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Hello, I am considering purchasing all three levels of Professor B Mathematics for my kids. Am I correct that you need either the Power Mathematics CD with corresponding workbook OR the Power Learning Book with the corresponding workbook and chartsbook? I would just choose one of the other, correct? And if you have used both did you have a preference for CD or workbook? Thanks so much :)

Thank you so much for not only answering my question but giving a review and some tips. I went ahead and ordered the textbooks and Math Minutes from Amazon.

Hello, I purchased a used set of Math in Focus Grade 1. It includes TM A & TM B also student workbooks A & B. Do I also need to hunt down the student textbooks, or will I be able to teach the program with just the teacher manuals and workbooks? Thanks so much!

Hello, I have not used either program yet, but I just went through this decision a few days ago so I thought I'd let you know what I chose and why. I was looking to switch my daughters from Saxon and wanted something more hands on so I was considering Right Start, Math U See, and then also looked into Shiller. My daughters are older so I was concerned about starting RS with them and was going to just get the math games kit and then probably place them into Shiller. Finally after tons, and tons of reading and looking at samples, and talking to people that have used RS with older children, I placed my order on Monday for a few levels of RS and the fractions kit. I went with RS vs. Shiller for these reasons - 1. Most important reason was I simply liked the looks of the samples for RS better than Shiller. The lessons made more sense to me, and I liked the layout of the teaching manuals better. Plus I have read for years how awesome the games are. 2. RS has a lot of "fans". I know there are some that RS didn't work for (mostly due to teaching time required), and there are probably more Shiller users out there than reviews, but overall RS gets a lot of positive feedback. I figure there must be a good reason for this, plus with so many using it there are tons of blogs, pinterest pages, fb page, yahoo group and members here on WTM that could help if needed. 3. I read a few negative reviews of Shillers customer service. Two people said they purchased because Shiller had a buy back guarantee but then wouldn't honor it and another said she spent a lot of money on the Shiller website, just not in the form of a kit. She called for help with something but they wouldn't help her because she did not buy a kit. Now I don't know if these people just didn't read carefully or were trying to return items they damaged or something. Also didn't check the date of reviews, they might have been really old, but I have read nothing but how great RS customer service is, so that did factor into my decision. If RS doesn't work for us, I'll probably give Shiller a try anyway, I do like that an algebra kit is coming out soon, so if you pick Shiller you can stick with it awhile. If you do decide on RS I suggest ordering from Rainbow Resource - the manipulatives set is a bit cheaper there. Hope that helps some until someone with more knowledge on actually using the curriculum can give you some input :)

Thanks so much everyone - very glad I stopped by here before ordering. I think I'm going to get the RS games and fractions kit, and then will look into the other suggested curriculums for our main math program.

I love the books for 7th grade BYL as well, I'm actually going to use it for my 10th grader next year combined with a traditional high school World Geo text. BYL is 20% off until the 15th, btw.

I posted some of this on the RightStart Yahoo Group, but thought I would get opinions here as well - always great advice here :) My daughters are in 2nd and 4th grade. We have been using Saxon math, currently in 2 for 2nd grader and 5/4 for 4th grader. We are a little over halfway through both levels. My 2nd grader went through level 1 no problems, but is now saying how much she dislikes math, and that it's boring. My 4th grader is struggling with fractions and has recently started complaining about math. She is my one kid that has never complained about anything - you give her a school assignment, a chore, tell her to go to bed, etc. she just does it. Now when we pull out the Saxon book her feet shuffle and she starts grumbling. This is not how I want them to feel about any subject. And while I personally enjoyed the scripted lessons of Saxon 1-3 (I know they aren't a favorite of everyone, but math is not my best subject :)) I'm not loving 5/4 as much with having to copy all the problems out of the book, not much fun etc. It just doesn't "gel" with our school style and how we approach other subjects. So I have been looking around to switch them. I purchased a used set of Math on the Level from a lovely Well Trained Mind member, but I don't think it will work as I hoped. I was thinking something like RightStart or Math U See with the hands on manipulatives and games (in RightStart) might help with both the boredom and the troubles with fractions. However, I am concerned about jumping into such different programs so late in the game. I think if I put my 2nd grader in RightStart B the second it shows up and continue math over the summer she would probably be OK in the long run, but I worry about starting a 5th grader in level D as suggested on the website. Has anyone ever started RightStart that late? I see most people are doing D in 3rd grade. For the record, I am not at all worried about the amount of parental participation, and we don't have any state testing where we live, but I don't want her to feel far behind her friends should it come up and there is always the thought in the back of my mind that I don't want them miles behind grade level if something were to happen that required public school. I was thinking I could maybe do Level D with the 5th grader, but also give her a simple workbook to work through on the side, or just getting her the RightStart fractions kit and Math Games Kit with a different curriculum. Any suggestions for switching to either of these programs so late in elementary, or maybe another math program? Or should we just stick with what we know? Thanks so much

We enjoyed these this year - http://www.academyofscienceforkids.com/ There is not a lot of writing involved. It comes with a journal with some questions for each lab, I just have my kids answer the questions orally and only fill in the parts of the worksheets that require a sketch or graph of some sort.

Almost the same as the 3rd-grade schedule I posted, this is what my 5th-grade dd will be doing for 2016/17 For all my kids I have year subscriptions to Kitchen Table Passport and Spangler Science Kits. I am also going to try my best to put out a surprise Adventure Box (seen at Blog, She Wrote) at least once a month. Language arts - Bravewriter lifestyle (poetry, tea party, free write, etc), Quiver of Arrows and Partnership Writing Cozy Grammar Basic & Cozy Grammar Punctuation AAS 3 Reading from a stack of books we chose together Math - Going to give Math on the Level a try and I have years 3 & 4 of Beast Academy which she just started working on. Lot's of living math books, board/card games, etc. Science/S.S. - I purchased some Thinking Tree Journals to help guide us through "delight directed learning" for these subjects. Also plan to listen to SotW 2 audio book while we are in the car. Home Art Studio - I just purchased the full set so I think we'll just start with Kindergarten since they all look fun.

For all my kids I have year subscriptions to Kitchen Table Passport and Spangler Science Kits. I am also going to try my best to put out a surprise Adventure Box (seen at Blog, She Wrote) at least once a month. 3rd grade (next year) dd will be doing: Language arts - Bravewriter lifestyle (poetry, tea party, free write, etc), Quiver of Arrows and Jot it Down AAR 3 AAS 3 She has requested to start cursive so I'll find some book for this, maybe Italic Handwriting Series Math - Going to give Math on the Level a try and she loves LOF so I'm sure we'll keep working through those Lot's of living math books, board/card games, etc. Science/S.S. - I purchased some Thinking Tree Journals to help guide us through "delight directed learning" for these subjects. Also plan to listen to SotW 2 audio book while we are in the car. Home Art Studio - I just purchased the full set so I think we'll just start with Kindergarten since they all look fun.

Hi, Thought I would reply here in case you were still interested in this curriculum. We are not a religious family, based on the free sample of A Year of Playing Skillfully I took a chance and purchased the full package although I had the same concerns about the holiday months. I just got my order in yesterday and have not had a chance to look over everything carefully yet, but the first thing I did was flip to the Christmas and Easter months. As far as I can tell at first glance, everything will be adjustable for a secular family. There is a proverb on every monthly checklist, it's easily ignored. It does become part of the theme, but it's for things like keeping things clean, asking for/giving forgiveness, etc. All things good for children to learn regardless of religion. So far I have not seen any religious content in the actual teaching of these themes. There are a few crafts in December that are religious, but I think you can easily adjust them - Advent Calendar: a project to make an advent calendar including bible quotes and a surprise for child. Easy enough to follow their directions with just a surprise and maybe a happy note from a family member instead. There is a small paragraph on some activities for manger/nativity activities and a field trip. There are a few book and music suggestions that are Christian, but easily swapped with secular choices. This is also true for Easter/April. Easter crafts - Cross craft: A project using a cross made of popsicle sticks. Could easily complete the project with popsicle squares/shapes, or the letters of your child's name. Empty Tomb craft: I think you could follow this project as directed, swapping out the crosses for miniature animals or fairies and it would still be super cute/fun. Flipping through there are there are a few words about praying, or getting to know the world God made (the rest of the paragraph are suggestions for children to enjoy nature regardless of religion). Again, I have not carefully read through the curriculum, but I did look more closely at Dec. & April and skimmed through everything. I am not seeing anything that would make this curriculum unusable for a secular family. The only thing I see so far that probably couldn't be adjusted are the nativity activities, and those are a small portion of the book. There are plenty of Christmas and Spring activities that could apply to anyone that celebrates in any capacity. When I have a chance to read further if I notice anything that might be an issue I'll come back and post it. Hope that helps!

Thanks for the reply. I'm in a bit over my head with her, she is very different from my other kids :) I certainly don't want to "do school" with a 2-year-old, but I also want to keep her entertained and don't want to hold her back. I think this might be the answer, and if all else fails, I'll just shelve it for a year or so. Thanks again for the assistance!

Does anyone know if any of the activities in this book would be doable with a just turned 2 year old? My daughter loves numbers/counting and can rote count to 20, understands and counts using one to one correspondence (usually just small groups, like under 5, but she does always ask to count the eggs during bfast and has made it to 12), knows shapes, recognizes some numbers (look mom, there's a 7) completes simple puzzles etc. However she is still very much a 2 year old in spirit :) most prek math programs I've seen are beyond her level and are mostly worksheets. I'd love to just have some games to play with her. Thanks!

Thank you, everyone! Once I settle on a math program I have next school year all planned. Woohoo! :)