year and a half and Singapore the entire time.  If I had discovered Miquon earlier I may would have used it exclusively with her and then moved to Singapore.

[Farrar]

Beast worked well for my Miquon kid. But it might or might not work for yours. Depends. It's as different from a traditional looking program as Miquon for some of the same reasons but also for some different ones. Obviously the story and gn format are just a hook, but a very well done one. The problem sets, a little like Miquon, also ask kids to think out of the box. They do throw in a lot of harder problems than Miquon. But, like Miquon, the structure of the problems is such that kids can progress through them and learn from them, which is the discovery element. It's stronger in Miquon than Beast, for sure. But it's a little in Beast as well.

 

While Beast might or might not be right for him (I agree with looking at Singapore, MM, MEP, etc to see some other possibilities), I really don't know why you'd want to push him into MUS. MUS is the opposite of discovery based and really the opposite of the "big picture" and holistic thinking that Miquon really emphasizes. A kid who does well with Miquon will probably like other programs that emphasize the big picture of math and thinking big. MUS emphasizes the nitty gritty specifics, so much so that it breaks topics down so that kids spend a whole year on one instead of jumping around like in Miquon.

 

Of course, some kids like different approaches and do well with them, it just seems like a confusing choice. Is it just that you have experience with MUS and that you gravitate toward it? Or that you own it already? I find that one of the hardest things is to teach our kids as they need to be taught, not as we wish we had been taught.

[3 ladybugs]

Sorry I was absent yesterday. One of those days.

 

I don't really want to push him into any math. My house is very math rich. Once my in-laws move out (they say in about 5 years... we will see) my house will be even more so. Advanced math for "fun" books are common in my husbands library. I think that is why I am not worried about math being "easy" for him or not. I think that we will naturally fill in the blanks including my FIL hopefully teaching my boys how to make a slide rule (he uses one daily for work). 

 

Singapore we tried first when he was little. It was a disaster. He hated it and he learned very little. So I am hesitant to go back to it. 

 

I guess I will just have to play around and see what works for him. He is so different then I thought he would be!

[Tanaqui]

my FIL hopefully teaching my boys how to make a slide rule (he uses one daily for work).

 

Wait, he does? What does he do?

 

[Guest]

For the record my kids love slide rules - hubby keeps a few different types on his desk at work and enjoys showing coworkers how they function - all but the oldest geezers there aren't familiar with them :D

Edited September 29, 2016 by Arctic Mama

[3 ladybugs]

My FIL does defense contract work. You can imagine the problems with a calculator when you do that sort of thing. However he has said that he prefers it as it is faster then a calculator for him. 

 

For me I like the idea that if society were to go down the tubes and we were not to have electronics anymore, my sons (if they learned) would be the engineers. ;) That is a nice survival trait to have. :)

[Tanaqui]

That's pretty cool!

 

For me I like the idea that if society were to go down the tubes and we were not to have electronics anymore, my sons (if they learned) would be the engineers. ;) That is a nice survival trait to have. :)

 

Yeah, given how populous the world is, we're obviously not all going to make it as self-sufficent farmers with bunkers. Personally, I plan to become a lighthouse keeper. Just survive the end of the world and pretty soon somebody is going to start shipping things overseas again, even if they have to do it in sailboats! Lighthouse keeper is ideal - I can have all the cats I like, and nobody will ever borrow my books.