Math suggestions?

[Dustybug]

We are using HOD. I have wavered back and forth for over a year now about what I think about using Singapore math, and I think I've just finally reached a point where I don't really care for it and I'm too anxious about teaching something in a way that is so drastically different from how I learned it. So.......now what? DD5 will be finishing Earlybird this year, but I'll be purchasing next year's curriculum soon. Any suggestions for a math program? Why do you like what you use? What has worked and what has not worked for you and your family?

[Guest]

CLE Math (spiral, but not like Saxon UGG!) is the only one that works for my olders. But R&S (mastery) seems to be a better fit for my younger sons. They 'get' the explanations better. I prefer CLE but I guess R&S it is going to be. Lightbulbs are better than blank stares.

 

We have tried:

CLE Math (Levels 100, 300-500)

R&S Math (done 3rd and part of 4th in the past; starting 1st with the littles)

Saxon (3 and 54)

MathUSee (most of the beginning levels)

Singapore (1A)

Calvert Math (can't remember)

Key To... (Fractions, Decimals)

Life of Fred (the first book twice)

TouchMath (worked VERY well for my oldest but only a supplement) (Upper Level kits)

Oak Meadow Math (4th-5th, I think)

Teaching Textbooks (7th and Pre-Alg)

Lial's Basic College Math

Some online thing that doesn't exist anymore

 

I considered but discarded for many reasons:

Math Mammoth

ABeka

Miquon

Right Start

Horizons

BJU

SOS

LifePacs

Modern Curriculum Press

Edited December 31, 2011 by Guest

[MyLittleBears]

CLE Math (spiral, but not like Saxon UGG!) is the only one that works for my olders. But R&S (mastery) seems to be a better fit for my younger sons. They 'get' the explanations better. I prefer CLE but I guess R&S it is going to be. Lightbulbs are better than blank stares.

 

We love,love,love CLE! We've tried MUS,MM,Saxon,R&S, Miquon & Singapore as a stand alones made me nervous.

 

Training5: I'm curious, in what grade do you switch from R&S to CLE? I like R&S for 1st &2nd also but past that CLE our man.

Edited December 31, 2011 by MyLittleBears

[lea1]

My two sons are in K currently and this is something I have also been struggling with....both finding something that they understand and also that I feel comfortable teaching.

 

For the past school year, we have used a combination of the following:

 

Right Start A: I think RS A is a wonderful program and I can see why people like it a lot. My sons did just fine with this and, in the beginning, the scripted lessons were helpful to me. My problem with it is that I don't care for how it jumps from one topic to another within a lesson. It might teach something with addition or entering numbers on the abacus and then switch to teaching geometry, all in one lesson. For some reason, this really bothers me. It also seemed to provide opportunity for my sons to lose focus, as we switched from one manipulative to another and the number of manipulatives required (and the lure of them) would also take focus away from the lesson.

 

Singapore Math 1a (Standards Ed.): I have the HIG and we also used the text book, work books, intensive practice and challenging word problems. I really, really wanted this to work for us. I had just read so much about it and about how wonderful it was that I really wanted to be able to use it. And I tried very hard to make it work. There were a couple of problems with this one. First, my sons did not easily make the leaps required. That could be developmental, although they are older K'ers and just missed the cut-off by 1 month and 3 months. Sometimes I could see they were not understanding things clearly enough. I also got tired of all of the various books, but that was really more of a nit.

 

Miquon Orange Book: When I saw they were not clearly getting some things with SM, I introduced Miquon and C-rods. They picked up the idea of the rods very quickly and did fairly well with this, although they were not "into" in such a way that they wanted to sit around and 'play' with the rods. This was still helpful enough though that I would continue to use it on the side, if I felt that we needed some extra practice with something or needed a new way to approach a problem.

 

After further research, I decided to give Math Mammoth a try. We have only been using it for a short time but I have read through the first grade books extensively and I really like what I see. I am very excited about it because I think it has a lot of the positive things that I like about SM and RS. It provides more incremental steps than SM and provides more practice, which I feel my sons need, at least for now. There are only two books for first grade (a and b). The teacher help is not scripted, which I am now comfortable with, and it is included in the same book. It uses the abacus a lot, which I like, and it takes the "Asian math" kind of approach, if you are familiar with that. If you like SM, you might want to take a look at Math Mammoth.

[Heidi]

I started out doing R&S 1. We got through the first half and a little into the second half. She cried if she didn't finish the timed drills (perfectionist maybe?) and when it started teaching place value I realized it wasn't teaching why a number goes in the tens place or the hundreds place, just that it did. This is the way I was taught growing up as well.

 

I had heard a lot about Math Mammoth, so I took a look at the samples. I noticed how it taught place value... making groups of tens, count the tens, put in tens place.. count the ones, put in ones place. So easy! It teaches WHY! I immediately switched maths and have not regretted it. My oldest is in grade 2 now and is doing great in math. She is not a mathy person at all. She struggled with some concepts last year, but she is getting the hang of it and is breezing through now. I love how incremental new concepts are taught. I love that the math is a download so I can print out as much as I want, as many times as I want. It's just so user friendly and a solid curriculum.

 

I purchased a used singapore math set, grades 1-4, just to look at. I was overwhelmed with how many books there are. It seemed very confusing to me, I'm not into colorful curriculum (bugs me for some reason), and the workbooks are consumable.

 

I do like the challenging word problems and intensive practice workbooks from singapore. We pull those out occasionally for something different. My Ker this year used Essential Math from singapore and really enjoyed it. She is now in MM1.

[Sunshine State Sue]

I can totally relate to giving up on Singapore because it is so different from the way I was taught. We tried it around 2nd grade.

 

We used MUS from K through Algebra. You may read my review here. FWIW, we eventually supplemented with Singapore's Challenging Word Problems. I wish I had learned about CWP earlier.

 

One thing that really helped me when I was choosing a math program was reading Cathy Duffy's curriculum manual for information on learning styles and reviews of all the math programs (probably available online now). It helped me to narrow down what I was interested in. Then, I was able to actually SEE the math programs at a hs convention. I don't know if that's a possibility, but I thought I'd share my experience.

 

Good luck!

Edited December 31, 2011 by Sue in St Pete

[Guest]

Training5: I'm curious, in what grade do you switch from R&S to CLE? I like R&S for 1st &2nd also but past that CLE our man.

 

With my olders, we switched after R&S 3rd. They had trouble copying numbers (still do) and were flipping operations. I also needed something they could teach themselves. They both prefer to learn on their own. We went into CLE 300. I do think mastery is better for my oldest but I have not found anything else.

 

To the poster about the timed speed drills:

Don't time them. I have found it is more important to get the practice, especially with perfectionist children, than speed. My olders are this way, too. They learned the facts but for us, accuracy beats speed any day.

 

To the poster about place value:

One of the reasons I moved from R&S to CLE for my littles was the lack of explanation about place value. When we got to that lesson in CLE, they did not get it. They still don't. I think it is a maturity thing. I told a story about Mr. Place Value (thank you Oak Meadow) and Decimal Street (thank you Mr. Demme) We made packs of ten toothpicks...still the crickets in the field. My understanding is R&S explains the why later in 2nd when the kids are older. Bottom line: it seems too abstract for the age. (Man, I hope that makes sense.)

[magnificent_baby]

We use CLE for dd8. Love it!! We pulled her from ps due to math issues and very happy with our CLE. Very easy to teach. I see huge improvements in math facts just since we began in November. Seems to be more traditional, the way I was taught, and was exactly what I was looking for in a curriculum.

 

I did order MM to use as a supplement for more conceptual understanding (dd tends to breeze through things without much thought and I want to be sure she is understanding the 'whys'). We will start MM, along with CLE after break.

[Mallorie]

Another CLE fan here. :) I have one doing 200, one moving into the 500 level, and one finishing up 700 level.

 

We have done Saxon 1, Saxon Algebra 1/2, R&S (various levels) and finally landed at CLE, with this being our 2nd year using it.

 

I've done other CLE subjects, with mixed results, but I REALLY like their elementary math.

[Dustybug]

Thank you for all the replies! I think I'm driving DH batty with all the wavering, but math is something that I really don't want to jump from curriculum to curriculum a ton if I can help it.

 

I have heard nothing but good things about CLE, but haven't really looked into it for math...looks like I'll be perusing that catalog in a bit. I'll look into Math Mammoth as well.

 

I really am thankful for the thought out replies, they are incredibly helpful to me.

 

If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free! I'm all ears! :bigear:

[Mallorie]

I wanted to chime back in for a minute to suggest that if you are looking at CLE, order one light unit to see if you like it. It's less than $4, IMO, money well spent to see if you like a math curriculum or not. The TM is necessary at the ages of your kids, with the scheduled flash cards and the teaching, but if you are just wanting a feel of the program, you can wait on that.

[Spy Car]

Stay with Singapore. Isn't wanting to do better for our children than giving them the same sort of education we had a big part of why we teach them ourselves?

 

Singapore math is not hard to teach or learn. And it gets better after Earlybird (which is not stellar).

 

I'd say stay the course. Maybe replace the HOD versions with the Standards Edition and HIGs from Singaporemath[dot]com.

 

If you need inspiration read Liping Ma's book. It may dissuade you from choosing a bad path. Math is too important in the 21st Century to use an approach geared towards the agrarian past.

 

Bill

[magnificent_baby]

Stay with Singapore. Isn't wanting to do better for our children than giving them the same sort of education we had a big part of why we teach them ourselves?

 

Singapore math is not hard to teach or learn. And it gets better after Earlybird (which is not stellar).

 

I'd say stay the course. Maybe replace the HOD versions with the Standards Edition and HIGs from Singaporemath[dot]com.

 

If you need inspiration read Liping Ma's book. It may dissuade you from choosing a bad path. Math is too important in the 21st Century to use an approach geared towards the agrarian past.

 

Bill

 

I definitely agree with you there (your point that I bolded)! However, in our own situation we are homeschooling to give our kids at minimum the education we received. It wasn't happening in our district. Their math was completely discovery based, with zero traditional teaching (algorithms, computational operations, etc.). Our very bright dd wasn't catching on because there was no guidance. She was extremely lost.

 

I'm not a math expert by any means. However, I have a bachelor's in science, DH has a master's in science. Math is a big part of our careers. We did fine with the traditional math approach we were taught (learning how to solve through explicit direct instruction). I'm not opposed to conceptual understanding type approach, I think it is important and plan to incorporate.

 

I want her to be confident with traditional methods as well. Should she happen to follow our career paths, I want her to have her facts down and be able to recall quickly. In our field, quick and accurate recall can be a matter of life and death.

 

Perhaps Singapore will accomplish this too; I have only looked at it briefly. Being new to homeschooling, I wanted to be comfortable teaching whatever curriculum we chose and be able to provide a strong mathematical foundation.

 

As far as history and other subjects, we will be learning right along with her. :D

[Spy Car]

I definitely agree with you there (your point that I bolded)! However, in our own situation we are homeschooling to give our kids at minimum the education we received. It wasn't happening in our district. Their math was completely discovery based, with zero traditional teaching (algorithms, computational operations, etc.). Our very bright dd wasn't catching on because there was no guidance. She was extremely lost.

 

I'm not a math expert by any means. However, I have a bachelor's in science, DH has a master's in science. Math is a big part of our careers. We did fine with the traditional math approach we were taught (learning how to solve through explicit direct instruction). I'm not opposed to conceptual understanding type approach, I think it is important and plan to incorporate.

 

I want her to be confident with traditional methods as well. Should she happen to follow our career paths, I want her to have her facts down and be able to recall quickly. In our field, quick and accurate recall can be a matter of life and death.

 

Perhaps Singapore will accomplish this too; I have only looked at it briefly. Being new to homeschooling, I wanted to be comfortable teaching whatever curriculum we chose and be able to provide a strong mathematical foundation.

 

As far as history and other subjects, we will be learning right along with her. :D

 

Singapore develops both strong procedural competence using the standard algorithms and strong mental math and word-problem solving skills. No question about that. It is not "fuzzy math."

 

If you want to build an strong mathematical foundation is an outstanding choice. Too often the choice between math programs is presented as a false dichotomy of "fuzzy math" and "procedural math" on the other. There are Third Way programs we are fortunate to be able to use. Singapore is one, but not the only one.

 

Bill

[magnificent_baby]

Singapore develops both strong procedural competence using the standard algorithms and strong mental math and word-problem solving skills. No question about that. It is not "fuzzy math."

 

If you want to build an strong mathematical foundation is an outstanding choice. Too often the choice between math programs is presented as a false dichotomy of "fuzzy math" and "procedural math" on the other. There are Third Way programs we are fortunate to be able to use. Singapore is one, but not the only one.

 

Bill

 

Thank you for the insight on SM. I will be keeping that in mind, and have pondered in the past, trying CWP on the side. I knew that SM was not fuzzy math, by any means, but did not realize it was a little of both. I am going to supplement with MM though (already ordered), and see how that goes.

 

For now, we are very happy with CLE as our main curricula, though I will always be keeping an open mind.

[MeganW]

RightStart A - totally scripted - you can't get a better foundation, and it is impossible to screw it up as they tell you EXACTLY what to say and do. In my prior lifetime I was a CPA, with an undergrad from Tulane in economics and a masters from Clemson in accounting, and I truly have learned from this program.

 

Miquon Orange - the first few pages are really weird - if you can get past those, the program is amazing!

 

MEP Reception - completely different - I'm not sure I'd feel confident using it alone, but it is a great supplement as far as *thinking*.

 

Read Liping Ma and do a search on CLE before making the decision to use that program.

[Dustybug]

Hmmmmm....

 

Thank you ALL for your input. This has been such a hard decision for me. *sigh*

 

Off for more research...