Catherine Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I was set on using Foerster's, and bought it. Today my friend let me borrow NEM (we used Singapore until now) and I really like it. I think even if my ds goes to school in two years, he'd be fine with this. Can anyone compare NEM to any other math program? Anyone who did NOT like NEM? Please tell me why? Catherine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhudson Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 bump - I'd like to know as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in GA Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Well, I've never set them both out and done a thorough comparison... We are using NEM 1 now and will go through ch 4 or 5 then switch to Foerster's. I took this approach with ds also a few years ago. For me, it isn't that I don't like NEM, I'm just more comfortable with a more traditional high school math track. On the traditional track I understand where we are in terms of what is needed for SAT's; I don't know about NEM. I think Foerster's and NEM both really promote mathematical thinking. NEM doesn't do any proofs--not necessarily that important, but I always thought it was a good exercise in logic. If you haven't already, post this on the high school board. I know there are folks over there who have gone through most or all of the NEM series. Good luck! So many decisions! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Can anyone compare NEM to any other math program? I've never used Foerster's, so I can't compare it with that, but I've tutored with Jacob's (Algebra and Geometry) and Lial's (Algebra 2) and I own and have dabbled in a lot of other high school math books... I actually don't find NEM's scope and sequence that different from the US model -- both because you can rearrange it to make it "Algebra" and "Geometry" pretty easily and because really not all US schools split them out the same way. Two of the private schools near us do integrated math in high school, covering algebra topics and geometry topics each year. We did split them up, covering Algebra in NEM 1 & 2 first and calling it Algebra 1, and then going back through for Geometry second (this coming year). If you know how your local schools do it, you could adapt to that arrangement on the possibility of needing to transfer... just to simplify things at that point. I personally like the explanations in NEM better than those in Jacobs (not that the Jacobs ones are particularly bad or anything - although I was really not happy with how they presented distance rate and time problems and supplemented with other resources there for my Jacobs tutoring kid...) I know that other parents have found it too difficult to teach, and I admit I'm a math geek from a long line of math geeks (LOL) so I may have an advantage here... but I've actually found it very straightforward. I really like two things about NEM. First, the challenge problems. Much like the Challenging Word Problems in the Primary series... these are really REALLY challenging. I like that -- not because DS can always answer the questions independently, but because I like his having that experience of running into a brick wall and having to try to find his way around it. And second, the general attitude. Nothing is scaled back or simplified. That's not the right approach for everyone of course, but for me (and DS, and the kids I tutor), I steer far far away from any program that starts by saying "this is easy". Especially if "easy" involves substituting memorized formulae for thorough understanding. But I like that NEM takes no shortcuts and that they expect the kids to work at their assignments. That fits perfectly with our approach. I'm also a big fan of the financial math topics that aren't always included in other programs. The statistics aren't as much as I'd do (we took a year off to do statistics my way... LOL), but they're fine for most purposes. I like the amount of calculator usage (small) and the fact that you're just as likely to have the correct answer come up something really odd like sqrt(37)/799 -- it's just a pet peeve but I don't really like books where all the exercises work out to nice round numbers. It's not for everyone, I'm sure, but NEM has been a great series for us. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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