Which math for a bright and "mathy" kid....R&S or CLE?

[MamaHappy]

The title pretty much says it all. Which math program would work best for a kid who "gets math" and doesn't struggle with it?

 

Thanks!

[kathkath]

Mep

[Crimson Wife]

Why not Singapore? That would be my choice...

[Spy Car]

Neither.

 

Bill

[jennynd]

depend on how old, if it is for the 8yo. I will do Singapore. for 6 yo, i will do combine miquon and SM

[lauracolumbus]

Math Mammoth.

 

Laura

[Willow Creek Academy]

If it is between those two, I would say CLE. My olders had great success with it and upon entering public school in middle school, one was a year ahead ahead and the other had to take math classes at the high school.

 

That said, if you were willing to look at something besides those two, I would say MEP. Not because it is free but because it is darned good.

[Veritaserum]

Between those two, CLE, but I think you really want Math Mammoth, Singapore, or MEP. My mathy girl loves Math Mammoth. It is a work text like CLE. I have kids using CLE instead because it works better for them to have smaller chunks and more review, but MM is more thorough. I add things to CLE as I teach it to make it more conceptual.

[lotsofpumpkins]

My dc are all in CLE, including my mathy child. I supplement with Singapore's Challenging Word Problems.

 

We've used R&S in the past, and it was pretty boring for a mathy child.

[daybreaking]

Well, I have a very bright, "mathy" son and we adore R&S. We've done 1,2,3 and are about 1/2 through 4. I had considered switching at one point, earlier this year, but my ds was very adamant that he wanted to stay with R&S, as he felt it was more thorough than any of the other programs I considered. I know many love CLE, but it didn't fit our style, as I prefer more teacher involvement in the lessons, which is the way R&S is laid out.

[DB in NJ]

Well, I have a very bright, "mathy" son and we adore R&S. We've done 1,2,3 and are about 1/2 through 4. I had considered switching at one point, earlier this year, but my ds was very adamant that he wanted to stay with R&S, as he felt it was more thorough than any of the other programs I considered. I know many love CLE, but it didn't fit our style, as I prefer more teacher involvement in the lessons, which is the way R&S is laid out.

 

:iagree:

[MeganW]

RightStart, MEP, Miquon, Math Mammoth, or Singapore

[chepyl]

My mathy child is doing SM with CWP and IP. He begs to do the CWP!

[didadeewiththree]

Rightstart; My daughter is doing R & S and is bored with it. She wants to do Rightstart with her 5 yr old brother. And all three of the kids want to play "Go to the Dump" from the Rightstart games book. Im seriously considering switching from R and S to Rightstart for her. The R and S looks nice but it is repetitive. I figure we will finish it out this year but I feel the need to teach more conceptual math to her. I do like that R and S is mastery oriented, but the way it repeats itself reminds me of just flashcard drill. In her workbook yesterday, there were 6 problems on the top row. 3 of the 6 problems were 13 minus 9 equals what. It's just not making her think outside the box.

[boscopup]

I wouldn't choose either of those for my mathy son, though I do like CLE and have thought about it on occasion. I don't think he'd do well with that much spiral review. R&S looks just plain too easy to me, judging by the samples. The word problems are very simple. I don't see anything that would make my son stop and have to think.

 

My son did very well with Math Mammoth (did 1A-4A and part of 4B), where inexpensive curriculum was handy, and then we switched over to Singapore 4A recently (skipping some things here and there that MM already covered). He prefers the presentation of Singapore, but I didn't want to be spending $120/grade level when we were accelerating (we did all of that MM in one calendar year). Now we're not going so fast, so I don't mind spending the money on Singapore. We always added in CWP and IP to MM anyway, which I highly recommend. If you do choose R&S or CLE, you could still use CWP and/or IP to add some challenge.

[way2cross]

My fifth grade son is mathy and loves CLE.

[MIch elle]

CLE math. I've used both CLE and R&S with my 2 dc and CLE is more advanced than R&S.

[MissKNG]

Another vote for Singapore for a mathy kiddo. My mathy big girl is excelling with it and doing quite well.

[Joyofsixreboot]

My " mathy" dd uses CLE and MM. She prefers CLE. She does the new lesson and I pick a few review questions from each lesson for her to do. She then does as much MM as she wants. We like CLE but I adjust how much review for each kid. My math "average" son does more review.

Edited December 13, 2011 by joyofsix

[blessedmom3]

CLE definitely.

 

But I wouldn't skip SIngapore also. I use both and it's a perfect mix for a mathy child . CLE does have a lot of review . I cross some of it, leaving enough time for Singapore. For 2&3rd grade , we use the workbook ( everything) and I pick& choose from the textbook , HIG ( we like the games ) and CWP. It does take us about 40-45 min/day for math, but he enjoys it .

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

For my mathy boy we're using MEP and will be adding Miquon soon.

[SnegurochkaL]

We love MEP and SM here. We are using IP and CWP with regular textbook and not touching workbooks at all. We enjoy MEP's puzzle-like problems and brainteasers:)

[Guest]

CLE

[iamrachelle]

Hands down, CLE. We've used it and love it.

[Tenaj]

My most mathy kid is using Rod and Staff about two grade levels ahead and it's working out great. It did take me purchasing several levels to find the right fit for him. He a very young eight year old and is about half way through the fourth grade book.

 

My first choice would probably have been CLE but his older brother is doing CLE Grade 3 and I didn't want a comparison issue between the two of them.

 

I think someone else already mentioned that CLE is much more independent than R&S. I think that's probably why its working so well to use R&S for my mathy kid. I can teach him new concepts rather quickly and we move on.

[ndseward]

Another Singapore vote!

[mytwomonkeys]

CLE is definitely my choice. we absolutely love it.

[mystika1]

It depends...

I have never used R&S but I have looked at samples. Does your child like a lot of variety of math problems per lesson? If so, it may not be a good fit.. R & S seems to work on one topic at a time.(please correct me if I am wrong as I do not own any of these grade levels) Also, I have read that the problems are to be written on paper because the book is considered a textbook and not a workbook.(Many people have chosen to have the child write in the books anyway because the books are so inexpensive) Because it is in textbook form, you can save a lot of money reusing the material with your other children.(buy once and save a ton of money)

 

If your child likes a variety of problems(time, money, addition and subtraction) per lesson then CLE would be a better fit. It is a workbook curriculum. It has lots of review of past topics so keep that in mind. Some kids do very well with review..others don't. I like cle. She loves workbooks and finds math games lame.:rolleyes: Speed drills are included in the back of the book. My dd loves speed drills and glows when she sees me pulling out the timer. It does not have as much mental math focus as SM, MM, MEP but it is there presented in a gentle way. The set of workbooks I just ordered has a section teaching mental math strategies.

 

I hope this helps you choose,

 

Penny

[Mrs Twain]

Whichever you pick, you can add in CWP workbooks and MEP worksheets to supplement. With my mathy kids, I use Horizons as our main math program, and I add in CWP and MEP. They are great!

[MamaHappy]

Thanks for all the responses, I appreciate the feedback! I actually already use Singapore with my older ds, but I'm not in love with it. I don't like that it doesn't include drill and I find it difficult to teach. I know there are the HIG's, but I find them very cumbersome and I have difficulty wading through all the wordiness of it.

 

I guess I'm looking for something mastery based with a good TM that provides lots of hand-holding (scripted, I guess). And I'd like drill included. I've tried CLE with my younger ds, but I'm not crazy about the spiral approach. I just want to focus on one thing at a time.

 

I like the looks of R&S math, but it looks like the lessons have a ton of problems and could get very time-consuming. But I'm wondering if you could just skip some problems if you feel like your child has mastered that particular area?? One thing I DO like about Singapore is that there isn't too much repitition and the lessons are fairly short.

 

Thanks again! :)

Edited December 14, 2011 by MamaHappy
Typos

[mystika1]

 

I like the looks of R&S math, but it looks like the lessons have a ton of problems and could get very time-consuming. But I'm wondering if you could just skip some problems if you feel like your child has mastered that particular area?? One thing I DO like about Singapore is that there isn't too much repitition and the lessons are fairly short.

 

Thanks again! :)

 

Tweak away! That sounds like you have it pretty much figured out.

 

Penny

[daybreaking]

I like the looks of R&S math, but it looks like the lessons have a ton of problems and could get very time-consuming. But I'm wondering if you could just skip some problems if you feel like your child has mastered that particular area?? One thing I DO like about Singapore is that there isn't too much repitition and the lessons are fairly short.

Thanks again! :)

 

Based on what you've shared, I think you'd love R&S. Even though I have a math degree and spent years teaching math, I still love the layout and clear direction of the TM. As far as number of problems and skipping any, so far we haven't. I have actually found that the repetition and drill has resulted in my ds REALLY knowing his facts and thus flying through the material. Grades 1 and 2 didn't take him long at all. In grade 3, the copying was taking too long, so I ended up having him use the textbook as a workbook. With writing in the text, he could finish a lesson in about 15-20 minutes. For grade 4, there often isn't enough room to write in the book, so I have him do his work on lined paper; however, to shorten the time, I will write out about 2/3's of the copying problems on our chalkboard and he will do them there. This has brought the length of time for him to complete an assignment down to 30 minutes (on a non-dawdling day :001_smile:), which is "just right" for us.

 

P.S. Just to show how R&S can, indeed, be advanced for a mathy kid, today, when I had ds do 365 divided by 5 on the chalkboard, he immediately said, "Oh! That's 1/5 of a year!" When I asked him to give me a fraction equivalent to 1/2, he said, 50,000,000,000/100,000,000,000. :001_smile:

Edited December 14, 2011 by daybreaking
typo

[mystika1]

P.S. Just to show how R&S can, indeed, be advanced for a mathy kid, today, when I had ds do 365 divided by 5 on the chalkboard, he immediately said, "Oh! That's 1/5 of a year!" When I asked him to give me a fraction equivalent to 1/2, he said, 50,000,000,000/100,000,000. :001_smile:

 

It is nice to read of success with the more traditional math choices. :)

 

Penny

[Musicmom]

Just my 2 cents, but speaking from down the road (mathy ds is a college sophomore majoring in Computer Science, and mathy dd is in 11th grade and doing Calculus this year), I would encourage you to pick a tried-and-true program that teaches mathematical thinking and problem solving, something with word problems that are not all the same--that make you stop and think what's being asked for. Singapore Primary Math is one option that does this (as does Miquon for K-3). In retrospect, I think switching to Singapore (ds was in 4th gr, dd in 1st gr), was the single best math decision I ever made. I highly recommend it.

 

I'm not familiar with R&S or CLE, so I don't know if they emphasize thinking/problem solving or not. You might want to investigate further and find out. If they are rote or spiral methods, I would be cautious. Ds did Horizons (a spiral program) in 3rd grade after having done Miquon. It was a disaster--he didn't complain, but after a few months, he just was not as good at math as he had been, even though Horizons was easier than Miquon. It was as if his brain just turned off! He did get his thinking skills back with Singapore, but it took almost a year. Every child is different, and ymmv of course, but it's something to watch out for.

[Clear Creek]

 

I guess I'm looking for something mastery based with a good TM that provides lots of hand-holding (scripted, I guess). And I'd like drill included. I've tried CLE with my younger ds, but I'm not crazy about the spiral approach. I just want to focus on one thing at a time.

 

I like the looks of R&S math, but it looks like the lessons have a ton of problems and could get very time-consuming. But I'm wondering if you could just skip some problems if you feel like your child has mastered that particular area?? One thing I DO like about Singapore is that there isn't too much repitition and the lessons are fairly short.

 

Thanks again! :)

 

The repetition is only there if you need it. Otherwise, if my child shows mastery of the concept we just move on. My 4th grader is flying through the 4th grade book (she should be done some time in January); the way it is set up one concept is introduced each day, which makes it easy to combine lessons. Each lesson includes a lot of review, so I can choose between a number of topics to review, depending on what I think she needs. She is doing approximately one chapter per week (9 lessons covering new concepts, one review, and one test).

 

As far as word problems go, R&S has done an excellent job of teaching my oldest how to do them. I bought her CWP3 at the beginning of the year, and she finds them rather easy to solve. I did have to teach her how to draw a bar graph to set them up, but as far as figuring out what needed to be done to solve the problem and deciphering the important information, she has a very thorough understanding of it. R&S teaches key words, drills discovering which operation(s) is/are needed to solve the problem, and teaches how to tell which important information is missing from a word problem.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Clear Creek