monalisa Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 I'm figuring out next year and need some help on what math to use. We've used BJU 1st this year. My dd7 understands it and we haven't hit a topic yet that she didn't understand pretty easily. What she is slow at is getting the addition & subtraction facts nailed down (she has no issue understanding HOW to do the operations). I thought I would just stick with BJU since I think I want to use a mastery program, and she may go to school in a few years again (and of course BJU is tradition S&S). However, I'm wondering if I need to get out of this box. My dd doesn't seem to need manipulatives all that much (she doesn't dislike them, but she does tend to play with them). She seems to grasp things fairly quickly. However, the traditional number line and counting up, counting on, counting back doesn't work too well with her. She is very auditory and somewhat visually oriented. Language is definitely her area of strength. I'm wondering if she needs a non-traditional S&S type of math program (MUS, RS ETC) that would help her understand (and like) math more. She balks at all the worksheets in BJU and she detests timed drills. Sometimes I wonder if she is bored with BJU 1, but since she doesn't know her +/- facts I can't really tell if she needs to be doing more challenging work. I have combined lessons sometimes when things are way too easy for her. We have the Right Start math games, and she enjoys using the abacus (I let her use that for +/- problems). Even though she can do the math we're using, she has told me often that she doesn't like math (except for geometry, which she enjoyed because she liked the solid figures). I really want her to both understand and enjoy it if possible. I am not math phobic at all (I went through diff. equations for engineering). I do think I want to stick with a mastery program. I like BJU because its colorful and the TM is easy to use. What I don't like is that it is so classroom oriented, and so segmented by short lessons which makes it hard for me to combine lessons and speed it up (without feeling like I'm skipping something important). I had Singpore but sent it back and got BJU because it seemed so different than how I learned math. I tried Saxon briefly in the fall, but I didn't like how it jumped all over & was so scripted (and so boring!). I'm wondering, though, if I should have stuck with Singapore. Now that I've rethought all this, I'm even wondering if I should look at MUS or Right Start (I've read lots about most every math curriculum can't really determine what would be a good fit!) Any thoughts on this rambling post would be much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1GirlTwinBoys Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Math Mammoth is VERY good and might just be what you're looking for. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 If you don't like scripted programs, you'd probably hate RS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Singapore has really helped my daughter start to understand math, we switched from MUS. We did flashmaster for fact practice for a while, now we mainly use the RS games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 bump...any more thoughts? maybe I should rephrase, I didn't like the way Saxon was scripted more int he way it was formatted; I am OK with scripted in general I think (I use FLL and WWE, and OPGTR) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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