Best math with built in fact drill: Saxon, Abeka, CLE, R&S?

[monalisa]

I have a 2nd grader that generally gets math concepts very easily (she doesn't need manipulatives much) but still does not have her +/- math facts down. AT ALL. I want a math curriculum that has drill and facts BUILT IN to the lessons every.single.day. What we are using now (BJU) is not like that; I like the conceptual approach, and that it is colorful and has stories. I have sung the praises of BJU on more than one occasion, and I do like lots of things about it, but it isn't the math for this kid. She gets it easily but she hates math. All she likes are the character stories and playing with the manipulatives.

 

Also, it has hit me like a ton of bricks that I do not do well having to "add" anything on a regular basis to any curriculum, not just math (such as math games, extra drill practice, etc., etc.). I need extra stuff included. BJU totally depends on the teacher to add in the drill (there is a little bit, in the form of suggesting flashcards to review every day, and you can print math facts sheets from the CD, but it really isn't an incorporated piece of the daily math work). I need the curriculum to be much more explicit than this, and I want something traditional. I don't know that I care that it is spiral/incremental or mastery at this point. So far dd has yet to be challenged in math conceptually, and she doesn't know her facts.

 

So what fits the bill of traditional with lots of drill that will get the math facts down cold? I'm willing to consider Saxon, Abeka, CLE, Rod & Staff...any others (I've looked at all of the above online as much as possible)? What is definitely OUT is Singapore, MUS, Right Start, Math Mammoth, MEP, Miquon-- they are too not like me as a teacher for me to deal with or there is something I really don't like about them specifically. Please, no sales pitches for these :) I know they work great for others, but they are not for me/us.

 

Also, if I do go with Saxon, would I put her in Saxon 2 or 3, considering she doesn't know her +/- facts very well, but on the placement test she places at Saxon 3? My additional concern about Saxon 3, however, is that moving up to 5/4 in a year would require writing problems and she is also pencil-averse :(

 

Any suggestions and experience would be appreciated.

Edited September 9, 2010 by monalisa

[Mommy22alyns]

I really like CLE for all the reasons you mentioned. It lays everything out, step by step - Do speed drill 1, drill flashcards B & G, count ..., etc. That is exactly what I need.

[Georgiana Daniels]

My 6 yo is almost finished with ABeka Math 1, and I agree there is not enough fact drill included. So every day I print a worksheet off of here:

 

http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/math/index.shtml

 

You can specify whatever your child needs to work on. For example, my dd needs to work on +8 because it came up today several times and she barely eeked out the answers.

 

Now my K'er wants to be like sis, so she gets her daily +1's :)

[Disney Dreaming]

I have just dropped BJU for this very reason. I used Saxon last yr and have gone back to it. It requires you to go over flashcards every day and they also have timed drills. I have used Saxon, BJU, Horizons, and A Beka and of those I believe Saxon would be your best choice for the review of the facts on a daily basis.

[monalisa]

I have just dropped BJU for this very reason. I used Saxon last yr and have gone back to it.

 

Angel - I am curious if you went to Saxon 2 or Saxon 3?

[Mom0012]

I have one child using R&S and the other using CLE. I think CLE would be a better fit if your child gets concepts quickly but you want built-in drill. I will say I do still have my daughter use a software program that does math drill in addition to the CLE stuff. Maybe it's not necessary, but I think it helps her even though she's pretty quick with math.

 

Lisa

[Disney Dreaming]

I went to Saxon 2, but dd is not great at math. Some things she picks up quickly and some it takes her a while. I can tell you that we will be on lesson 8 tomorrow and we have been going over time(on the hour), numbers(filling in missing #'s), and double facts(way too easy for even dd). Today was the 2nd day of timed drills(app. 20 problems in 60 seconds-just double facts). If you have any questions(specific) feel free to pm me and I can check in the workbook. HTH!

 

Also, I have just tried a math game-math war. I bought it from Christianbook and it is war but with addition and subtraction facts.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

I will say I do still have my daughter use a software program that does math drill in addition to the CLE stuff

 

 

What program do you use?

[Ellie]

Rod and Staff. Read through teacher manual the night before. Photocopy any suggested blackline masters (optional but fun) and set up any suggested flashcards (depending on grade level). The day of, do scripted oral classtime with child. Give child seatwork to do. The end.

[Manamana]

We're using Saxon 3 after finishing Horizons 2 midyear last year. I like the way Saxon lays out each day's drill sheets (these are already collated into each lesson in the workbooks) and tells exactly which flashcards to practice (they provide). I debated about bumping dd to saxon54 this year but I find the drill practice at level 3 is the right placement for her. We do skip some lessons if they seem too basic. We really like the mental math tips Saxon offers too and all of the hands-on activities (plotting temperatures, tallying letter frequency, baking cookies, etc).

[txhomemom]

Maybe try Mastering Mathematics. It has topics in separate books (addition, multiplication, etc) so you really master the topic you are working on and there is plenty of drill plus a very detailed parent manual to help you out. It also has simple black and white pages (no color or pictures to distract) and I like the way they present addition and subtraction problems with vertical lines in the problem so the student can easily see what column they are working on.

 

Check it out at http://www.masterypublications.com/Math.htm

 

Rainbow Resource carries it and I think Lampost Publishing does as well.