Spiral vs mastery math question

[Amy in CO]

I had never thought about this before, but after the comments I have seen on the board, I discussed it with my dd.

 

A little background- we used Saxon for K-3, and Abeka 4-pre-algebra. This year we switched to Chalkdust Algebra, it was too much, we dropped back to Chalkdust Pre-Algebra. It is a struggle, but we are working our way through it.

 

Now, from what I have seen, Saxon and Abeka are spiral, whereas Chalkdust is mastery. Is that right?

 

If so, after talking to my dd, she much prefers the Abeka style. However, we didn't like Abeka Algebra, which is why we changed. So, is there a program out there similar in style to the mid-grades of Abeka, but for the high school maths?

 

My dh and I both understand math, so we can help her with that, so it doesn't matter if it has dvd instruction with it or not.

 

Thanks

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I prefer mastery but think a lot also depends on how the math is taught. As much as I don't care for spiral I'd choose a spiral program that teaches conceptually over a mastery program that teaches how to "do" math. We used Saxon for 3/4 of a year; it wasn't strong in the conceptual department. Before that was Horizons, which is very similar to Saxon. We've been with MUS for about 4 years. I love it because it teaches conceptually (how to really see and understand math). It's mastery but does have review (3 of the 6 pages per lesson are systematic review). I recently added LOF (Life of Fred) for fun and additional life application. My plan is to keep it about 1 semester behind MUS so they learn everything in MUS, then it gets reinforced in LOF.

 

Sorry to ramble, just wanted to explain how spiral/mastery/type of teaching factored into our math choices:001_smile:

[Susan C.]

I am wondering if you would like Teaching Textbooks. It teaches concepts in order, but has constant review.

[Amy in CO]

Thanks.

 

I have wondered about Teaching Textbooks, but it costs so much that I hate to pay that much and have it not work. It is something to consider.

 

Are there any other spiral programs out there?

[Susan C.]

 

A little background- we used Saxon for K-3, and Abeka 4-pre-algebra. This year we switched to Chalkdust Algebra, it was too much, we dropped back to Chalkdust Pre-Algebra. It is a struggle, but we are working our way through it.

 

Now, from what I have seen, Saxon and Abeka are spiral, whereas Chalkdust is mastery. Is that right?

 

If so, after talking to my dd, she much prefers the Abeka style. However, we didn't like Abeka Algebra, which is why we changed. So, is there a program out there similar in style to the mid-grades of Abeka, but for the high school maths?

 

My dh and I both understand math, so we can help her with that, so it doesn't matter if it has dvd instruction with it or not.

 

Thanks

 

Amy,

You might just be struggling with the Chalkdust, that is what was wrong over here. Ds did Saxon thru 7/6 (where he didn't master anything he did because he hopped around so much from concept to concept), then we got CD Prealgebra. He did it, but it took 3+ hours a day. Then I got Video Text, it wasn't a good fit, then we reviewed a borrowed copy of CD Alg. 1 over the summer thinking he couldn't do Alg. 2 next (the way that VT does), then did Chalkdust Geometry. He got an A, but he had to teach himself using the solutions manual where there were gaps in the dvds. He pretty much rolled over and died with Chalkdust Alg. 2. I literally had to put the books away, and do BJU Algebra 2 the next year (which he says was his first year where the math fit, in 11th grade!). He had spend 1/2 a day on math forever and was burned out. Fast forward to dd, who did BJU thru prealgebra, then BJU Algebra 1 and Geometry w/dvds. No problems, except for the two months I tried to do CD Geometry with her. Same thing, HOURS, killed our whole day. With dd doing BJU, math always done pretty much without a hiccup. I noticed a HUGE difference when doing prealgebra, the CD is a MUCH higher level. Dd still learned more than enough to be able to do Algebra 1. And, her BJU Algebra 1 went much better than CD and VT.

 

BJU is on the expensive side, you need the dvds (or online access) to do Algebra 1 on. You get books and dvds or online access for $399 ($299 for online). But, there are other programs out there that aren't as hard as Chalkdust that you can look at. Chalkdust uses college texts with tons of problems. For us, it seems the college texts are the problem, along with the dvds moving too fast for us. My kids needed more steps inbetween what was taught, and BJU did that for us.

[Guest IndiaDarling]

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