That's good to hear! I like the idea of her doing quizzes on paper. My son used a scrap paper for things but did a lot in his head. I bought him the book to write in but he didn't do much in it. I think she would do well to use it though. That is one reason I stuck with BJU since I knew she needed to do it on paper. I haven't tried any samples with her yet. I'm waiting to have her tested this week and next and then go from there.

Yes, I am finding certain math programs work better for certain students. My younger just finished BJU 4 math but I am having her tested in a week since I think she is dyslexic. Who knows what math I'll end up doing with her next year after the testing. I've heard some people say their dyslexic child does well with Teaching Textbooks. I think I would need to sit right beside her though. We'll see! :)

He does pretty much do all he can in the morning before I even "begin" school at 9am. :) I do like to cover anything new with him especially with BJU Math.

I have considered the DVDs for BJU. I've used them in the past with some of my kids for certain things. I had my son listen online yesterday to a sample class and he seemed to think it was boring and he could do it faster without the class. I was surprised to say I agreed with him after watching it with him. I could see it might work for my younger daughter, but my son is a "getter done" no time wasted sort of person. On the one hand that is good but sometimes I wish he weren't that way so much and slowed down a bit...especially when it comes to handwriting! :)

Thanks! My son likes TT and I like BJU. It is more teacher intensive though.

Thanks! Do you plan to use TT Pre-Algebra or are you going to TT 7?

Just wondering if anyone has ever gone from BJU 6 Math to TT Pre-Algebra. Does this seem feasible? (TT 7 seems to be very similar to BJU 6). Thanks!

My son is in 6th grade and is doing Teaching Textbooks 7. In the past he has done BJU Math. I put him into TT 7 to give him more independence which has been nice but I'm not sure I want to continue with TT right now. For 7th grade I am considering putting him into CLE 700 for more practice before going into Pre-Algebra or Algebra. Does this sound like that would work? (This would be after BJU through 5th, TT 7 and then CLE 700.) Thanks for any input!

I just wanted to chime in and say that we love BJU Math also. We had used CLE Math and I loved it and thought I would never change but my kids did not love it and it was taking sooo long to complete math. After much research I changed to BJU math and we haven't looked back. :) I couldn't imagine not having the teacher's manual although I don't use it all the time to teach from. I basically teach the lesson and we do the 1st page together (unless they understand and have beat me to it) then they do the 2nd page on their own. I love the mastery approach with built in review. It works much better for my kids. The colorful pages are also appealing for my kids. They love the stories in the beginning of each chapter and my son saves all the pages that talks about different careers. We also don't use the manipulative pack that often. I think like the previous poster stated it is most important to use in the early years and also if your child benefits from visual. We don't bother with purchasing the tests since there is so much there already along with reviews for each chapter. My son will be in the 6th grade this year and I'm deciding after this year if we stick w/BJU or do something else. I hope you have a fun year with MFW ECC. We are HOD people and my son is doing CTC this year, however, in order to separte my kids I am doing MFW ECC with my 4th grade dd. My senior is doing some of the new HOD guide along with other things. Hope that helps some!

I need a computer course for my senior that will be 1 credit. Does anyone have any experience with Switched on Schoolhouse Office Applications 1 & 11? Or any other recommentations? Thanks! Cindy

I agree with BJU Grammar! It's a great program. I am also using the teacher manual through CLP.

Geography Songs by Larry & Kathy Troxel...I got this on a whim this year and am amazed at how often the kids want to play this and how much they know already! They have others they carry so I may have to check them out to!

I started using BJU Math last year for 2nd & 4th after trying different programs and I love it. This year I started out with a Grammar program that had me stopping after 5 weeks and printing free grammar sheets from the internet to teach. I knew I needed to change my program and writing also wasn't getting done as I wanted. So I ordered BJU Writing and Grammar this year for 3rd and 5th and I can tell it is going to really work so much better for us. I agree that it's hard to find reviews on this. I just love their Math and Grammar! Why did I wait so long to go with them! I'm so glad I've found a good fit for us. Their teacher books are expensive but for Writing and Grammar I ended up forgoing their teacher manual and getting a teacher's manual from Christian Liberty Press which has just the answers. I'm hoping that will be all we need. So far it's working great!

I used Saxon Math with my oldest sons who have finished school already. Very long school days...I was determined not to do that with my younger kids. I started out with CLE which I loved, but my 1st grader got bogged down with it and started disliking school and it was taking longer than I liked for both of them. I tried McRuffy's Color Math which I only lasted a few lessons on and sold it (just didn't feel comfortable that we were getting everything we needed) and decided to go with BJU's Math. We love it! It is only 2 pages, teacher covers first page and the student does the second page on their own. It is colorful which I think helps my kids. It's not so strongly spiral that it takes forever to get done. It is a gentle spiral. I always thought I needed the heavy spiral for my kids but this is working great without the very long days!

I thought CLE was very thorough andI thought I would stay with it all the way. (My older sons, now graduated, had used Saxon and I said never again! ;)) I also thought I would always need spiral with my kids. However, when my little first grade dd started disliking school because of math I knew I had to look elsewhere. BJU is colorful whereas CLE isn't. I can tell my kids react better towards it for that reason alone. They also love the little stories at the beginning of each chapter. BJU is all in one book whereas we kept changing books with CLE. Changing books was novel at first but that wore off. Maybe the biggest change is that BJU is more of a Mastery math but does have a gentle spiral. I think with CLE and Saxon the spiral was too much for my kids. They thrive better on Mastery and so does mom! (Who would have thought) Too much of a Spiral bogged them down. I think I would always want to have the TM but I don't always use it. I love having it to see how they recommend teaching but I don't always feel the need for it. I don't really "love" the TM. I wish it were more user friendly but I do love the student books! We still have our flash cards from CLE so I do use them with my 4th grader for multiplication. Because I'm afraid they would fall by the wayside if I used them I have my 10th grade daughter do flashcards with him 4x a week. However, xtra math works great! If I had to choose between xtra math and flashcards I would do xtra math. There are no distracting games or anything just plain fact review. I haven't used any of the review sheets on the CD. However, they might be great for reviewing in the summer if needed... Cindy

We did CLE originally which I really liked, but because my 1st grade dd not enjoying math very much we switched. (It also took her way to long to do) This year we started out with McRuffy Math but I didn't care for it. After 4 weeks of McRuffy I switched over my now 2nd and 4th grader to BJU Math and we LOVE it! They do X-tra math online for facts review. For my 4th grader he does the xtra math but also his older sister does multiplication flashcards with him. I think x-tra math is really all that is needed. It works great for fact review! HTH!

Same here! I always thought I was probably never corrected when I was young and now my younger daughter holds her pencil the same way! I correct her when I see it though. She still lapses but is much better at her hold than she was.

We had some eggs hatch last year but we had a hen sitting on them. Our kids got to see one of them hatch which was really neat. We get our baby chicks sent to us from MyPetChicken.com. They also send fertile eggs for hatching and they sell the equipment you would need also. I just looked and saw that they offer Hatching eggs - for education which ships free. Here is the link http://www.mypetchic...g-Eggs-c39.aspx . I hope that helps! I've ordered babies from them many times and they are great to work with.

Thanks Brenda for your comments on BJU. So many decisions! I'm also wondering if color books would be more helpful to my kids and make it more interesting. I can see how it would be that way for me.

Thanks ammv15. Yes, I noticed McRuffy teaches multiplication of the 2's by the end of 1st grade. If I were to go with McRuffy I wonder if I should make sure she knows them this summer or is there enough review in the beginning of 2nd grade McRuffy? They should be relatively easy for her to learn either way I would think. Do you know how CLE 3 compares to McRuffy 3? I'm wondering if McRuffy is a little more advanced in 3rd also. I feel so pulled between McRuffy and CLE. I really like CLE but I want my kids to have fun with it (in the lower levels) as well as learn. I have an older daughter (9th) that really dislikes math. She's more of an artsy type and very smart but math is her one weakness. I don't want this to happen to my younger 2. I want them to enjoy math as much as is possible. :) So, are you also buying the whole set of CLE for your kids in order for them to have more practice?

Wow! Thanks! You've both made me want to go with McRuffy for my 2nd grade daughter. :) I've been researching all day and I keep coming back to McRuffy. Yes, my daughter is overwhelmed by CLE. They have through 5th grade already and are working on 6th. Now I have to decide if I should switch my 4th grade son also. He can handle CLE but I know he'll be begging to switch when he sees how much fun his sister is having. Maybe I love CLE more than they do. :) I am wondering though how it would be to switch back to CLE or other comparable program after 6th grade McRuffy....anybody have any idea?

Heather and Erin: How long would you say a lesson in McRuffy would last each day? Does the parent teach the concept each day and then the child does the "review" or is it different from that? Also, how many pages per day does the child do in 2nd grade?

Thanks for your response! I want the review but maybe it's too overwhelming in CLE. I would also welcome any thoughts on Rod and Staff. I understand it's not as advanced as CLE but at this point I'm looking for something that helps my daughter to enjoy math. Thanks for any feedback!

Bumping...anyone?

I would love to hear feedback on McRuffy Math from anyone who has used it. I have not had much luck finding a lot of feedback. I would like to know what you think of it and how long you have used it. I have been using CLE for my 1st and 3rd graders. My 1st grade daughter really dislikes math. She has a hard time sticking to it and getting it done. She is in CLE 109 right now because I have cut her down to one page a day instead of 3 just so she doesn't feel overwhelmed. I like CLE and don't want to make a wrong move but I am having a hard time seeing us going through another year like this and am thinking about using McRuffy Math 2nd grade for next year. I also want to make this next year so that she has more of an enjoyment of learning. At the same time I'm "thinking" about McRuffy for my coming 4th grader even though I could continue CLE with him and still may do so. Does anyone know how teacher intensive McRuffy is compared to CLE. I don't mind the teacher intensive for 2nd grade...just wondering about 4th. I edited this to also ask about BJU math also since I was getting no response. I would love to hear anyone's opinion on both McRuffy Math and BJU Math. Thanks, Cindy