k math what did you use that you liked?

[bttrflyvld]

I am struggling choosing a math program that will be right for my child. I first thought of using Saxon K, but I'm not so sure after doing more research. My daughter will be actually a pre-k officially next fall because of her birth date. I'd like to try a k level math because she really loves learning and asks to do preschool every day. She really loves it.

 

I'm struggling finding a book that isn't too easy or too drawn out. I really wanted Saxon for our book, but after reading several of their lessons It just seems too much. It appears to be really drawn out. Thorough yes, but not sure how sitting there at a table for that long would be fun. (I'm sure it's a great program for the older grades and I'll revisit it again.)

 

My daughter is 4 and can count to 30, recognizes number to 20, knows her shapes, understands above, below, beneath, etc, can tell time to the hour, knows colors, fairly good with patterns, and is well on her way with money.

 

It seems most of the k material is already learned. I'm not sure where to go for next year. She just picks things up so fast that I didn't realize till doing all my research that she knows a lot more that she should at her age.

 

What do you think about these math curriculum for k or 1st:

 

Horizons

Singapore

 

Any others that I missed that you've loved?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Saxon was great for us. K lessons were pretty quick and used a lot of manipulatives.

 

It also gave me a solid point of departure through the scripting.

[momma2three]

We did MEP Reception. It's a free program, so you can't go wrong :001_smile: It only deals with numbers up to 5, but it really taught DD a lot. It concentrates heavily on the relationship between objects, numbers, and representative figures. There's a script that you follow as the teacher, but keep in mind that it's designed for a classroom so the questions are very repetitive so that the teacher can call on many students... you can mentally edit some out.

 

We then moved into MEP year one, and we're taking a break from that to do Math Mammoth. I really love the way it looks. It's for Grade 1, but I think the 1a book is fine for an advanced kindergartner.

[ALB]

We did Saxon K along with R & S Counting With Numbers. That was actually my dd's 4/5 year, though, not our official K year. There is a pretty big difference between Saxon K and 1st. For Saxon 1, they really need to be able to write numbers easily and complete the worksheets. I found that doing Saxon K the year before did prepare us well, and the R&S workbook added in worksheet practice.

[MomatHWTK]

I am just now starting with Singapore 1 with my kids- reviewing and moving forward as needed. I really like it. We started with MUS and my oldest was OK with it but I never really took to it.

[besroma]

We like MEP, Singapore, and Horizons.

[BoZeeCo's Mom]

I will also testify for MEP Reception. It's fantastic, and teaches so much. Plus, it's free!! It's a fantastic program.

[3Blessings]

Another vote for MEP. My 4 year old is loving it. We are doing reception now, but will more than likely move up to the next level by September.

 

For my older daughter, we did Saxon 1 during her kindergarten year. I think Saxon K would be ok for your 4 year old. Depending on how close to 5 she is you may even consider bumping her to Saxon 1 or waiting just a bit and bumping her then to avoid buying Saxon K and 1. Although now you might as well look at MEP- it's free! :)

[Mert]

We played with cuisinaire rods and used Miquon and RightStart games in Pre-K. For kindy we started Singapore and continued playing with Miquon and RS on the side.

[Silvina]

I am using MEP reception and some Montessori homemade materials for manipulatives. My children love math so far, so it is going pretty well...

[Tanikit]

I started with Horizons K with my 4 year old even though she knew much of what they taught early on simply because it taught her how to write the numbers well and she needed that early on. I then added in Singapore 1a and MEP 1 - I found doing a few programs slowed her down a bit and gave her the change she needed - she tends to like changing things around often. When she herself is choosing most days she chooses MEP.

[alisoncooks]

Our focus in K has been more language-focused, so I've chosen to go simpler for math. We liked the R&S staff books and book C and I are more numbers-focused. Those 2 + plenty of Candyland/Hi Ho Cheerio/shape puzzles has been our K math.

 

(In August, we'll start CLE 1 Math.)

[boscopup]

We used Singapore Essential Math K (book A seems very preschoolish, but it was an interesting insight into how my son thinks - there are often multiple possible correct answers, so the child has to explain "why" when making a selection). We have worked through it at my son's pace, which varies greatly. Book A went quick (I think he did the first 30 pages in one week), but book B has gone much slower, until recently when all things math clicked and he's able to add things like 44+44 in his head, so now he's going very quickly through the book. :D We'll do 1A and probably 1B for his "K" year. It looks like 1A will be a repeat of a lot of what we've done in K book B, but that will be ok. This child doesn't mind the repetition and stuff being "easy". It's good for his confidence. 1B is where it probably will start to get a bit hairy, and I'll just see how he does. :)

 

I'm still debating whether to pair Singapore with a traditional spiral curriculum for this child (Horizons or CLE). I don't know that he'll need it, per se, but he's so unlike my oldest that I just can't tell what he'll need! I'd rather not jump ahead in his K year too far, as upper level math becomes "hard work", and I don't want school to be "hard work" quite yet. My oldest is also on the accelerated road, but he didn't start accelerating until midway through first grade, and that worked well for him. By throwing a million things at him to slow him down, he's now working 2 grades ahead in Singapore.

 

Oh, and my oldest did Saxon K in K (at school), and yes, it was ridiculously boring for him. Even worse was Saxon 1 in 1st, when it's not quite as "fun" as Saxon K was. Your DD sounds beyond Saxon K, much like my son was.

[Mommee & Baba]

Another vote here for MEP. My middles used the reception year when she was in preschool and did the year 1 when she was in kindergarten. We then moved onto Math Mammoth when she entered 1st grade and she flew through level 1a quickly. She moved right into level 1b and smoothly transitioned into level 2a already. She now does Teaching Textbooks 3 and loves it. She's my mathy child. On occasion she'll ask for Math Mammoth 2b, but most of the time it's TT 3.

 

My oldest isn't mathy, but enjoys math. I didn't start her on MEP until she was in 1st grade. I feel like this was a disadvantage. I was so new to homeschooling that I didnt really think of doing math when she was in preschool. She only did simple counting when she was in kindergarten. I just didn't know that doing something more would've been better. Now I realize that. She is not behind in math but she is right on grade level.

 

We also flip flopped with math a lot because its the weakest subject for teaching for me.

 

So glad we have TT now, even though my middles prefers just the workbook! Thankfully my oldest likes the CD teacher...:lol:

 

This upcoming year my ds will be starting preschool and I've slotted him to MEP Reception year for math. I want to introduce math sooner because I've now seen the difference effects on kids not being introduced to math earlier on. I don't care if it takes us much longer to get through MEP Reception, but at least he'll have a sooner introduction.

[Mommy_of_4]

We used Horizons for K. I will most likely not use it for my other children though. It goes really fast. I think the grade 1 is actually more gentle than the K.

[ByGrace3]

For dd we used Saxon 1, that was too long, I won't do that again. Saxon k is very pre-kish IMHO. Bt it seems like your dd probably would be bored with it. For ds, we are planning to use Right Start A but sped up and then transition into MM 1 when he is ready, probably in the spring. It should be a thorough yet relaxed (compared to the business of Saxon) K year.

[edeemarie]

We used McRuffy for math and my kids have loved it! There are a lot of fun games and manipulatives, and the teachers manual is great at telling you what to do and how to do it. I will be using it again next year for my son that will be 4.

For what it is worth, when we were first started I looked into Saxon too, but decided to go with McRuffy and I am very glad we did. We are now transitioning my oldest into intermediate Saxon and I really feel like McRuffy has given him a great foundation (Saxon 5/4 will be mostly review for him and he may test into 6/5 when he is finished with McRuffy 3rd grade).

Edited April 11, 2012 by edeemarie

[ssavings]

If she's picking up so much from what you're already doing, I'd stick with that, and introduce a standard curriculum later, when she stops picking it up so fast from daily life and needs direct instruction.

Seems like she's doing great, and I'm a big fan of "don't fix it if it's not broken."

[Chris in VA]

If she's picking up so much from what you're already doing, I'd stick with that, and introduce a standard curriculum later, when she stops picking it up so fast from daily life and needs direct instruction.

Seems like she's doing great, and I'm a big fan of "don't fix it if it's not broken."

 

:iagree:

 

Maybe you could do an intentional calendar/circle time.

Cover writing the date (which will cover sequencing, and writing the numbers), and use alternating/patterns of sticky notes to write them on--use a big poster calendar from the teacher store, the kind with blank squares.

Chant the months, and ask some questions every day about what day of the week comes "before/after."

Practice skip counting with a fun tape, or just in the car

 

Get some pattern blocks or attribute blocks and just play with them.

 

Puzzles, sorting cards, cooking, lacing cards, a Kumon workbook or two--You should be all set for K.

 

Oh--something else fun is to get a clicker counter--the old fashioned kind that is silver metal that you click on the top to keep track of things (sometimes you see them at sporting events or concerts when the ticket taker is keeping track of how many people are entering an event). Have her keep track of blue cars, or stop signs, or dogs she sees on a walk, etc. They teach number sense effortlessly.

[FairProspects]

Well, I've used both RightStart A and Singapore Essentials in K, and I didn't really like either one. I've switched my K'er to Miquon now that I understand it, and I love that. We'll probably stick with Miquon for first and transfer over to Singapore at 2nd grade material.

[Nakia]

I've never used a curriculum for math for K. Math just happens in everyday life at that age. Not a popular response, I'm sure. :D

[MyLittleBears]

After some dabbling with Miquon, C-rods, and Singapore, we came back to the MUS primer. It seems to have all the needed exposure to math concepts (like the suggestions in TWTM), but in a very "laid out for you" format. It takes all the suggestions for a Kindergarten-non curriculum math but spells it all out for the teacher. My k'er is skip counting by 10, 2s, 5s, understands place value, adding by ten and knows a lot of his math facts already and we are not done with it yet. We also used this when my middle ds was in K and he excells in math.

 

ETA- It is very gentle. 10 minutes a day tops!

Edited April 11, 2012 by MyLittleBears

[Greta]

RightStart math would be my top pick. It's a pretty big initial investment, but we used the program for 3-1/2 years so it was worth it. It built such a strong foundation of mathematical thinking.

 

I've also used MEP and really liked that. And it's free!

[Guest]

Saxon was great for us. K lessons were pretty quick and used a lot of manipulatives.

 

It also gave me a solid point of departure through the scripting.

 

We did Saxon K along with R & S Counting With Numbers. That was actually my dd's 4/5 year, though, not our official K year. There is a pretty big difference between Saxon K and 1st. For Saxon 1, they really need to be able to write numbers easily and complete the worksheets. I found that doing Saxon K the year before did prepare us well, and the R&S workbook added in worksheet practice.

:iagree:

My ds did Saxon K for preK, and we enjoyed it a lot. My dd will be doing it this fall for actual K because 1)she is wired differently than ds and it will work better this way and 2) there is, indeed, a big jump between Saxon K and Saxon 1. My ds' math sequence has been so mish-mash, and he has completed so many different math programs, but I think we'll be back on track with Saxon in the fall and we are sticking with it. If you want something with more writing, we also really enjoyed the Singapore Earlybird books.

[KristenR]

I started out with Saxon because math was always a fear of mine. I thought the scripted style would suit us well. Sadly, it didn't work out that way.

 

I would also recomend taking a look at c-rods and Miquon. I wrote a post on our experience with it here and you can see some games and things here.

 

Good luck to you in your search. Math used to be such a source of agitation for me. I would stay up at night tossing and turning thinking about it. I hope you find what works for your family soon! :D

[petepie2]

We use Singapore Earlybird B (only takes about half a year) and the first half of Rod & Staff Math 1. We also play with c-rods a lot! Over the last few weeks we've been doing LOF Apples as well.

[Aurelia]

I loved Right Start and MEP. Both are excellent at building a good foundation for future math skills and helping the child feel comfortable with math. We did RS A when Ariel was 4, and most of RS B and all of MEP Year 1 when she was 5.

[sixpence1978]

Both of my kids did BJU for K math. It was colorful and fun. We really liked it.

[Kathleen in LV]

Here's another vote for MEP. We just started level 1 a few months ago. The first half of our K year, we didn't follow any formal curriculum. We did a lot of skip counting and basic addition & subtraction, as well as counting money, telling time, measuring, etc. We started level 1 about 20 lessons in, even though some of it was review. I think it's a fabulous progam.

[mama25angels]

Question for the ladies who use MEP 1, do you print it out and will somebody post the link to the K program? Thanks

[momma2three]

Question for the ladies who use MEP 1, do you print it out and will somebody post the link to the K program? Thanks

 

I printed out one page at a time, as she did it. I just read from the teaching script from my computer.

 

The K level is called Reception. Reception is K in the UK, but it starts at 4. So my understanding is that kids using Level 1 are 5. But I would start with Reception anyway. You may need access to a color printer for Reception, but not past that. If you don't have one, you'll want to do the activities right on the screen when possible: many questions are about the colors in the pictures.

 

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

[mama25angels]

I printed out one page at a time, as she did it. I just read from the teaching script from my computer.

 

The K level is called Reception. Reception is K in the UK, but it starts at 4. So my understanding is that kids using Level 1 are 5. But I would start with Reception anyway. You may need access to a color printer for Reception, but not past that. If you don't have one, you'll want to do the activities right on the screen when possible: many questions are about the colors in the pictures.

 

http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm

 

 

 

Thank you!!!

[Just Robyn]

This year I have been using Math Lessons for a Living Education with my K'er. It has short lessons. It has been a few years since I used Saxon K, but I think there are some things covered in this that are not covered in Saxon K: place value, tally marks, telling time to the hour, written addition and subtraction problems. There is no graphing though; the graph activities in Saxon K are so much fun. I also like the "some, some more" and "some, some went away" stories in Saxon K.

 

We have used McRuffy K as well and basically liked it. The presentation of place value in Math Lessons for a Living Education is more conceptual than I remember the place value lessons in McRuffy being.

[SMRB]

DS is in a Pre-K out of the house and we before/afterschool. We started with Right Start A at the beginning of the year and kept up for a couple of months before DS just started screaming about the tally sticks and abacus, so we put math away for a while. I tried MEP Reception, but it just didn't work for either of us following the lesson plans and trying to adjust for the classroom-style activities, especially for afterschooling - too much work for me.

 

Then around Christmas we tried c-rods and Miquon, which we both really enjoy, but I needed more material to slow him down and extend certain concepts. In came Singapore Essentials, and I fell in love with the combination of Singapore and c-rods. We flew through Essentials A in a week (just to confirm that he really understood those concepts), but we're taking Essentials B at just a few pages a day, which is working great. I love that we can do as little or as much as we want in a day rather than fighting to finish a written lesson. We pull in the c-rods to demonstrate concepts from the worksheets and work additional problems, and I can really see the conceptual groundwork finally falling into place for him. I highly recommend the Singapore Essentials/Miquon combination.

[Another Lynn]

One more option (not that you needed more :D).... I used CLE 100 for K and just slowed the pace down. If it was easy and he was in the mood, we did the whole lesson. If not, we did half a lesson. Worked out fine.

[mytwomonkeys]

well, i like gentle math curriculum for K. so with my daughter we used saxon K (which we totally loved, despite the poor reviews). for my son we used and loved making math meaningful grades K & 1. it's also gentle.

 

in grade 1, we switch to CLE.

[Prairie]

We used McRuffy for math and my kids have loved it! There are a lot of fun games and manipulatives, and the teachers manual is great at telling you what to do and how to do it.

 

Loved it! :iagree:

 

We went with Right Start this year only because a friend GAVE me a T/M and although it is kinda advanced, I do miss the fun games and light colors of McRuffy!

[LittleIzumi]

We did MEP Reception. It's a free program, so you can't go wrong :001_smile: It only deals with numbers up to 5, but it really taught DD a lot. It concentrates heavily on the relationship between objects, numbers, and representative figures. There's a script that you follow as the teacher, but keep in mind that it's designed for a classroom so the questions are very repetitive so that the teacher can call on many students... you can mentally edit some out.

 

We then moved into MEP year one, and we're taking a break from that to do Math Mammoth. I really love the way it looks. It's for Grade 1, but I think the 1a book is fine for an advanced kindergartner.

 

:iagree: Another vote for MEP! Reception will teach some things she already knows, but it also introduces things like mental addition up to 10. We did Reception mostly sitting at the computer together, printing out any pages with activities and the games. Now dd is in MEP 1 and doing very well.

[Ecclecticmum]

We used Singapore Math. My naturally mathy daughter loved it. We are continuing on with that this year (we're doing the Prek/Kinder 2yr programme of SGP version, here in Aus we're about a grade behind, so she did the pre-k year for kinder, and is doing the Kinder year for Grade 1) Since she actually knows most of it (naturally, somehow LOL, I swear its somehow inbedded in the genes, as it was the same way with me, I tended to know the lesson and the answers whenever the teacher had just begun the lesson, he got used to not calling on me, no matter how much I was doodling or daydreaming as I always knew the answer :001_huh: :lol:)

 

So for Grade 1 we're continuing on the same path, but adding in Maths Lessons for a Living Education and Life of Fred, to bring in different angles/views for her. I'm happy to drop one or two of the programs if they don't suit though, they are more their for enrichment.

 

DS is starting on The 2yr Programme, but at the listed grade, so he'll do Pre-Kinder for PreK this year (at his own pace), and I will probably be looking into bringing Rightstart into the equation for him next year, as his mind works a little differently (he likes the whole logic side of things, did puzzles meant for 5yo (sorting by shape, size & colour etc) when he was 1. So he's at the stage now where he's about a year or two ahead in the Logic/Maths department. But he has a speech delay, so we figured Rightstart as the main for Kindy with Singapore as the Enrichment is the right way for him.

 

I think Maths is always the biggest problem when deciding on a curriculum, as its one of those thing, no matter how many samples you look at, till your there, using the TM and teaching the concepts, your just not really going to know. Mathtacular works great for him, but its not really a Maths Curriculum (*sad face*) I assumed MUS was similar (kids watch DVD and do along with teacher, unfortunately I found out that the guy doing the videos is *ahem* a little boring, and its meant to be for the teacher to watch, not the student, so the teacher knows how to teach the lesson, which makes it near to other curriculums really. It would be nice to have a fuller supplemental curriculum at least, that was based on a FUN guy doing the things and you go-along with it. DS would utterly adore that, and it would help him improve enormously (he responds well to videos, and since I have hooked onto that (getting him to watch stuff from "everyday" talking (i.e. sesame street, ABC kids etc) to Curriculum talk (science videos etc) over the past year, his speech has improved SO dramatically. We read so many books a day, but his interests are held more, and he interacts more with the visual stimuli of the TV (weird, I know, as other kids usually "zone" out, my other two do, if they are watching an educational program, I have to bring them back to life, by constantly asking questions throughout the whole thing, and discussing it, where as he soaks up the information on their like a sponge and claps, talks along and is delighted).

 

Enough babbling from me, and I hope you find something that suits you, the maths road is a long one :)

[MeganW]

Miquon Orange - they "discover" how math works using Cuisenaire rods - it's funky, and really takes a leap of faith to attempt, but I am really glad we did!

 

RightStart A - teaches math in a systematic way - almost entirely manipulatives, very few worksheets - the focus is a thorough understanding of place value, quantities as related to 5 and 10, intro to addition, a little basic geometry - great foundational material so you *know* they have no gaps

 

MEP Reception - puzzley

 

All very different, and all have been worth the time & effort.

 

We also did Rod & Staff Counting with Numbers. The math itself has been just counting, number identification, more/less, before/after, etc. (very basic), but we really needed the extra practice writing the numerals. We actually might go through that again...

[Aspasia]

My dd will be K age in the fall. We've been using Singapore Essential Math. She is flying through A because it's super basic, but I just want to make sure we don't miss anything. After we finish B, I'll start her in either Singapore 1A or MM. I haven't decided which one yet. I like Essential Math because the worksheets are fun and it has suggestions for extension or hands-on activities on each page. We pick and choose among those, lingering here and there when we're interested (like right now we're going to hang out on measurement and do a lot of hands-n stuff that I've found in various other places.)

 

We also have Miquon orange but I haven't done a ton of that. I'm hoping the famous filing system will help me work that in. ;)

[TheApprentice]

Ds used McRuffy math K-2 and went to MM with no problems. My vote is McRuffy because of the conceptual teaching and the reinforcing of topics through games. Lots of manipulatives. I would consider this one in your decision.

[MtnMama]

We flew through Singapore Essentials and have moved on to 1A.

[estelleblue]

I started dd on MEP Reception when she was 4.5, and plan to stick with MEP indefinitely for her. She is a VSL and very artistic. I think this math program really appeals to her for that reason and she is gaining so much mathematical understanding.

 

Conversely, my first year of teaching, I used Horizons K with ds. It was a bad fit all around. Part of it was my bad and the other part was that he needed a mastery program. I think knowing whether your child needs mastery or spiral is helpful.