profmom Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 (edited) TPS uses "Chicago Math" for their junior high and high school math classes. I thought I read that Cathy Duffy rates it highly, but says it's difficult for a parent to teach (needs an expert teacher). What do you think of it? I have one child who struggles some, but ends up with As, after going over most lessons with dh. I also have one who struggles and is making a C, after going over each lesson in detail with me. (Lol! I don't *think* the problem is me - he is having a hard time understanding and retaining.) I'm wondering about continuing with it for this dc in the future. If so, we may need to repeat transition math/pre-algebra before continuing. (Any thoughts on that would be appreciated too!) Do you consider it advanced? Edited January 28, 2012 by profmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I thought that Everyday Math was the same as Chicago Math? Not a good program AT ALL, in my opinion, but I have to confess that most of what I know about it is at a lower level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorie Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 (edited) My kids did it in public before we homeschooled. It is also known as Everyday Math, and I consider it one of the worst maths ever created. I am really trying to be polite, but I hate this program with a passion. I have no experience with their upper levels. However, knowing the material they put out in the lower level I would stay away from them just on principle. Edited January 29, 2012 by Mallorie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I thought everyday is only elementary program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I thought everyday is only elementary program. I did some googling. Yes, Everyday Math is what they call their elementary program. Their secondary program is here. It has been made to align with Everyday Mathematics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 Interesting! What is it about Everyday Math that makes it bad? I've not a math teacher, but I've been going through their Pre-Algebra (Transition Math) lesson-by-lesson and haven't noticed anything bad about it. I noticed that they include teaching a graphing calculator, which I didn't learn growing up, & I think my DS may need more review. Could the program itself be why he's struggling? We have Chalkdust on a shelf. I guess I should compare the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 My kids did it in public before we homeschooled. It is also known as Everyday Math, and I consider it one of the worst maths ever created. I am really trying to be polite, but I hate this program with a passion. I have no experience with their upper levels. However, knowing the material they put out in the lower level I would stay away from them just on principle. :iagree: Everyday Math gave me the confidence to begin homeschooling since I knew I could not make any worse curricula choices than our public school did when selecting this "math" program. I also don't know anything about the upper levels, but I agree with Mallorie and would avoid it. OP, if you google" Everyday Math" or "Chicago Math" you will find much information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorie Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 This was our experience: Calculator use started in 2nd grade, the teacher had a basket of them so each child had their own. Multiplication is done by an alternative method/ladder style ( I am searching for what to call it), and it drove me nuts, and confused my ds. I have heard of some who it has helped, but for the majority, it doesn't. What it also does, in effect, is cripple the parents in terms of helping their kids. I had no clue how they were teaching my kids, so when they came home with this homework, I could tell them how to do it "old school" the way I was taught, but not the new way. Funny thing is, when I questioned the teachers on how to do it, they barely could. By the time my child hit fourth grade, and asking questions, he was told to "skip that step", because the teacher couldn't explain why it was needed. That led me to believe that the teachers were grossly under-trained as far as how to teach this curriculum. We had three different teachers that struggled with explaining it to us. Some kids could manage to skim by. What they are seeing in our district though, is by the time these kids get to high school, they are bombing out of algebra and geometry. Our school requires 2 credits of math to graduate, and a lot of them are barely making it past algebra. The ones that do well have parents who are afterschooling them in math. I know one teacher mom who does a separate math at home with her kids after school, starting right off in preK. Another mom friend who does part time homeschool, part time public school was told by her district to do math at home because her program was "way" better than theirs (she uses Abeka). All of this said, I will admit that perhaps some districts use it wisely, train their teachers, and the kids do fine. That was not our experience. Watching what is going on in our district is the reason I say I would never consider it on principle alone. I couldn't agree more with snowbeltmom. When I pulled my kids out, my mindset was also exactly that I couldn't do worse than they are at school. Watching the low standards that our local high school has across the board, I still feel that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 I had heard that Everyday Math was bad, but I didn't realize that Chicago Math was from the same authors. I appreciate your help! I'm definitely considering other options now! P.S. I just went back to Cathy Duffy's site and her review of the high school Chicago Math series is good. :confused: Still, though, at the very least, it's not a good fit for my ds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Everyday Math is what our elementary school switched to and it's absolutely horrible IMO. When I pulled my guys out to homeschool I found out my youngest was 2 years behind in math and my star academic middle son couldn't begin to do fractions without a calculator. We use CPM math for middle and high school and it's just as bad. As I type this I've been seriously debating ending my connection with subbing at our high school over it. I've been there 12 - 13 years now and the math education has spiraled downward. It's getting to me. I dread having my youngest son (who insists on being in ps) take Pre-Calc with CPM. Alg 2 and Geometry we did regular courses afterschooling so he could better understand things. Pre-Calc is just so "off" that it'll be difficult to do it - and the teacher selection isn't the greatest either. It'll be like a wasted year (semester since we're on block scheduling). I'm brainstorming coming up with another solution that also includes him attending a school without having to move. For anyone curious, here's a link to a CPM Alg 1 review. This is what I'm having to teach right now - and the kids (most of them) are failing miserably at having the concepts down. One class is even finishing up their 2nd year of Alg 1. It's so frustrating. The kids are capable of so much more if given a half decent program. http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/cpmwb.htm NOTE: That wasn't Chicago Math, but rather CPM math. I don't know if that site has a review of Chicago Math or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 The multiplication method that Everyday Math teaches is the lattice method. Both Everyday Math and the Chicago Math series are from the same university, but they're quite different. I've only used the Transition Math book (in an older edition) but it was quite serviceable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 ... All of this said, I will admit that perhaps some districts use it wisely, train their teachers, and the kids do fine. That was not our experience. Watching what is going on in our district is the reason I say I would never consider it on principle alone. I couldn't agree more with snowbeltmom. When I pulled my kids out, my mindset was also exactly that I couldn't do worse than they are at school. Watching the low standards that our local high school has across the board, I still feel that way. The teachers in my district are not capable of teaching this program either. Within two years of implementing this program, the test scores in math feel from 97% proficient to only 80% proficient on the low level state tests. (These were also the same group of kids) The school was still rated "excellent" because only 75% of the student body needs to be at the proficient level in order for the school to achieve the "excellent" seal from the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVampireLvr Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 ugh DS1 is doing Everyday Math in public school and we hate it. He's totally loving the Singapore we're doing at home. Just from doing the Singapore (below level) at home he's gained such a greater understanding in general of math. I'm not even sure what they are teaching - he has yet to come home with a math worksheet that isn't some odd activity. He's learning and doing okay, but I hate not knowing what they are actually learning in class because the homework that comes home is so peculiar. That's probably the thing I hate the most about the program is that the "home-links" that come home are impossible to interpret and its hard to give any reinforcement at home. I really think its holding DS1 back. He's not gifted, but he's capable of more than they are teaching for sure. With this program there have been no opportunities to advance him at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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