Yes! That was probably why I chose not to go with it. Thank you so much for brainstorming! That's what I need. I'm still at a loss as to what to do :( My olderst may like the spiral better. I'm just not sure. We've never done spiral.

Anyone??

Lori, thank you so much!!! I think we were posting at the same time and I didn't even see your post right above mine until now! This is such helpful information!! I will be checking this all out!! I had thought of CLE last year but decided not to. I can't remember why though. Maybe I thought it was too light? I don't know, but I'll revisit it! :)

Ok, thank you!! I took my 7th grader/pre-Algebra question to the other forum once I found it! ha! With MiF, I noticed that there is a workbook AND a student book, plus the teacher book. Do the teacher and student book match? Or are those completely different? I think my youngest could do any program at all and be fine. It's my middle child that I'm most concerned about. It's a struggle every single day with him and math. I thought of MUS, but he really doesn't like all the manipulatives. I don't think he'd like the video either. Ahhhh. I just don't know. I want to give him the best possible chance at doing well and at least somewhat enjoying math. I wish this wasn't so hard!

Let me preface this by saying this is a whole new world for me! I have 3 kids, but my oldest is a rising 7th grader. Right now, she's still working through 6A in MM. But she hates it. She is pretty good in math and she does her work well and efficiently. But she dreads it. We've used MM for many years, so I was thinking that it may be time for a change. I will probably let her finish 6A/B with MM before moving her on. I may even use that an incentive to get her moving more quickly ;) When I asked in the other forum, Dolciani, Lial's, AoPS were all mentioned and recommended that I maybe use for prealgebra. I had NEVER heard of those before. So, I'm starting to research. I have a couple of queestions: 1-I am correct in letting her finish out 6A/B before moving her one, right? I mean, she needs those concepts before starting preA? 2-I am looking more towards Lial's. No reason really other than I've seen more things about it (positive) than the others. If I got the student book and the answer key is that all I would need? Are the instructions written into the student book? Is it teacher intensive? Here are the links to what I'm looking at: https://www.amazon.com/Prealgebra-4th-Margaret-L-Lial/dp/0321567927?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0321567927&linkCode=as2&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=mathmammoth-20 https://www.amazon.com/Student-Solutions-Manual-Prealgebra-Margaret/dp/0321574788?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0321574788&linkCode=as2&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_ss_tl&tag=mathmammoth-20 3-Does this sound like the right direction to be heading with her? I was looking at Math in Focus and think she would really love the colorful books and layout. But would this (Lial's or another) be the better way to go? 4-If I did do Lial's, would that be all that I need for a year? Is it a good, solid, stand along curriculum? Oh, and is it mastery? This year has been a HUGE change for us. We switched to Sonlight for the first time and now looking at switching math too (Math in Focus for my 5th graders). Shew! Thanks for the help!

With Math in Focus for 5th grade, would I need the answer key and assessments or could I do without those?

Forgive my ignorance, but those are all new terms to me! Are those (Dolciani, Lial, AoPS) different curriculums? And where is the logic forum? Where would I do a pre-algebra placement test?

Thank you!! This does look like a good option for us! Ok, so I looked at the 5th grade placement test. They haven't taken it yet, but just from looking at it, I think they will know most of those. Though I looked back on 4A just to see, and many of those we haven't even done! How is that? And if they place in 5th, will they be missing what they didn't get in 4th with this program? Or will they still reveiw that some in 5th? It says if they score above 80, to do the next level. But at what point (low score) would you go the level below? I didn't see any clear guidelines on that. Is there not a placement test for 6th/7th grade? My daughter will be 7th grade but is doing 6A in MM right now. Where would I place her?

I'm back here...again. I revisit switching from MM every. single year. I just don't think MM is working for us anymore. My kids (rising 7th and 5th) hate it. They are decent in math but dread doing it. I only make them do half of the problems unless they need more practice. But I think it's just boring and too much. So, I'm looking to switch. For real this time (I say it every year and end up just sticking with MM.) My dd is a rising 7th grader but somehow we are still on 6A in MM. I'm not sure how we "fell behind". I have a rising 4th and rising 5th, but they are both doing 5A in MM right now. I thought of MUS, but wonder if it isn't meaty enough for them? I thought of Singapore, but that being teacher intensive scares me a little :P I saw Math in Focus mentioned several times, but I'm not even really sure what that is. Here are some things I'd like in a curriculum: 1-Mastery 2-Interesting/engaging workbook (MM is just so boring to them) 3-Not too teacher intensive 4-A good, solid program (I don't want to compromise that just because we all want to switch from MM) 5-Colorful workbook would be great, but not an absolute necessity. 6-A program that they can take a placement test for would be great. I would rather place them where they need to be as opposed to just sticking them in the grade they are in. Also, I have looked at the Singapore and Math in Focus sites and can't figure out how to even order those. Would I need a teacher book and 1 student book for every level per child? Are there placement tests for those? Thank you!!!

Thank you for this! This helps so much!

That makes sense! And you're right, we don't have much writing for my 6th grader right now :/ I've just recently realized that I really need to focus on that a lot more! Is there a good typing program? I've let her try a free one online but not sure if there are better ones? Logic/critical thinking...what would you recommend for that? A certain curriculum or just getting her talking through things? Thank you!!

Apparently I don't know how to quote :( None of them came up with the names from the ones who said them.

Thank you for the feedback! Writing is definitely something I'm realizing that we need to focus on! She is a good writer and does a lot on her own (not really school related), but I think I need to make it more of a priority in our homeschool. Do you recommend a certain curriculum/program for that? I'm not sure what to require of her at this stage. You mentioned that this doesn't look academically strong. Is that just because of the writing? Also, you think 2 days of science is too much or not enough? Thank you! This is where I have a hard time knowing what to do. My oldest definitely doesn't like "just" being read to. She feels it's wasting time and she's bored. But my younger two have really enjoyed Apologia, the reading along with the journals for that. But I would love to do science altogether instead of doing two different things. I talked with them this morning. My boys said they would also love doing field trips, nature walks, science shows, experiements for science, even though they were liking Apologia. So, I guess we'll go that route for now. It's hard when the kids have different learning styles :/ Good, good advice! Thank you!We do get in lots of other things during the week. We school year round because I like that it gives us that flexibility. We have a homeschool co-op we attend, do community outreaches regularly, dance, tae kwon do, and lots of field trips. I didn't even think to include all that on my list :) Also, you mentioned a minimum of 4 hours for 4th graders and 5 for 6th graders. This is where I'm feeling like we fall short. Some days it does take us that long. But that's usually if they aren't focused. If they are focused and do their work in a timely manner, school usually only takes us about 3-3.5 hours. Is that not enough? I hear of school taking longer for some and wonder if I'm missing something. So here I am, trying to streamline things and make them better, but it almost seems as if I'll be cutting time. We were doing Bible, math, reading, and grammar every day. The rest were only a few days a week, so I could alternate. Did you use a certain history program? This sounds like something my kids would like so much more than what we're doing now. I love this! We do Math Mammoth now and I feel like it is a strong curriculum. But my oldest is only 6th grade so I honestly don't know if it is preparing her well for high school math. Do you happen to know? Is there a math you recommend? I do like what you said about having to do stuff you don't like. I was just telling my kids that. While I do want to try to make certain subjects, and school in general, enjoyable, I also realize that they won't like every single thing we do. And I'm ok with that. What I don't want to do is make it so miserable that I kill their love for learning. That's a balance I think, one I'm not sure I'm doing well with. ----- I'm learning more and more that I really need to focus on writing. Does anyone have a particular program they recommend for that at this age or do I just have her write? As far as critical thinking and logic that I see get mentioned a lot, what does this look like in your homeschools? Do you have a program? Do you just talk through things? I'm not sure we've really focused on that either at this point. Yep, I have a lot to pray about and decide. I think I definitely need to do some tweaking for next year. I feel like I'm starting homeschool all over for the first time again. lol I sure hope I don't mess this up! :/ Thanks for all of the amazing advice!

And writing for my upcoming 7th grader. I think we do need to focus on that. What curriculums are recommended?

And I had my whole post divided nicely into paragraphs where it was easy to read. What happened??? **ETA - Ok, after a few minutes it appeared correctly. It was on in one long paragraph at first, even with me hitting enter between paragraphs. I think it's fixed now though :) **