MEP?

[Guest]

Can MEP be used without the lesson plans? Or, are they absolutely necessary?

[Rivka]

I didn't really use the lesson plans in 1b. I looked at them from time to time and was not impressed with the extra activities, so I put them away again.

 

I've been much more impressed with the lesson plans in 2a and 2b. We do skip activities if they are too group-oriented or I don't think we need the extra practice at something, but I almost always do some of the lesson plan activities.

 

Some things I didn't realize at first that the lesson plans were doing:

 

- They introduce new concepts, often well in advance of when the concept shows up in the practice book.

- They have a lot of the fun stuff, like experimenting with measuring devices or setting up a pretend store to practice paying for things and making change.

- Some of the coolest, most complicated logic problems only appear in the lesson plans & overheads, not in the practice books.

- They help me figure out how hard an activity is supposed to be and how much help I should expect to give.

- They have a lot of the drill which otherwise seems to be lacking. MEP is very big on oral drill.

[Willow Creek Academy]

I found that I needed them. We used it from 1a-2b as a supplement to CLE and loved it.

[redsquirrel]

I use them. If you don't then it is just a worksheet. The teaching is in the lesson plans. It gives you a way to introduce the problems and a way to discuss them.

[Guest]

Ok, thank you all. I was just looking for something that would be an easy supplement with what we were already using. Guess it won't be MEP.

[Rivka]

Oh, if you're just looking for a supplement, I think you could make it work. Just browse through the practice book pages looking for problems that look interesting. I thought you were shopping for a main curriculum.

[HiddenJewel]

For a supplement then the worksheets alone might work. But if it is your main program, the interactive teaching from the lesson plans is what makes it work for us.