Math Mammoth-the Light Blue doesn't seem like a complete curriculum!

[HappyGrace]

Thinking of doing this as an alternative to Singapore. It looks great, but doesn't seem to have much "teaching" in it. Are you able to teach the concepts okay with what you are given?

 

I have read some old threads about MM, but I'd love to hear from anyone who is using Light Blue as a full curriculum. Thanks!

[lisabees]

Bumping.

 

I've used it with my 7th grader for review. They are meant to be worktexts, so everything is self-explanatory. It didn't leave any gaps and taught different approaches to solve a problem. I loved it.

 

I also use it with my 1st grader (who afterschools), and I find it easy to teach. She likes it. But, there's not too much pressure on me, as she is afterschooling. FWIW, we also use MEP and Miquon with her.

[Guest 4boys]

I am using it for my 2nd grader and plan to start the 1st grade with my near 6yo in the next month or so. It doesn't look like there is much actual teaching in the text, but it is there and I find it just the right amount. It goes in nice small steps and is very well explained. My 7yo is catching on to everything and can often read the instructions for himself and work independently.

[HappyGrace]

Oh, Lisabees-thank you!!! I am glad you are using MEP/Miquon too because you can help me with this specific question: I am currently using both of those programs and trying to cut back to just ONE program, which is what I was hoping Math Mammoth would do for me.

 

Or the reverse, if I am already doing MEP/Miquon, am I covering all my bases or does MM add something "more" that I may be missing?

 

My biggest hope is to cut out MEP/Miquon and go with MM-will MM alone adequately cover what I am getting in those two?

 

(Note: I love Singapore but am finding it makes HUGE cognitive leaps that are even hard for my math-adept ds7. We keep having to stop and park for awhile at certain points, and I want something that we don't have to do that. We had that problem with RS with older dd too. I want a "thinking math" program that we can continue making progression with.)

Edited January 15, 2010 by HappyGrace

[chiguirre]

Or the reverse, if I am already doing MEP/Miquon, am I covering all my bases or does MM add something "more" that I may be missing?

 

My biggest hope is to cut out MEP/Miquon and go with MM-will MM alone adequately cover what I am getting in those two?

 

(Note: I love Singapore but am finding it makes HUGE cognitive leaps that are even hard for my math-adept ds7. We keep having to stop and park for awhile at certain points, and I want something that we don't have to do that. We had that problem with RS with older dd too. I want a "thinking math" program that we can continue making progression with.)

 

I'm using SM/Miquon/MM with dd. I agree about the cognitive leaps, that's why we're using 3 programs. When she gets stuck, we take a break and do Miquon or MM for a while. When she's bored with the different approach we try SM again and see if it clicks. Although I would LOVE to be able to use just one program, I'm not sure that's possible if you also want to use a conceptually challenging program.

 

I DO think that of the 3 I'm using, MM is the one most likely to progress incrementally enough to avoid getting stuck, especially if you add in the recommended games, websites and generate review sheets. The teaching is accomplished through the exercises instead of through explanation. It doesn't look like much, but it does work and dd rarely feels overwhelmed. OTOH, there's a lot of writing in MM and the layout is not as kid friendly as SM or Miquon so math time is not as fun for dd when we use it.

[HappyGrace]

Thanks, chiguirre-this was really helpful. I'm glad to have confirmation about the cognitive leaps in Sing, and to know that there really is no other way around it than doing more than one program. That in itself is so good to know, instead of trying and trying to narrow down to one.

 

I'm also happy to know that MM is more than it looks like. I got that impression from the many positive reviews. I think it will be easy to add into our mix-not too overwhelming plus inexpensive. I'm very glad to know that it progresses more incrementally-because of that, I may actually use it as my "spine" with ds and do the rest as supplements. (I forgot to add that we also cherry-pick from RS-lol!) I tried to use Sing as our "spine" but it didn't work that way; not incremental enough-we'd get through a whole unit in a day or two and then have to "park" because the next concept was too hard. ARG-I hate that!

 

It will be kind of a pain to have to do it this way, but I CANNOT find one program that does what I want!

[Ummto4]

We've been doing MM Light Blue for 1.5 years now with my 2nd grade son and a few months with my 5 yo daughter.

 

I also have the rest of MM so I've glanced through the fifth grade. I think at the end, MM is doing what the MEP is doing, only it does so in a more painless way, both for mom and the child.

 

For instance, in MEP 1 there are some scale math (good for introducing algebraic concept to your child). Guess what ? It's on MM too, only it's not on the first grade book .. can't remember which one though. May be 3rd grade book ?

Also, math puzzles from MEP are also found on MM.

 

So my guess is eventually, all sorts of problems in MEP and possibly S-pore are also covered in MM.

 

Having said that, we use some problems from MEP and Singapore CWP for enrichment. But our spine is MM. It's very logical, cost effective, has enough practice and is very easy to implement. IT's also deceptively challenging. Only you might not think it's challenging because it's so incremental it does not require cognitive leap from the child.

[HappyGrace]

mom2moom2-I'm so glad you checked in! I was reading some of your posts on the old MM threads.

 

It is good to have a comparison of MM and MEP from someone familiar with both. It is what I was wondering. I did see some MEP type things in the MM samples, which was part of what made me think maybe I could drop MEP.

 

I am really liking the idea of MM Light Blue as our spine. I didn't feel comfortable with any of the other programs as a spine because either they didn't flow right or didn't cover everything. I'm also glad to hear that it does have enough practice, and thrilled that it is "deceptively challenging"-that is exactly what I wanted!

 

One HUGE question I have-is it thorough? Does it adequately cover all the grades 1-5 math topics? In other words, if we ended up using MM Light Blue only, would it be a complete elementary math curriculum, or are there topics that are missing or not covered adequately? (For example, the old non-standard edition Singapore left out statistics, etc.) Thanks SO much for your help!

[WishboneDawn]

I can see why MM might seem a little light or incomplete but I think it's probably one of the best curriculums out there. It covers what needs to be covered (I'd argue the same for Singapore. I don't think there's any pressing need for statistics in elementry school) and is really easy to supplement for extra practice and such.

 

Don't think of MM as just what you get in your download. Maria has TONS of excellent links (on homeschoolmath.net) to games, teaching resources, worksheet sites etc. She has her blog, lots of articles and is great about answering emails if you need help and, I just noticed, even has some videos on YouTube now.

 

I tend to think that MM is one of the most complete curriculums you can get if you look at everything Maria offers. And what isn't free is insanely cheap.

 

Yes, I love MM. Why do you ask? :D

[lisabees]

I can see why MM might seem a little light or incomplete but I think it's probably one of the best curriculums out there. It covers what needs to be covered (I'd argue the same for Singapore. I don't think there's any pressing need for statistics in elementry school) and is really easy to supplement for extra practice and such.

 

Don't think of MM as just what you get in your download. Maria has TONS of excellent links (on homeschoolmath.net) to games, teaching resources, worksheet sites etc. She has her blog, lots of articles and is great about answering emails if you need help and, I just noticed, even has some videos on YouTube now.

 

I tend to think that MM is one of the most complete curriculums you can get if you look at everything Maria offers. And what isn't free is insanely cheap.

 

Yes, I love MM. Why do you ask? :D

 

I agree. If you put the programs side by side, you'll see that Maria does cover everything in a very incremental way. Of course, I haven't used every grade - only 1st and 5th. I will tell you that much of what ds was taught in the 5th grade Light Blue Curriculum is being covered in Lial's Basic College Math. I haven't seen any gaps at all.

 

I find MM to be a wonderful combination of mental math and "drill", reaching different learning styles in an incremental way. And like the PP said, Maria is part of the package; you're never alone!

 

As far as MEP and Miquon, we have not done enough to give a fair opinion. DD is such a unique, out of the box learner, that MEP and Miquon provide her the opportunity to think creatively. She calls MEP "puzzle math" and Miquon "Fun Math".

 

Like I said, dd goes to ps, so all of this is a supplement for her. If I had to choose one, because she was being hs, it would definitely be MM. But, I would have a hard time only doing one! There are too many good ones out there! :lol:

[Corraleno]

It's very logical, cost effective, has enough practice and is very easy to implement. IT's also deceptively challenging. Only you might not think it's challenging because it's so incremental it does not require cognitive leap from the child.

:iagree:

I'm currently using MM with DD7, and I used MM 4 & 5 with DS11. Since MM6 isn't out yet, I started DS in Teaching Textbooks Prealgebra. He had no trouble going from MM5 to TT Prealgebra. MM is a very complete program, and quite rigorous.

 

There's a lot more "teaching" in MM than it might appear at first glance. There might be only a little direct instruction at the top of the page, but then there are partially worked problems, and the student is walked through the process step by step, rather than having a page of text describing the concepts verbally, followed by a page of problems the student has to do on their own. It's very clear and incremental, and very very well thought out (IMHO).

 

Jackie

[HappyGrace]

I am REALLY excited to get started with MM! I'm also enjoying her blog and other math website-learning a lot there.

 

I greatly appreciate all the responses-thanks!

[kalanamak]

Thanks, chiguirre-this was really helpful. I'm glad to have confirmation about the cognitive leaps in Sing, and to know that there really is no other way around it than doing more than one program. That in itself is so good to know, instead of trying and trying to narrow down to one.

 

 

My way around using more than one program is to slow down and interpolate review, math games, hands-on measuring sessions, CWP of the level below, real-life math, and hit the cognitive leap topic only every other or every third day. During the times between, I think of other ways to present it, and quiz a bit on the components. E.g. we are currently working on mental math for addition and subtraction of 2 and 3 digit numbers (807-9=?). I might play a car game of singing out 810-10 makes? then 809-10 makes, etc. and when we get to 807-10=797 I pull out the hooker "then what would one less taken away be?".

 

I find that with a little looking ahead and simple introduction to future topics on the "off" days makes the NEXT cognitive leap more likely to happen efficiently.

 

I guess I'm saying that me, as the teacher, is the "other curriculum". Since I work flat salary and am taking up space anyway, I'm not out money or shelf space. :D

[HappyGrace]

kalanamak-sounds like you are the math teacher I *wish* I could be! :)

 

Although I must say, after trying nearly every math program already with older dd, I do feel much more confident teaching ds. I am trying to do kind of what you said, but haven't reached quite your level yet! Your dc will be blessed by you creating such a math-rich environment! Thanks for inspiring me.