(Make sure you get CLE's flash cards if you are still doing addition and subtraction fact drills. They have a systematic way of doing it.)

The TM has helped me stay on track during the lesson.

I decided to kill MM when I realized that it was causing problems in our homeschooling relationship and she was starting to hate math and "feel stupid." Not worth it to keep going. (We are really new at this homeschooling thing anyway.) When I ordered CLE 200, I just started her at 206. Even though it covers things that she hadn't learned yet (like simple geometry) it has been easy to catch her up, since it is spiral and not overwhelming.

We started homeschooling in January, after pulling my daughter from public school 2nd grade at Christmas. We did two months of MM, and now almost two months of CLE. I will say that MM looks like a great program for some moms and some kids. I am not mathy, in the least, however, and I found myself at a loss at how to teach concepts if she didn't get it the first time. (And since MM is primarily mental math, I did not learn math that way and I was not very confident in my teaching abilities.) There is no script or parent hand-holding (but many parents do not need that.) I also found myself wondering if she was remembering what we were learning, since it is mastery. AND there are a LOT of problems on a page. Math was becoming a dreaded part of our day. I saw a difference in her attitude pretty fast once we switching to CLE. The spiral is wonderful for her. She is encouraged by the things she already learned, and there isn't too much of the new topic to be overwhelming. I love that they schedule in fact drills every single day. Honestly, I wonder if I would have been more confident in math if I had had CLE as a kid.

Well, we just switched from Math Mammoth to CLE, and my daughter actually said today, "Math is fun!" I don't know that it is actually "fun," but she doesn't dread it, there are no more tears and I see her confidence increasing. She really needed the spiral.

I am totally picking up what you are throwing down. I keep hearing that it is just an opportunity for me to relearn math. That's nice, but I just want to be realistic about my comfort level and doing the best I can for my child. I don't know guitar either. I have no talent there. Realistically, I am not going to learn one lesson above her to teach her how to play guitar. We started with Math Mammoth, and although I think it is probably a great program, there was just not enough hand-holding for me as a teacher. We just switched to CLE. Much better fit for both of us, at this stage. I have no doubt we will someday end up using Math-U-See or Teaching Textbooks, and most likely, math tutoring. I am fine with that! I am just thankful there are programs out there that will help me, as a math-phobic mother, continue to homeschool. I will not feel guilty about using those resources.

We did 2nd grade this year, and I haven't even opened my TG.

Would love to know as well!

Started with Math Mammoth, was not working for either of us, switched to CLE. Sooooooo much better for us.

So... what I am hearing is that, depending on the child, YES, it is worth it. If I just want to dip my toes in, would I start with Grammar Island or Sentence Island? Plus Practice Island? Or should I add something in like Daily Grams?

Well, Hunter would be the go-to on this one, but... I have gotten both from the library and I think the original is immensely better. It feels like you could build a curriculum from it. The new one just seems more random in the scope. Kinda haphazard. Not sure why they changed it. I wondered if he received public school input when he revised it, for whatever reason. Again, I would ask Hunter. :)

I am figuring out 3rd grade for next year. It is down to the Get-R-Done Easy Grammar or the intriguing MCT. Very different. My goal is just retention, but it would be wonderful if grammar could also be semi-enjoyable, as well. Honestly, is MCT worth it?

Just switched from Math Mammoth to CLE. I am breathing a huge sigh of relief. I needed more hand-holding for teaching, and my daughter needed the spiral. I love that they have math fact drills scheduled in. (Neither of us is particularly mathy, and I think this will be our program for the next few years.)

I have the CC ones, and I love them so much, I am looking at getting the Veritas ones, as well. We love the Timeline song, too. We are in a low-key, renegade CC group (not "official") but I still think the cards and songs are worth buying if you are not doing the program.

The two we are using are the Amish Pathway Readers and the Christian Liberty Nature Readers. My daughter sounds like yours, when it comes to reading. Just not interested. I have found that using both of these readers has helped tremendously. It is a get 'er done approach, but she doesn't hate it. We just read from them everyday. I am praying that she eventually turns into a "reader" but for now, this approach seems to be working for her.

Wow. Just researched Waldorf. Had no idea.

WHAT?! I actually mentioned a curriculum that some hivers hadn't heard of?! I feel like a rock star! I've arrived!

We just did it for 2nd grade. I felt that it was too easy, but looking ahead, I think it might be just right next year. I did like it, this year, because it did not feel like overkill.

Did you have your child read the passages himself, or did you narrate?

I think that just listening to the Timeline song is fabulous!

Thanks!

Trying to decide what writing to do for 3rd grade... We did WWE 2 this year, and while both of us seem to like it fine, I worry that it's not "enough" to teach writing skills. I was looking at Writing Tales, but I don't see it mentioned much around the forum. Anyone have any opinions? Also, if you have any other writing "loves" (besides IEW-- too expensive and intensive for us for now), I'd love to hear it. Ellen

We use the Evan Moor Daily Reading Comprehension ones. I think they are excellent.

I am in the same boat as you. We are currently doing Math Mammoth with dd8, but I can see that I am going to be in over my head soon. I also can see that she needs more spiral. We are switching to CLE this week, because when I look at the curriculum, it doesn't make me freak out. It also looks fairly well laid-out and simple. I am finding that MM does not have enough instruction for me (personally) to help my dd if she doesn't get it the first time. If CLE does not work for us, I am throwing in the towel and moving to Teaching Textbooks next year.

FWIW, I am a new homeschooler and not mathy at all. I did lots of research to find a math program for my daughter (2nd grade) for this semester. I chose MM. It is okay, but we won't do it next year. I am not sure how much she is retaining, and it is confusing for me to teach (but probably would not be for others-- again, I am not a mathy person. It was always a struggle for me during school) I am not sure what we will use next year, but I am leaning toward Teaching Textbooks, just to take the burden of explaining math off of me. It is more important to me, honestly, that she does well on standardized math tests and is not stressed out by math for her whole life, than knowing Asian-style, mental math. I do not think I can adequately teach her the new style. I'm the mom she's got, so we are just going to do what we gotta do.