BJU Math or Developemental Math?

[SS in MD]

I'm considering a math curriculum for my 7yo dd. We're using MUS primer now, and though she understands it using the blocks, she has trouble without them. (For example, she can do 5+3 using the blocks and get 7, but without the blocks she doesn't understand how to "count on") then one day I showed her the number line and how to use it for addition, all of a sudden she understood "counting on" from the first number. So, I'm not sure if I should continue with MUS in the fall, maybe MUS is a little too abstract for her, maybe she needs something more tradtitional in aproach?

 

Anyway, I was considering BJU Math 1 (or 2) or Developemental Math for the fall, and had a few questions

 

-Which one is better (teaches concepts clearly)? Math is a hard subject for dd to understand, so I need a program with lots of review and she learns best with manipulatives.

-Is Developemental Math complete (does it cover time, measurement, money)??

-Right now, I'm also using Critical Thinking Press' Mathamatical Reasoning Book. She enjoys this book, because it's color and has fun stuff like dot-to-dot, finding the answer to the riddle once you complete the simple additional problems etc. The topics don't match with MUS, but I simply teach the topic in MReasoning and we go from there. Does either BJU or Develpemental Math have fun stuff mixed into the assignments like that?

-I've heard BJU is teacher intensive. Is this true? I know I'll need to help her a lot with math (she's only in 1st grade!) But, just wondering how long it takes daily as I have 3 others I'm schooling.

 

Many thanks for answering this jumble of questions!:)

[Pat in MI]

My personal opinion between these two, I would say BJU. We have used Developmental Math and I really felt it would work better as a supplement to learn math facts. My opinion though, others have children learn very successfully using Developmental.

 

Now as for BJU, yes, I feel it is very teacher intensive. And I personally do not like having to wade through their TM. Way too wordy for me. It is a good program, but it moved too quickly for my ds. He needs a lot of learning before he gets things. So we were moving on before he had learned things properly. You could add a review book to the program if your child is like this. One other thing I didn't like is that math fact learning was not included in each leasson, as in not on the lesson sheet. You did this as part of the warm-up and the program does not specifically say learn this now. So you would learn the facts in some lessons and then it is up to you to schedule them as review. These are just my opinions based on our experiences. BJU is a very good program it just didn't work for us.

 

We use MUS now and I do have to add in drill sheets (from MUS site) and I have the children do flashcards along with the program. If I am not consistant with this they lose their facts.

 

If you want a program to include constant practice of the facts, I think Rod and Staff it is very good. It takes things slow in the early years and they really learn their facts, but it is old fashioned. No gloss or glitter. The TM is awesome. One caution, they have way more problems then a child needs to do in each lesson. Again, that is my opinion.

 

Those are the programs I have had experience with I hope someone else chimes in for you. Others love BJU math, I just am not one of them. Another program that gets great reviews is Horizons. We haven't used that one. Surprising, it seems we have tried out everything before finally going with MUS for my son. MUS has been the only one that he has not complained about and he is learning so well with it. Good luck on your decision. I know it is hard to decide. HTH

Blessings,

Pat

[pianoplayer]

We're not fans of BJU Math, either. (We used it for the first 3-4 years in elementary). My hubby, who was a college math major and teaches our kids, has found too many instances in which concepts were not explained properly (which could lead to conceptual problems in more advanced math). He also strongly disapproves of BJU Math's heavy emphasis on using calculators early on, as well as their inordinate emphasis on estimations (i.e., using estimations when it would be just as easy, or perhaps easier, to calculate the answer).

 

We have used Ray's Arithmetic, although I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a very savvy math person teaching it. Had we known about Singapore Math when we made the switch from BJUP, we probably would have chosen it instead.

[qfbrenda]

I'm using BJU with 3 boys and have used levels K through 5. I would agree with pianoplayer in that BJU does do a lot of estimation. I would disagree though that BJU uses calculators a lot. They do suggest using them once in a while, but we never do. The program works just fine without them.

 

It is a bit teacher intensive, and is not designed to just hand to your child to do on his own. But the teacher's manuals get easier to use with practice. Grade 1 has been updated and the new tm is very easy to follow and use.

 

So far, I have found the explanations to be very clear, and I understand the "whys" of math much more than I ever did in school.

[PeterPan]

SS in MD-I haven't used Developmental Math, so I can't help there. I used RightStart for several years and now use BJU, so I wanted to comment there. Is your dd able to do basic addition (7+3, 5+2)? Has she done any multi-digit addition? Any subtraction? See to me, I think the hands-on and pacing of RightStart would actually be better for your dd than BJU. It would be something you could slow down, teach to her understanding, and practice until she becomes proficient. It focuses on understanding and visualization. As you say, some students cannot make the leap from the MUS rods of fixed lengths to combine them in their minds. With the RS abacus, the quantities are seen in relation to 5 (so for instance 7 looks like 5+2), so they can move around the colored beads in their mind.

 

I also want to say I'm not sure RS would be the only option you could have. Have you done any learning styles assessments with her? There's a free one at http://www.educate.com . It would be interesting to see how your dd learns best, whether it might be through auditory means or kinesthetic or whatever. If you find that she's very dominant in one direction, I'd definitely look for that in the math curriculum.

 

I wouldn't toss out BJU based on the comments you read. While it is true they include some explanations, calculator use, etc. that I don't agree with, it's also true that they mean the TEACHER to be the one to decide what gets used and what gets skipped. And as you say, all math at this age is teacher-driven.

 

If she is still at the level of single-digit addition and has not been successful with multi-digit, I would suggest you even consider level A of RightStart. It covers all the K5 state standards, a lot of 1st (2 digit mental math, etc.) and even some 2nd. It would give you a way to spend more time, a lot of time, on single digit addition. If she's ready to move beyond that and just needs a quick review, then you could go into B. I'd suggest looking at them both and going with your gut feeling. If you do that learning styles assessment and find she's very dominantly kinesthetic (something most curricula don't take in mind), Shiller is supposed to be good for that. Or add it as an element to your instruction time. I have no experience there, just tossing it out as something to consider, that her learning methods may be different.

[Frontier Mom]

Seems others here are not so sold on it, but I love it. However, math is my favorite subject so I actually "teach" each lesson to my dc's and enjoy it. I like the chapter approach and love the books.

 

As a CPA by trade, I use lots of estimation and rounding every day so maybe that is why I like it. Sometimes though, we simply skip the estimation lessons if I don't think they are relevant.

 

Something else I liked at that age was MCP (Modern Curriculum Press). Up until this year, I used MCP until starting Saxon 5/4 and it worked great. Just another suggestion that worked for me.

[SS in MD]

Thanks for your post to my question regarding BJU Math or Developemental Math for my 7yo. Yes, I've looked (and used) RightStart (level D & E) with my older girls. But, we didn't stick with it, because dd needed more review and I didn't have time to play more games as review. So, we switched to Singapore. So, one reason I'm hesitant with RS is lack of review and I don't want to soley rely on playing the games for re-inforcement. I'd like more problems on their worksheet pages as well. I love the RS idea and how it teaches concepts using the Abacus. But, because of what I mentioned above, I hesitate. Any opinons? Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.:)

[PeterPan]

SS in MD-For levels A and B, the amount of material you're practicing is so small, just a few games will do you. If you don't want to do games, print worksheets using the free download Basic Math Facts Worksheet Generator or the free worksheet generator at MUS. Yes, once you hit level C, that need to either drill or play a lot of games or SOMETHING really catches up with you. At that point, if it's overmuch, switch to BJU. You're going to flow from RS to BJU quite easily. I think the early levels (A and B) of RS are just amazing and I'm wondering if they might be just the thing to get things to click for your dd, simply because you could slow it down. And like you say, feel free to add in drill sheets rather than playing the games so much.

 

If you'd rather do BJU and just add in the abacus and some RS approaches, that would work great too. You can get the original format of the program (Activtities for the ALAbacus) for about $20 new or even less used. You could use it to present the material the RS way using the abacus.

[Wee Pip]

My 7yo dd is using Developmental Math & my 5yo is using BJU K:-) I like them both! I do think I'll be switching the 5yo to Dev Math when we finish BJU K (her choice - she wants to do her sister's math). Developmental Math focuses on one topic thru the whole 80-pg book, so in that way, mastery is a big focus. My 7yo seems to "get" DM better than she did MUS (the way it started with smaller numbers and worked up was much easier than MUS Alpha, which jumps from 1s & 2s to 8s & 9s - a tricky concept!) DM DOES teach money & does a great job of it - it is completely integrated in with the lesson (so you'd add nickels & pennies in DM book 2, dimes & dollar bills up to 50 in book 4, and quarters in book 5). It also has a lot of great story problems. It does NOT teach measurement or telling time, so those are things you'd have to either teach in real life, or get another book for. Also, it does not follow a typical scope & sequence, so your dd might be ahead in some things (like, in money or being able to problem solve), but behind in others (not knowing multiplication or fractions at the same time as public schooled kids). Have you seen the Dev Math info on the web site? www.mathplace.com You can download a 16(?) page pdf file that shows you how it teaches math - worth checking out. Summer time might be a good time to just try out one of the books (I'd recommend book 2 if you want to go over basic adding). Then you'll have a better idea of what you want to use next fall.

[Melissa in CA]

We love BJU math! But then we also have Homesat so I don't have to teach it...a very nice lady on the TV does all the hard work for me, I just answer any questions that pop up and grade papers. :D I loooooove it and my son is doing very, very well.

 

I disagree with pianoplayer about the "heavy emphasis on using calculators." I have seen her mention this before and this is really not the case at all. Every great ONCE in a while the teacher will say something like this, "your parent may allow you to use a calculator to check your answers if you'd like." And this is usually in regards to checking something like long division problems, and only after they have done several lessons on it and several lessons on how to check them without a calculator. It is always up to the teacher whether the use of a calculator is allowed or not...not the curriculum.

 

This is also the case in the high school level maths. They teach the concepts thoroughly before introducing the use of the scientific calculator, and they are not allowed to use them during tests unless told otherwise. Personally I am glad they took the time to teach my son how to use that complicated peice of equipment. My oldest son didn't get to use BJU math, so he has no idea how to work brothers expensive calculator. ;)

 

As for the estimation. Yes, they do a lot of estimating...not sure what the purpose is really. But it's easy to estimate, and it's helped my son with division of all things. :D

 

No complaints abou BJU math here, but there MIGHT be if I had to teach it. As another poster mentioned...the TE is quite wordy. I don't like that. I prefer A Beka's Curriculum Guides better. Their 1st and 2nd grade maths were easy to teach! All laid out nice and simple for ya.

[mom2abcd]

We've loved BJU Math 3 this year!!!! I plan to continue with 4 next year. Ds did it independently most days. I rarely even used the TG for correcting.

 

Since I didn't study over the TG;o) I made up my own version of rounding (which I think is what they were after). It was no big deal and a valuable skill to have. I think he's had one lesson where he was to use a calculator and I didn't see it as inappropriate at all... it just made him able to focus on the concept rather than the calculations of larger numbers than they usually had them doing.

 

I will say that multiplication is introduced much later and at a slower pace than some curriculums I've seen, but I will also say that it's presented in a very helpful way and ds is taking off with it!

 

We used Developmental Math a bit last year as a supplement. I would no way use that as my main math program. It's quite boring and could make a child hate math. As a supplement when a program is moving too fast or you want to reinforce the basic math facts, it is fine.

[SS in MD]

Thank you all so much for your help! I'll have to look into both further.