MM vs CLE math

[LAmom]

What are the main differences in approach? Has anyone switched from MM to CLE or vice versa? What would be the main differences I would see in outcome when they complete math in high school?

 

Thanks for any input or any links to previous posts on this topic.

 

Oh, also what type of learner does CLE work best for or MM?

[monalisa]

We used MM very briefly, and it was not a fit. DD8.5 is now using CLE 3, and it is going very well (she used BJU for 3 years prior, which was OK, but not great for her, and part of that I think is she needed more review). MM is mastery, CLE is spiral. MM is sometimes compared to Singapore for teaching more conceptually and more like Asian math. CLE is traditional arithmetic. Both have all the instruction in the workbook (though I struggled with how MM was written, for some reason). CLE is completely open and go, which I did not feel like MM was for me (having to decide how much to do in day, what to omit, when to do reviews etc.). CLE can be done independently, but I work through the new material with my dd and then help her with the review section as needed. My dd is griping less with CLE which is extremely important for me :). As far as learning style, I am not sure. My dd is highly auditory with visual being a second. CLE has a pleasant visual appearance (it is 2 color and has some pictures, and each of the lightunits has a "theme" like 302 is pets), and I do talk through the lesson with her, if that helps at all.

[Veritaserum]

What are the main differences in approach? Has anyone switched from MM to CLE or vice versa? What would be the main differences I would see in outcome when they complete math in high school?

 

Thanks for any input or any links to previous posts on this topic.

 

Oh, also what type of learner does CLE work best for or MM?

 

We currently use both (different kids). I really like both.

 

Similarities

• Written to the student (starting in CLE 300, beg. with MM)
  
• Teach concepts (MM is more thorough with this, but CLE is still good)
  

 

Differences

• MM is mastery (one concept per chapter); CLE is spiral (one or two new things per lesson followed by review of previous concepts)
  
• MM is better for mathy kids; CLE is better for kids who need bite-sized pieces and more review
  
• MM is not very appealing visually; CLE is attractive and uncluttered
  
• MM is secular; CLE is Christian (Mennonite), but the religious content generally only shows up fairly innocuously in the word problems.
  
• MM has to be printed unless you order the pre-printed workbooks; CLE is only sold in print format (each level has ten LightUnits--little booklets that further make math less overwhelming).
  

 

As I said, I like both programs. My oldest (11, 6th grade) did four levels of MM (accelerated for remediation) and just switched to CLE 500. She is accelerating through that (skipping the review half of the lesson). We hope to start CLE 600 by January so that she will be back at grade level by the end of this school year. I switched her because she had hit a wall with MM. I absolutely believe that going through MM 1-4 was the right choice for last year, though. My second dd switched to CLE from MUS in third grade. She is doing very well with CLE. I plan to switch after CLE 800 (maybe earlier) to a traditional sequence of textbooks.

 

My third dd uses MM and I don't plan to switch her to CLE. She is in level 2. She's a more mathy kid than my older two. I think MM is more rigorous, so I hope she goes through all six levels.

[boscopup]

CLE is completely open and go, which I did not feel like MM was for me (having to decide how much to do in day, what to omit, when to do reviews etc.).

 

For anyone wondering how to deal with this... There is a file in the MM folder that contains some FAQs. One of those is how much to do each day. Really, how much you do is dependent on your kid, BUT you can get a general idea by taking the number of pages and dividing it by the number of days you plan to school. Most of the grade levels, you can do about 2 pages or even 1.5 pages a day and finish by the end of the year. So you just do that much and you're done. Not a big deal. You can adjust it to your child's abilities, but just keep that goal in mind.

 

I schedule the cumulative reviews and the chapter tests after each chapter.

 

So MM is very open and go for me. We actually do more than 2 pages... we do one section per day. I wouldn't recommend that for a kid that isn't accelerating through it though. If the section is 4-5 pages, I might split it up, depending on the content (some things are 4 pages, but they're mostly review, so I just assign a few problems here and there, making the work manageable).

 

The curriculum is very flexible, but it's pretty easy to make it scheduled and open and go. I wouldn't put it in file folders, but I wouldn't do that with any math program. I learned that the hard way. :tongue_smilie:

[LAmom]

Thanks! Very helpful. My daughter seems bored and takes about 1 hour to do 1-2 pages of MM. She just slowly works along. She is pretty good at addition but struggling with subtraction. I loved MM last year. It really seemed to work well for her but this year it is not going so well. I have wanted to get CLE to at least look at but have wanted to stick with the mental math. I also purchased the whole set of MM. I fear my 1st grader isn't going to do so well with it. We will see! Something really attracts me to CLE. :tongue_smilie:

[Joyofsixreboot]

For whatever reason my kids stared at MM and whined they didn't know what to do. I'd explain. They'd ask why it just didn't say that. I kind of agreed. I decided to try CLE and they took off.:001_huh: My 5th grader really worked to get up to grade level. He was behind. Seven yo 2nd grader is now doing 3rd grade. I never would have pegged her as " mathy" before. YMMV

[amazzie]

We switched from CLE to MM. I really like the way MM makes us think - I have to take a moment or two to figure out how to do the problems sometimes. I think my son finds it very intuitive, though. The spiral nature of CLE ended up making the lessons longer than needed for him, and he really didn't need to do all that review. Once he gets something, the concepts stick. Hope that helps you decide!

[Ewe Mama]

We went from MM as our main math curricula to CLE. CLE has been a much better fit for us. We still use MM for their thinking puzzles, but it has been shelved for the most part. I prefer the concept of MM, but CLE is much easier to implement and explain. I'm not a mathy person, but all of the dc are. They have been much happier since the switch to CLE.

[LAmom]

So how do you know if your child would do better with spiral or mastery?

[skueppers]

So how do you know if your child would do better with spiral or mastery?

 

I'm not sure of the answer to this question, but I've changed Math Mammoth around for my daughter because she was bored with doing one thing day after day after day.

 

I have the blue series, but I imagine this would work for the light blue as well. I have interleaved the "fun" topics of money, time, geometry, and measurement with the "boring" arithmetic. Last year I did this informally, but this year I made a workbook, at her request.

 

I also give her one or two problems from MEP every day; these are typically selected because they review some topic in an interesting way, or because they require a certain kind of thinking.