JulieH Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I have RightStart math level b and my 4th grade son is on this now. He is working quickly through it. He and my 2nd grade daughter were in a Montessori school for the last two years. Their old montessori teacher is tutoring my son through Rightstart and he's caught right on and is doing great. Well, my 7 year old daughter is being VERY resistant. I *think* she is more of a worksheet girl. She wants papers to do. I'm beginning to think this may not be the right fit for her. Furthermore, if she is the kind of kid who can get a concept and then be happy to practice it more independently, it may not be a bad thing for ME since I seem to have chosen a lot of teacher intensive curriculum. Would something like Math Mammoth be better? Should I just do good old Saxon? What are some good, recommended math programs?? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skueppers Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 My daughter was resistant to hands-on math and math with lots of "teaching," and she gets on well with Math Mammoth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 My oldest ds HATED RS. He hated all of those manipulatives. He cried whenever I pulled it out. He prefers quick, to the point instruction and a worksheet. I think he needs to be able to see what is expected of him and a worksheet shows him that. We went back to what we had previously used at the time which was Horizons. We then used CLE for a while, but he seemed to need to see and hear a lesson being taught. His favorite is Teaching Textbooks.....I do make him do some MUS on the side for topics in which he needs extra instruction. Both of these programs provide quick, to the point instruction with both auditory and visual instruction. MUS has worksheets and with TT he sees one problem at a time, but can look ahead to see how many are in the lesson. Both can be pretty independent which he also seems to prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I like Singapore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 If you are on board with the philosophy of RS, I think you should check out Singapore. I *think* there is more writing and worksheets with Singapore...although that is just from what I've read and I haven't seen it personally. If your other children are using RS, it would be easier to use a different program for one child that still offers a similar foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 CLE is a good option too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osaubi Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 My ds is a hands on kind of guy. I bought RS when I started homeschooling him. It ended up being a really good fit so I saved it for my dd. She doesn't like it at all unless she thinks she is getting a worksheet. I bought Math Mammoth and switch between the two curriculums. We tried Singapore Math but there were not enough worksheets for her and to many books for me to juggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Well the nice thing is you can try a few things and see what clicks with her. Math Mammoth and CLE are both good for that. MM is great conceptually, but you might find yourself needing to explain a bit. If you want it totally independent (or if she needs built in daily fact practice), then CLE would be good. CLE is really charming, has the built-in fact practice, and they'll even send you a free sample. I think it's good to try several things rather than committing to one and hoping for the best. It only takes a couple weeks, but it leaves you more confident. Or at least it did us. We did RS btw, levels A-D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I think Math Mammoth would be a good choice. It's similar to Singapore in teaching method, but everything is in one text - very easy to teach, and it can be done semi-independently if she wants. I go over the teaching (in the text) and then circle which problems my son should do. Easy peasy. There are plenty of problems. Tons and tons of problems. You don't have to do them all. :) She probably wouldn't like Saxon in the lower levels, since they are not as worksheet-based as the upper levels (5/4 and up). Also, if she gets the concepts quickly, it might bore her to tears (ask me how I know :glare:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I like Singapore. My some hates manipulatives. He is doing well with Singapore. Sometimes the pictures in Singapore are too much for him, then I just teach it on the board. I find that the text and workbook have too much repetition for us. I skip about half the problems in each lesson. I do add in some IP for a challenge. We are in level 2a. I loved that we could do placement tests to find the right level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieH Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 Please forgive probably a silly question, but what is CLE??? What does that stand for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Please forgive probably a silly question, but what is CLE??? What does that stand for? Christian Light Education. The website is http://www.clp.org They have great samples. My kids did RS for a long time but we recently switched and two of them are doing great with Math Mammoth which is a lot like RS, but in worksheet format. And one is using CLE because he's a very concrete thinker and loves how orderly and straightforward CLE is. Very different types of programs, and both very good I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieH Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 oooh nooooooooooooooooooo! LOL Now I can't decide between the two: Math Mammoth or CLE. I like the "looks" of CLE...looks very orderly. I don't know which one she'll do better with. ugh..decisions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 oooh nooooooooooooooooooo! LOL Now I can't decide between the two: Math Mammoth or CLE. I like the "looks" of CLE...looks very orderly. I don't know which one she'll do better with. ugh..decisions! You can buy just one light unit of CLE or print off samples, same for Math Mammoth, print off some samples. Then have her try both and see which one suits her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexi Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I would suggest Math Mammoth. We like it here! Singapore might also be a good fit. I haven't used that one though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celia Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I'm also going to suggest Math Mammoth! My ds does great with RS, not so for dd! She's workbooky and math mammoth is a winner for her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 We tried Math Mammoth. I didn't have a problem with it, but dd HATED it. It was starting to make her hate math and we were only using it as a supplement. But whenever she saw that workbook page come out, she would lose it. The pages were just too much for her. And it didn't matter if I crossed some out, just seeing how many were on a page and how jumbled the pages looked would just send her into orbit! We were using Horizons math at the time for our main math curriculum and she LOVED those worksheets. Although Horizons is a spiral program, it is not super spiraly like Saxon. We haven't used CLE, but it looks like a good program as well. Just wanted to offer you a different opinion on Math Mammoth. I know that it works for a lot of families, but it didn't work for ours (well, at least for my oldest!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 (edited) Have you read about conceptual math (the why as a priority; here is a thread I pulled on search http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177597)? Liping Ma threads or her book? If you selected RightStart because you want conceptual math I'd stick with those types of programs for your daughter. If a strong conceptual focus doesn't matter to you/for her I would consider CLE. It might fit her well and a lot of people like it. For conceptual, Math Mammoth might be a good fit. She has lots of samples on her website to print and try. It's also inexpensive to purchase and try. Also conceptual--Singapore or Math In Focus (workbook based but with pictures which may put her off/not sure). Math in Focus/Harcourt has the entire book and workbook on their site to preview but the site is down for maintenance now (temporary/routine it says). CBD will have good samples of it and I assume Singapore has similar. My son is in 2nd and RightStart was not ideal for him. I showed him Math Mammoth and Math in Focus and he really liked the look of Math in Focus but he is likely coming from a different set of objections than your daughter. Still, she might have a preference between Singapore, Math Mammoth, and Math in Focus. I'd show her samples and ask for her input. Then I'd buy the smallest portions I could and try it. If conceptual doesn't matter try CLE too. Math in Focus fits my son better but he likes the pictures and workbook combination and there is lots of white space and far fewer problems than the Math in Mammoth pages and I assume your daughter might be the opposite. My other son did well with RightStart but he's one of those workbook kids like your daughter as well. He actually preferred the look of Math Mammoth samples. That said, as it turns out he's enjoying the workbook in Math in Focus a lot. Edited September 11, 2011 by sbgrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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