shinyhappypeople Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 (edited) We're using Miquon with Singapore 1A/1B right now. I want to drop Singapore next year. It's just not clicking with DD and I have trouble teaching it. I'm thinking that combining Miquon (which we love) with a more traditional math program will be a better fit. Will you help me sort through my options? I've heard of: Christian Light, Abeka, BJU, Rod and Staff, Saxon... are these all pretty straightforward, traditional approaches? Which is easiest to teach for a non-mathy person? Our homeschool charter only pays for secular materials, but I don't mind paying out of pocket for the right program. But, if it's faith-based, cheaper is better :) Thank you very much for your help :) Edited January 27, 2010 by shinyhappypeople Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Rod and Staff is great. It is scripted, straight forward, easy to use. The price is nice too. We have used it for 3 years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoffeeChick Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Rod and Staff is great. It is scripted, straight forward, easy to use. The price is nice too. We have used it for 3 years now. :iagree: This was what I was going to suggest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Have you looked at the free version of Ray's online? My dd6 uses this along with MEP and extra practice from the Big Book of Math and she is really thriving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Two of my children are using Christian Light Math. I have tried many math programs and the two that I like for grades 1-6 are Traditional CLE & not so traditional MM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 (edited) We've used BJU 1st grade this year. I chose it because it is traditional and it is mastery (Abeka, Saxon, Horizons, CLE are spiral). I LOVE the teacher's manual; it is almost scripted and layed out really nicely. The workbook pages are colorful and engaging. It uses ALOT of manipulatives to teach the concepts and you need to use the TM to teach; just the workbooks alone will not cover everything. They are assuming you're teaching the lesson. It may seem kind of expensive (about $100 I think), but that pretty much includes all the manipulatives (punch out cardstock) that you need other than unifix cubes and a scale. It also doesn't include flashcards like Saxon does, but it does include drill worksheets, and a CD that you can print (must print for some lessons) from for charts and extra worksheets. The curriculum includes a main workbook and a review workbook. There are enrichment pages on the CD. I don't think there is enough drill, so I've supplmented it with Calculadder 1. However, I may have done that with other programs too because I'm hyper about math facts. From what I have read, it is a more advanced curriculum than Saxon, but not as advanced as Horizons or Singapore (on grade level). I know many people do Saxon a grade level ahead though. I'm not sure how it lines up with Abeka. As for is it easy for a non mathy person to teach, I would say definitely at this level and from what I have seen it is later in elementary at least. I also own Saxon 2 and would say that it would be easy as well (it is TOOOO scripted for me, however, and I can't tolerate the plain black and white of it). I have a MS in Engineering so I'm definitely a math person, but I wanted a traditional math curriculum (maybe because its how I learned math). Edited January 27, 2010 by monalisa added information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daybreaking Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Rod and Staff is great. It is scripted, straight forward, easy to use. The price is nice too. We have used it for 3 years now. :iagree: We love it here! I'm extremely pleased with Rod and Staff's program. Very straight forward, yet highly effective. It may seem "dry" on the surface, but DS loves it, including the predictability and the challenge of the speed drills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 You might look into Math Mammoth. I have just started using it with my dd. So far we like it. It has simple examples/explanations and no prep work for you. It is written so you can go as fast or slow as your child needs to master each concept. Also it's very cheap. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Here is a thread on Saxon. We've been quite pleased with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Another vote for Saxon. Great results, here. (And I swear this will be my last post about Saxon, ever...lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Two of my children are using Christian Light Math. I have tried many math programs and the two that I like for grades 1-6 are Traditional CLE & not so traditional MM. :iagree: Well, I don't know anything about MM, but we're using CLE with 2 here as well and are very pleased. I'm not mathy either, but have no anxiety about teaching Christian Light. It's also inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paisley Hedgehog Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Horizons. If you purchase in April, it is 20% off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 I like for grades 1-6 are Traditional CLE & not so traditional MM. :iagree: We are using CLE 1 and supplementing with MM and LOVE it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 We just switched to CLE 2 at the beginning of January. If all goes as well the rest of the year, as this month has, we'll be sticking with it. I just wish they had Sunrise Editions for high school. I love that it is open and go. We were using BJU, but I felt that it was too much time on my part. I also think he needed a spiral approach, rather than mastery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 :iagree: We are using CLE 1 and supplementing with MM and LOVE it. Can I ask what MM is, and what kind of topics are you supplementing? Is it just topics you feel your child needs more review in, or are there aspects you feel CLE doesn't cover well enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Can I ask what MM is, and what kind of topics are you supplementing? Is it just topics you feel your child needs more review in, or are there aspects you feel CLE doesn't cover well enough? I attached a link for Math Mammoth. We like it because it teaches concepts in a different way than CLE does. I think it gives them more of a mental picture. We just started it a couple of weeks ago and really enjoy the different way it approaches the topics vs. CLE. http://www.mathmammoth.com/complete-curriculum.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 We used Singapore EB, and then started with 1A and it was a disaster! I think Singapore is a wonderful program, but I didn't understand it AT ALL :lol:. I don't want to offend anyone, but I think Singapore is for parents and students that are more naturally gifted in math. I went to CLE kicking and screaming a few months back, but we are very pleased with it. There is nothing wrong with it, it's just more traditional and isn't so much about "mathematical thinking". It's challenging, but not overwhelming for DD and I understand it! HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 I also had trouble teaching from Singapore 1A and B. We went to RightStart that year and came back into Singapore 2 (I can't remember if it was A or B). I've had no problems teaching from Singapore in levels 2 and up. It's almost like it's a different program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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