MUS Gamma and MEP 2 ?

[Roxy Roller]

One of my 8YO DSs, is extremely bright. He is very math/science inclined and he gets his schoolwork finished quickly. I am feeling that he needs to be more challenged. He is reading at a late 2nd grade level, and I am fine with that, it is coming along. We are doing MUS Gamma, which I am also happy with, but it is quite easy for him, and of course I am demanding mastery of his times tables as we go. I am wondering if I could add MEP 2. How teacher intensive is it? It is hard to tell from looking at the lesson plans. If you use it, how long do you actually teach? I have 4 other children in the lower grades, so my teaching time is already loaded.

 

The other thing I have to be sensitive about, is his twin. He is not quite as far along as Jacob, and he has other strengths - he is not a math/science guy. I want to keep them at the same level in MUS, but supplement Jacob.

 

I know that at some point Jake will pull away from Josh, but I am not sure it needs to be that obvious in 3rd Grade.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Well, I can tell you what we do.

I schedule our week like this:

Mon.- MUS 45min.

Tue. thru Fri.- MUS 10-15min. (since we learned the new concept on Mon. the rest of the week is just practicing the new concept) Then MEP for 30min.

 

I know there are people who only do the worksheets and that would probably only take about 15 minutes, but I like the lessons. I try to read ahead and figure out what is unnecessary. I think if I taught everything in the lesson it would take about 45 min.

[Roxy Roller]

Thank you, Aime. Will you tell me which MEP levels you use with the different MUS levels? Is it right to do Gamma with MEP Level 2? I also have a boy in Delta, and I am wondering if he would do alright in MEP Level 3.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Thank you, Aime. Will you tell me which MEP levels you use with the different MUS levels? Is it right to do Gamma with MEP Level 2? I also have a boy in Delta, and I am wondering if he would do alright in MEP Level 3.

 

 

 

Because they both follow such a different scope and sequence they are not going to line up perfectly. You have to decide if you want MUS to be the first to introduce a concept or MEP. I you want MUS to be your main program and MEP to be review\reinforcement you could use this sequence: Alpha alone then Beta with MEP1, Gamma with MEP2a, Delta with MEP2b, Epsilon with MEP3 and then Zeta with MEP4 (fractions and decimals are introduced half way through the year).

 

I will be using this sequence which introduces (more or less) concepts at about the same time. Alpha with MEP1, Beta with MEP 2a, Gamma with MEP2b (even though she will be introduced to division before she gets to Delta), Delta with MEP3 (a full year of MEP since she was introduced to division the previous year; MUS should be partly review this year), Epsilon with MEP4a and Zeta with MEP4b.

 

So, that's my .02. There may be some here that have it figured out differently but these two schedules seem to make the most sense to me for use with MUS. To save yourself some time though you might want to think about putting your Gamma and Delta dss in MEP2 at the same level. It would save you time and your Delta would still get a lot out of it since it teaches totally different concepts than MUS does. You can always eliminate the lessons on measurement in order to move through the lessons more quickly. Just a thought. Hope that helps.

[Roxy Roller]

Because they both follow such a different scope and sequence they are not going to line up perfectly. You have to decide if you want MUS to be the first to introduce a concept or MEP. I you want MUS to be your main program and MEP to be review\reinforcement you could use this sequence: Alpha alone then Beta with MEP1, Gamma with MEP2a, Delta with MEP2b, Epsilon with MEP3 and then Zeta with MEP4 (fractions and decimals are introduced half way through the year).

 

I will be using this sequence which introduces (more or less) concepts at about the same time. Alpha with MEP1, Beta with MEP 2a, Gamma with MEP2b (even though she will be introduced to division before she gets to Delta), Delta with MEP3 (a full year of MEP since she was introduced to division the previous year; MUS should be partly review this year), Epsilon with MEP4a and Zeta with MEP4b.

 

So, that's my .02. There may be some here that have it figured out differently but these two schedules seem to make the most sense to me for use with MUS. To save yourself some time though you might want to think about putting your Gamma and Delta dss in MEP2 at the same level. It would save you time and your Delta would still get a lot out of it since it teaches totally different concepts than MUS does. You can always eliminate the lessons on measurement in order to move through the lessons more quickly. Just a thought. Hope that helps.

 

I was thinking more in full years of MEP, but the way that you have laid this out, Aime, makes so much more sense. Most of all, it feels doable. What are you planning on doing after Zeta/MEP4, Aime? I am unsure as to whether to stick with MUS or move on to TT or Saxon, or onto something else. My DD11 is not that mathematically inclined, but I want to make sure she has what she needs to go to college or university if she chooses.

 

I don't think that I will eliminate the measurement lessons, because I am in Canada and we follow the metric system.

 

I may post this question on a new thread. My DS5 is totally bored with MUS Primer and does an entire lesson in a day. I have told him to take a break until I figure out what I want to do with him. I love MUS, but I am wondering if I should start him on MEP1 and move through slowly, or maybe Math Mammoth Level 1. I own the light blue levels 1-3, which I have never used. I could always use MUS through the years if he needs some help, since I have Primer-Zeta.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

I would also appreciate any other thoughts...

[5LittleMonkeys]

I was thinking more in full years of MEP, but the way that you have laid this out, Aime, makes so much more sense. Most of all, it feels doable. What are you planning on doing after Zeta/MEP4, Aime? I am unsure as to whether to stick with MUS or move on to TT or Saxon, or onto something else. My DD11 is not that mathematically inclined, but I want to make sure she has what she needs to go to college or university if she chooses. Well, that all depends on the child. All of mine are in MUS but will probably all take slightly different paths. My oldest who goes through MUS at about 2 lessons per week and supplements with LoF, will more than likely move into Chalkdust after MUS Pre-algebra. She wants to be a vet. My dd11 who struggles to stay with one lesson per week will probably stay with MUS throughout. I have no doubts that MUS will provide her with enough math to do well in college but she will not be choosing a math heavy major. Dd7, who is using MEP now, seems to be math intuitive and was also bored with Alpha (which is why we started with MEP) will probably follow a similar path to my oldest. I didn't start her on Alpha until the middle of last year which is why she is just now starting Beta. I could easily have started her in Beta last year. But, that's water under the bridge. I know that things will pick up in difficulty once we get farther into Beta. That in addition to doing the MEP I know she will not stay bored for long.

 

I don't think that I will eliminate the measurement lessons, because I am in Canada and we follow the metric system. I understand. My dh grew up in England so skipping them is not an option for us either.;)

 

I may post this question on a new thread. My DS5 is totally bored with MUS Primer and does an entire lesson in a day. I have told him to take a break until I figure out what I want to do with him. I love MUS, but I am wondering if I should start him on MEP1 and move through slowly, or maybe Math Mammoth Level 1. I own the light blue levels 1-3, which I have never used. I could always use MUS through the years if he needs some help, since I have Primer-Zeta. Maybe you could start Alpha and then do MEP1 with him and the twin in 3rd that isn't mathmatically inclined. Or you could skip Alpha, just do the MEP and then move to Beta\MEP2a the next year. That's a lot of math instruction but you can just concentrate on MUS lessons on Mon\Tue. Then since you'd be only doing 1/2 of an MEP year per year you could just do MEP the last 2 or 3 days of the week after the MUS practice pages are completed.

Thanks for your input!

 

I would also appreciate any other thoughts...

 

I'll quit hogging your thread now. I'm surprised no one else has chimed in. Usually MEP threads get a lot of action.

[Roxy Roller]

Thank you for all of your help, and for taking the time to reply to my questions, Aime!