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 :) **

I currently have two 4th graders and one 6th grader. The idea that middle school is just around the corner is freaking me out a bit. This is what we do right now in our homeschoool: Bible/History (SCM) - Monday-Friday Math (MM) - Monday-Friday Science (Apologia) - Monday, Thursday Latin (Getting Started with Latin) - Tuesday, Wednesday (though we've taken a bread since Christmas) Language for the 4th graders (Intermediate Language Lessons) - Tuesday, Wednesday (mostly oral as they aren't strong in writing yet) Grammar for 6th grader (Analytical Grammar) - Monday-Friday until first 10 lessons were done, now just 1 review lesson every other week Copywork for 4th graders (SCM) - Monday, Thursday Spelling (SCM Spelling Wisdom) - Tuesday, Wednesday Art (SCM Handicrafts) - Friday Reading - everyday Spelling and Reading for my one 4th grader who needs a little extra help (AAS/AAR) - Monday-Friday (though we've taken a break from this and focused on him reading, reading, reading books) I feel like I am just trying to "get through the day", with no real joy in it all. I even catch myself telling my kids to just go ahead and get through their work so we can be done with it :( I don't want that. I want them to LOVE learning and be excited about it. I don't want it to be a drag. I don't know if we are doing too much, not enough, not the right stuff. I started with Abeka years ago, moved to MFW, then to SCM for the last 2 years. I really like CM style, but I get overwhelmed when I look at what is recommeneded on the SCM site. Am I suppose to be doing all of that?? We haven't done music theory, so I was going to add that in this year. We listen to music all the time and they are always playing on the piano. I would love for that to be enough for music. But is it?? Foreign Language...they hated Latin, or at least the one I was doing. So we're on a break from that. Should I be doing formal foreign lang studies with them at their ages? Or wait until high school? Same with science...my boys (the 4th graders) love science, so I wen with Apologia this year because it looked so fun. My 6th grader commented the other day that it was so boring because all I do is read to them from the book :/ I'm trying to figure out if I need to be doing formal science with her when she gets into 7th grade. Part of me thinks I should scale back on that and just let her enjoy the next 2 years with no formal science. The other part of me wonders if that would hurt her in the long run when she gets in high schoool? Is doing Analytical Grammar with my 6th grader too much this early? Or is that a good thing to be doing now? Copywork...when did you stop doing that with your kiddos? My 6th grader doesn't anymore. I think I stopped with her when I realized that she could print or write cursive with no problem on her own. My 4th graders still struggle with cursive, so that's why I've still be doing copywork. Spelling...My 6th grader and one of my 4th graders are excellent spellers! Sometimes I wonder why I'm doing Spelling Wisdom with them. It doesn't seem to challenge them. I had done Spelling Power with my oldest a couple of years ago. She said she hated it. But now that she's been doing Spelling Wisdom, she's asking to go back to Spelling Power. My struggling reader/speller is in AAS/AAR, but it seems overwhelming for him at times. That's why we have taken a break and just focued on lots and lots of reading. The more he reads, the more fluent he seems (obviously.) I feel like with spelling, you either have it or you don't. I'm not sure he has it. So, should I still pursue a rigorous spelling curriculum, or lay off some? I've been homeschooling for 7 years now and all of a sudden feel like I don't know what I'm doing! I am questioning everything. I want to streamline things a bit more and make it more enjoyable and more laid back, without compromising their education. I also don't know how to find that balance for my rising 7th grader...where I allow her to enjoy these last 2 "easier" years before high school or push for her to have all these formal studies. I hope this made sense. I feel like I'm at a crossroads. I had everything in my cart for SCM and Apologia for next year and now I'm questioning it. So, for those who have high schoolers and who have been there...what is your advice?? Thank you SO much!

Thanks everyone! I especially love this. Every year we've done MM, I've visited the idea of changing currilum because they say they don't like it. But every single time, I end up sticking with MM because I just haven't found anything to compare. If it was the particular curriculum that was making them not like it, I would be willing to switch to something just as superior as MM. But I'm leaning towards it's just math in general. I'm honestly not sure that their feelings would change if we switched. I like the idea of a 'game day'. Do you do that every week with yours? Do you find that you fall behind in the written work if you do that every week? I have math dice, but have never heard of some of those others. Are they things you purchase or just games you play? Thanks for all the ideas!

They do get most of the problems right. Of course, they miss some as well. But mostly they get them right (when they are applying themselves.) I have one who will sit all day and not to his math, saying it's too hard. But once he realizes I'm not going to be giving him the answers or helping with something I know he knows how to do, he will work at it and get almost all of them right. So, I know he just doesn't want to do it, not that it's too hard. I haven't looked into SM or BA. I'll check those out. Thanks!

I have a 5th grader and two 3rd graders. We've been doing MM for 3 years now. I think it is a really good program and they are amazingly good in math. I contribute much of that to the program. But the thing is, they hate it and dread it every day. It's a struggle with at least one (and more often all of them) every. single. day. They say they don't like it, it's boring, it's too much, etc. I only make them to half of the problems every day. They do however many pages are in that section (so anywhere from 2-4 sides), but only half of each. They still complain. I even printed my daughter's out in color because she is a creative and said that would help. It has some, and she doesn't complain as much, but I can still tell she dreads it :( I don't want them to feel this way. Math was both my husband's and my best subject in school. We both love math. I hate seeing my kids dislike it. Now, I understand that they might not *love* every single subject. I'm ok with that. And I don't know if this is just one of those subjects for them, or if switching would actually make it better for them. I was thinking of CLE. But then I read that it doesn't seem to be as strong a program as MM. I don't want them to go backwards if I give them a program that isn't as good. For those who have done CLE and Math Mammoth, what are your thoughts? Thank you!

Thank you!!

Thank you!!

I like those boxes too! But you use the AAR/AAS boxes now and like them better? Do they seem like they would hold up nicely? I don't have anything, so I would have to purchase whatever it is I need anyway. I do want the boxes to last though, without tearing apart.

I like that box! Does it fit all of your cards??

Thank you!! cintinative, how many did you need for just AAR/AAS?

Is the card box really that much better/easier than using a recipe card box? I will pay the money if it's worth it, but just wanted to hear from others first. :)