Sherri in MI Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 I don't even know what constitutes a "complete" math program. I've been using Horizons since K for my son. He's in 6th grade and still finishing up Horizons 5, because of family complications, not his ability to understand. He's not a Math whiz, but catches on quickly I just don't feel it offers enough explanation for new concepts, esp. ratios. and five has been agonzingly, unnecessarily slow. Too much review in the first half of the year and not enough explanation of new concepts in the second half. They waited until the second half to introduce operations with fractions, decimals and ratios. And nothing with integers yet! I thought they are more advanced, and have found them to be so until Horizons 5. Ds was ready for these concepts at the beginning of last year and yet we've had to slog through weeks of easy lessons. Because it's a spiral curriculum I had a heard time figuring out what was okay to skip. Also Horizons does no mental math and very few word problems in Horizons 5. I know my son knows how to do math, but I'm not sure he gets the why. I don't want to go through the same experience with Horizons 6. Plus it's not cheap. I'm considering Math Mammoth. It's much more affordable and looks like it explains concepts much better. When I looked through the samples on the website, they made sense to me. But I'm worried it looks too "simple" compared to Horizons or that it doesn't cover everything it should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystika1 Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Hi, MM is a complete program that is Asian Style. I think it is excellent at making children really think. I believe that MM has a placement test that should help. Some of the material may seem easy but it is very deceptive. I am slowly adding it back into our school day so I am using it(blue series) as a supplement. She needs the cartoonish graphics in SM to really keep her interested. You can move swiftly through the material that you have covered already and work more intensly on the rest. I am sure others will reply to better help you. Blessings, Penny I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cheryl in SoCal Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 It is if you get the Light Blue Series. The Blue Series is almost the same as the Light Blue (just organized by topic) except that it doesn't have the review or tests. Most use it to supplement another curriculum. The Green and Gold are just worksheets with no instruction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherri in MI Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 Thanks Penny & Cheryl. What does "Asian style" mean? I looked for a placement test and didn't see one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) "Asian style" means it's similar to Singapore Primary Math and other programs that emphasize conceptual understanding and mental math. The MM Light Blue series is a very complete program and includes cumulative reviews and tests. The conceptual explanations are very clear and explicit and the word problems are good, strong, multi-step problems. Integers are covered in depth in 5B (in fact, they're covered in more depth than they are in some Algebra programs). There will be more on integers in 6B, which should be released soon. For placement, use the end-of-year tests for the previous level (e.g. use the 4th grade test as a placement for the 5th grade book). Jackie Edited October 27, 2010 by Corraleno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) They waited until the second half to introduce operations with fractions, decimals and ratios. And nothing with integers yet! I know my son knows how to do math, but I'm not sure he gets the why. I don't want to go through the same experience with Horizons 6. Plus it's not cheap. I'm considering Math Mammoth. It's much more affordable and looks like it explains concepts much better. When I looked through the samples on the website, they made sense to me. But I'm worried it looks too "simple" compared to Horizons or that it doesn't cover everything it should. I'd have to go into the attic to pull out a 5th grade book decipher what you are addressing b/c I am not sure you have stated what you are thinking correctly. First, Horizons starts teaching integers in K and never stops using them in every single lesson from K-6 since integers are simply whole numbers. Horizons definitely has them using ratios, decimals, and fractions in "operations" even before the 5th grade book. They learn how to convert, find equivalent fractions as early as the 3rd grade book (my dd is converting to improper fractions right now in 3rd grade book 2) as well as adding and subtracting fractions and multiplying whole numbers by fractions. What "operations" are you looking for? FWIW, my impression of MM is that it is very similar instructionally to Horizons except mastery, not spiral. ETA: I do think that Horizons does not cover mental math like SM and agree that there aren't that many word problems. That said, it has never impacted my kids' abilities to solve either. Edited October 27, 2010 by 8FillTheHeart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherri in MI Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Jackie, Thanks for the info! I'll go back and look at those end-of-year tests. 8FilltheHeart, Well I guess I need to be more specific. Yes, some of those concepts were introduced in basic form in previous years. That's how Horizons works. But I knew the main "new" concepts for 5th grade would be: adding and substracting fractions with unlike denominators; multiplying and dividing fractions; decimals; working more with ratios; and negative integers. The first half of 5th grade was mostly review, some of which seemed unnecessary. The "new" concepts were introducted in the second half of the year. My main complaint though, was sometimes the explanations, especially on the fractions lessons and the ratio lessons are not very clear in the 5th grade book IMO. They did a good job explaining decimals though. And I LOVED Horizons for K-3, maybe 4. I was hoping Math Mammoth had clearer explanations. Also, it's less expensive, which is a plus since my dh is out of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjbeach Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 We just switched from Horizons and after 3 years of happily using it, I can now see the gaps, upon switching to MM. This year we are doing a lot of teaching of mental math and working really, really hard on word problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 We are in our 8th week of MM and from what I can tell so far, it is extremely thorough. I shied away from the "asian style" math programs because i am not "math-y" myself, but this is very easy to teach and understand. Sometimes I have to skip stuff and just move ahead because if we did every single page we'd never get done, but it is very comprehensive, and i can see it challenging my kids in good ways. i'm thinking we will stick with it for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 The only level of Horizons that I've looked at is K so I can't tell you how MM compares to the higher levels of Horizons, but I :001_wub: the way Maria Miller explains fractions. We're using Singapore as our spine and my DD was very confused by the fractions chapter in 3B. So then I had her work through portions of the MM "blue" Fractions 1 worktext and the "light bulb" went on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.