My 8yo son is currently using Horizons 3rd grade math. We both like the worksheets and that it has built in review. He's moving through it fine, but I feel like we're reaching a point where he is looking for more of the "why" not just the "how". I'm not looking to abandon the curriculum entirely, but I'm looking for something to add to round out the conceptual side of math that I feel is lacking. I've seen a lot of people talking positively about RightStart, Singapore (I see there are 2 options, Dimensions Math and Primary Math - happy to hear about both of these), and Math in Focus and would love some feedback. In my mind, the ideal situation would be for him to complete 1 page of Horizons a day as review work (he really goes through them quickly) along with 1 lesson from something more in depth. I don't mind spending 30 or so minutes a day of active teaching time on math, so if something is more teacher-centric that's not a deal breaker. We tried Beast Academy and he was luke warm about it, and to be honest I was too. I think it's a great program, just not a good fit for us. I had seen in another post that someone was using a RightStart/Horizons/Singapore Challenging Word Problems combination which (without actually doing it) seems very well rounded. I'm open to any thoughts and suggestions! Thanks!

I'd love some advice from seasoned math curriculum users! I have three kids, 9, 6, and 6, (about to turn ages though..) who will be 4th/5th grade and 2nd grade next year. We've been using Right Start and Life of Fred from the beginning with all three. They all adore Life of Fred as a supplement, as do I, and so that is not a problem at all. The question is Right Start. My oldest is not a math lover, though she's competent and does ok. But it's so SLOW. We struggle to get through all the lessons and I feel we are falling behind. It just doesn't seem to be a curriculum that is easy to move through more rapidly, and I fear we will be bogged down in doing all the things and be more behind. She's very bright but math is not her strong point. She's also had some health issues that have set her back, affecting her concentration and work habits. I feel we've not made as much progress as we should have and that we're behind where we need to be. She has trouble getting things done independently too and she's still working on finishing level D. I love the approach, but wonder if we should continue with this program down the road. Advice? I don't want to have her get too far behind grade level and still feel like we're forever plugging away. It would make us feel better to have something achievable on a schedule front, where the amount of time spent seemed manageable. I know it may be considered a "mastery based curriculum" but I still feel like there is pressure to get through. I don't want her to be in 6th grade and still working on 4th grade math. We also have a part time tutor to help us implement some of the math, and I don't think she is too comfortable "skipping things" and I don't know exactly how to advise her. When we started with Right Start, the lessons in the old edition were three a week, and that was easier to accomplish, but the five a week plan isn't working schedule wise, especially since one lesson often seems to take her two days, sometimes three. Do we jump ship after this level and try something else? If we do, what? I have heard good things about Horizons Math, but don't know how it works and haven't seen it. Does anyone have experience with this? My twins are using different things and we separate for math due to different levels of instruction. For my son (6) who is naturally proficient in math, Right Start is way too slow and has too much repetition. He just gets math without effort. He does Life of Fred also, but also works in Beast Academy. He's worked through most of BA level 3 and is about to move into BA 4 and it has seemed the right level for him. But, as we jumped into BA at a higher level to give him something that would challenge him, we've been trying to spot check through R.S. quickly to make sure there were no holes, and do things we needed to work on. But I feel it's not easy to skip through RS quickly. I looked at Singapore, but didn't care for it. Any other suggestions? Should we abandon R.S with him and just keep going with BA and LOF alone? Or add something else as a supplement? Even though he can do the multiplication, division and pre-algebra things in BA 3 without much difficulty, I want to make sure he is super solid on the basics. He is unusually gifted in math, - he just gets numbers and relationships. He can do it all in his head, but I want to make sure he has more work on writing it down in the traditional way. Or do I need to worry so much about that? Is there a curriculum that goes at a really quick pace without much busy work to just spot check? For my twin daughter (6), R.S. works perfectly for. Suits her to a T. So I want to keep going with it - She adores the games, begs to play it, and it's really working for her. So no questions here. Do I invest in more math curriculum? Any suggestions that might be a good fit for my oldest daughter? At what point is a good point to move to something else? I have heard that in the older levels, Life of Fred can be used as the only curriculum, instead of a supplement. Does anyone do that? Or is it better as a supplement? Does it incorporate enough drills and repetition? I feel we'd have much more joy in our house with my oldest if Life of Fred was every day:) But we don't want to compromise a solid foundation. Any thoughts? So much for my plans of using the same curriculum with everyone, but that is the blessing of homeschooling anyway. Even if buying extra curriculum is not economically efficient, I don't mind spending to find the right fit for each child. I'd like to decide before I have to buy any more R.S. levels! Thank you for reading this long winded inquiry - I value your time and opinions and appreciate this community of fellow homeschooling parents!

Hello -- My daughter is currently about 12 lessons into the most current Horizons Pre-Algebra program and it really isn't working for her. She is generally pretty good at math but is frustrated with Horizons because it is asking her to solve problems without showing her the steps necessary in order to accurately do so. For example, the way square roots were explained was that a square root of any given number is a multiple of that number. End of story. The lesson then proceeded to ask her to solve several square root problems. Occasionally it will ask her to perform a certain task and then explain the necessary steps a few lessons later. Perhaps this works for some, but it has led to lots of discouragement for her. Any recommendations for a program which is challenging but thorough as far as providing clear explanations and examples with each concept introduced? Thank you