winoelle Posted January 1, 2012 Share Posted January 1, 2012 Is there any math program out there that is like CLE, but secular? We switched this year from Singapore (which was just not a fit at all for dd) and CLE has been going really well. There are starting to be a lot more word problems though and I cannot ignore the religious content anymore. Is there anything out there that is spiral, has the review like CLE does, but leaves out religion? THANKS! Noelle Chaltry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winoelle Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Anyone? :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Saxon is spiral and secular, though it is incremental. It's not quite the same as CLE. What grade are you doing? I think grades 3 and up have themes that often aren't religious. And if it's the lower grades where word problems are read by the teacher, you could just edit on the fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winoelle Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 Thanks. We are speeding through the 200s as remedial math work at the moment, my determination to stick with Singapore put us behind a bit. We are in 209 now, so almost to the 300s. It was okay, but this last lesson has been really nonstop religion questions. As I look at the 210 book it doesn't seem as prevalent. I like my dd to be able to work independently a bit as she seems to do better that way, but if the future levels are like book 209 I am not going to be able to let her just work through them. I feel like I ruled Saxon out when we switched for some reason but I don't remember what it was. I will take another look. Noelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I guess you could always black out anything religious in nature and substitute with other words. Honestly there are a lot ( more than I knew) of people who use CLE that are not religious at all. They seem to make due with it and not take offense because the program works for their child(ren). Saxon would be the ONLY secular program that is similar to CLE that I currently know of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 So is she 3rd grade? Could you just have a discussion with her about the religion? I do that with science texts for my son (we're YEC, and most library books are from OE/Big Bang/Evolution type point of view). It's not been a problem. Basically a similar situation, just in reverse. ;) He knows what we believe and why, and he's learning that other people believe xyz and why. I just looked at the sample for LU 302, and it appears to be a veterinary theme - word problems about dogs, cats, horses, etc. The 4th grade talks about things like Antarctica. I see what you're talking about in LU 209. I suspect that LU is probably an anomaly. Hopefully some CLE users will chime in soon! (I've not used it, but my friend uses it, starting in 300 level and about to move into 400 level - I don't think she's seen much religion in it at those levels) I'd probably just pre-screen before handing them to her, and discuss anything beforehand. I think it'd be similar to if I handed my son a math problem talking about Greek gods. We don't believe in Greek gods, but we do read stories about them, as they are a part of ancient culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 My twins recently finished the 200's after coming back from SM. I think that the end of 200 was the religious I've seen it. The only thing close is Saxon, which I own for this level, but CLE just works. From the 300's on the LU's are more themed as mentioned previously. I just look through it ahead of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 My ds is using the 400 level and I have not noticed much religious content. Could be I've missed a bit, as he does work independently a lot. However, I think each level is different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorie Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Saxon. Personally, I think CLE is better. I am a Christian, therefore do not mind the content of CLE, but knowing how hard it was for me to find a math that fit my kids, I would be hard pressed to switch even if I was not. My oldest is completing 700, I think it has prepared him well to move to Lial's Algebra this month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I'm not sure, but I think Horizon's similar to CLE? Anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairyMom Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 We really like CLE, but if we could find something secular that was exactly like it, we would use that. I use materials that are best for our kids and skip over the religious things we don't agree with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowfall Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I haven't seen CLE, but Horizons is spiral, for sure. It's also very visually appealing to a kid who likes lots of color. However, it is religious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I'm not sure, but I think Horizon's similar to CLE? Anyone? Horizons is more religious than CLE, judging by the samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I edit word problems as needed. I haven't found anything like CLE that is secular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 I've used the first light unit in the 400 series and it did contain quite a bit of religious content. So is she 3rd grade? Could you just have a discussion with her about the religion? I do that with science texts for my son (we're YEC, and most library books are from OE/Big Bang/Evolution type point of view). It's not been a problem. Basically a similar situation, just in reverse. ;) He knows what we believe and why, and he's learning that other people believe xyz and why. I just looked at the sample for LU 302, and it appears to be a veterinary theme - word problems about dogs, cats, horses, etc. The 4th grade talks about things like Antarctica. I see what you're talking about in LU 209. I suspect that LU is probably an anomaly. Hopefully some CLE users will chime in soon! (I've not used it, but my friend uses it, starting in 300 level and about to move into 400 level - I don't think she's seen much religion in it at those levels) I'd probably just pre-screen before handing them to her, and discuss anything beforehand. I think it'd be similar to if I handed my son a math problem talking about Greek gods. We don't believe in Greek gods, but we do read stories about them, as they are a part of ancient culture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winoelle Posted January 2, 2012 Author Share Posted January 2, 2012 I guess the problem is that if I am skipping problems that have the religious content then we aren't getting the review that she needs since there is often only one problem of that sort in a lesson. When the question is something like....Joseph went to the store to buy Bibles, they cost $3.00 each and he bought two...that is okay (not ideal, but okay); it is when the question is "Jesus raised so and so from the dead, she was ____________ (horizontal or vertical)," that I feel like maybe we need a different program. It sounds like there isn't a program out there though that fits what we need. Maybe I need to go back to using something else and adding in lots of drill sheets myself. Thanks for the replies. Noelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 My ds is using the 400 level and I have not noticed much religious content. Could be I've missed a bit, as he does work independently a lot. However, I think each level is different. :iagree: We skipped 401 after just taking the test (first) and then reviewing the couple of sections needed. I don't remember anything big that was a problem. We usually use Abeka & I'm used to dealing with "Missionary Joe brought the word of God to a town of 40 African natives. He was able to save half the town. How many accepted Jesus?" :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted January 2, 2012 Share Posted January 2, 2012 Saxon is the only thing I can think of. Even though we are atheists/agnostic we tried CLE Math. I have the 300 level and there is very little religion that I remember.... level 500 has some "bible math" which is interesting but that's in only 1 book(I don't have the whole series). We tried it but was not good fit for us. Not because of the religious overtones, but the style of Math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Now is a good time than ever to discuss different beliefs. I mean, really, she won't be doing any converting by reading a word problem. LOL You can tell her that some people believe that Jesus did do this sort of thing, that you do not. But what its asking is if you laid down and had to stand up what position would you be in. The religious stuff is in very little of the math program. I agree with an other poster. What if you were reading about Greek gods? You would have to teach her that people believed in them once. You just won't find another math program like CLE in the secular world. It would be easy to look at the Light Unit, cross out the words, or if she asks what a Bible is, tell her exactly what it is ,, a book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 I'm in the 300s now with Rebecca and really don't see any religious content at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winoelle Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 Thanks all for the replies, I have decided to move on from CLE. What I gained in understanding of what works for my dd I will take with me and apply to another, secular, math program. I want to spend my math time on math, not on exploring the various theological stances one might take on different religious topics. Noelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Isn't Horizon religious too? What about Teaching Textbooks? We did TT5 last year and it was spiral and secular. Be careful about getting the right level though. Too easy and it's a waste of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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