5th grade math

[bnrmom]

Hi - I am new to the boards, but have been reading for awhile. I am so impressed with everyone here! I thought I had a good grasp of the curriculum available, but I have learned a lot from you all!

 

We homeschooled my older ds K-3, and my younger ds for K. They chose to go to school for 4th and 1st, and now we are returning to homeschooling for 5th and 2nd.

 

We are not following WTM exactly, but I like a lot of the ideas, and was hoping I could get some feedback regarding math for my 5th grader. We had done Singapore in the past, and while it was fine, I found it a bit boring. I don't like Saxon (too much prep for me and dry for the kids), MUS (we found their approach confusing) or Rightstart (too many manipulatives for us).

 

He is really good at math concepts, but has a harder time with memorization and doesn't like a lot of writing. I think the two options I've found that look good for him would be Life of Fred and Teaching Textbooks. My question is - is either of these a stand alone program? Is it overkill to use both together, or is it a good idea? Any other ideas for supplemention or to round out either of these programs? (We are secular homeschoolers, if that makes a difference in your curriculum recommendations.)

 

Right now he is talking about wanting to return to school for junior high (6th grade) so I want to make sure he stays on track for what he is supposed to cover in a typical 5th grade year, but I also want to restore his love of math which was killed in school this year with the endless timed worksheets.

 

Thank you so much!

[usetoschool]

Teaching Textbooks is definitely a stand alone, full math program. Definitely take the placement test though to get him on the appropriate level.

[NanceXToo]

A lot of people will say that TT is not good enough, too easy, etc, yet my daughter used it for 5th grade this past year as a stand alone program with no supplementing whatsoever and did very well (especially for a non-mathy kid) on the math portion of the standardized test she had to take this year.

 

I have a detailed review of it on my blog if you're interested in checking it out:

 

http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html

 

With that said, I thought LOF sounded really interesting/fun and in the fall when we start 6th grade, we're going to continue using Teaching Textbooks 4 X a week, and on the 5th day, we're going to check out LOF- just one lesson a week- and see how we like it.

 

If my daughter likes it and it goes smoothly, she can continue doing it that way. If she doesn't like it or doesn't want to do two math programs, I'd drop LOF and stick with TT because we like TT and it works well for us.

[NittanyJen]

I've never used TT, but my 5th grader is using Life of Fred, and yes, if your child has the prerequisites (arithmetic through long division, but fractions not required) LoF is a strong standalone program and very thorough.

 

It does require the child to really sit and read the book and work through the "Your Turn To Play" sections, though! Then actually reading the answer key is great, because it is written for the student, not the parent, and more teaching takes place there, too! Wait until a bridge has been passed with 90% or better before moving on (you get 5 tries).

 

We started in Fractions; he is currently in Decimals and Percents, and we have pre-purchased up through Algebra with the home companion book. I have been a paid tutor by the local university where my husband is an applied math professor, and we are delighted by the content, scope, and quality of this series. The student is truly challenged to think, digest the why and not just the how, understand the theory, and apply it to novel situations in context with his prior mathematical and other real-world knowledge to solve problems. In other words, it teaches very solid math, but it also teaches kids how to teach themselves from a book, and how to think-- and that math isn't a subject that exists in isolation from the world!

 

My son tackles 1 chapter per day, spends 1 day per bridge test, and I budget 1 day for any review or 'whoops, what was that?' though so far he hasn't needed it. If LoF exposes any arithmetic weaknesses, I highly recommend the very affordable but also high quality Math Mammoth, about $5 per topic (when DS started fractions, we discovered his long division was not yet up to snuff).

 

Good luck finding what works best for your family!

 

Jen

http://hillandalefarmschool/blogspot.com/

[ChrissySC]

I have come to realize that your math program is only as good as your effort and dedication.

 

If you make it a point to ensure that understanding and mastery take place, then the program is a matter of approach and scope and sequence only. Evaluate based on the content and find a style that fits you and your child.

 

I will always say Saxon, Singapore, and Math Mammoth first, but these are preferential to me.

 

Math enrichment is necessary. Apply math in real world application. Focus on the logical too. Memory work is a must.

 

Just my two cents :)

 

I would do both. LOF can supplement TT by providing more practice for mastery.

[jmccumbers]

Teaching Textbooks is a full math curriculum, but make sure to give a placement test.

 

I've read that the Fractions and Decimals books from Life of fred are supplementary, but we haven't used them...yet! My plan is to use our math curriculum (BJU) 4 days a week and LoF on Fridays.

[bnrmom]

Thank you for your suggestions! I think we will go ahead with Teaching Textbooks - we just have to decide between level 5 or 6. He knows a lot of the level 5 already, but extra practice wouldn't hurt him either. So we'll go over the placement tests more carefully before we decide.

 

I think we'll go ahead and start with Life of Fred Fractions at the same time, and see how long it takes him and how interested he is.

 

Anyone know of a Teaching Textbooks-like program for 2nd grade? My 2nd grader worked on the level 3 sample a bit - he did well, but he doesn't know how to carry with multi-digit addition yet.