Those who use more then one math curriculum

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

How do you schedule it all in?

This year for dd(doing 3rd grade math) we will be using BJU 3rd as the main curriculum but I have an old 3rd grade Holt Math book we will work through orally and I purchased Beast Academy 3A which we will work on together (unless she takes off on her own). I just am not sure how to schedule it all in.

How do you schedule in multiple math curricula?

[Hunter]

I do--sigh--and I'm trying not to, but can't seem to help myself.

 

I'm interested in :bigear: all the replies but have little to add at this point.

 

This week I'm using the vintage Franklin Arithmetic supplemented by Professor B, but...don't really know what I am doing.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I do--sigh--and I'm trying not to, but can't seem to help myself.

 

I'm interested in :bigear: all the replies but have little to add at this point.

 

This week I'm using the vintage Franklin Arithmetic supplemented by Professor B, but...don't really know what I am doing.

:001_smile: For some reason I am becoming obsessed with math curricula. My kids are hoping it;s a phase I'm going through but I always loved math so the passion has been let out and there is no cork big enough to stop it.

 

I do think eventually BJU will be dropped because where I want to get in math (for my dc) BJU cannot take them.

[Ecclecticmum]

I don't :lol:

 

"Schedule" it I mean.

 

I always have 1 math curriculum that is counted as "the one" the rest work around that. I tried working in 3 "whole" math curriculums this year (SM, LoF & Living Maths Lessons - Queens) it was just too much.

 

Now I pick bits & pieces that co-ordinate with my current program (Cuisenaire Primer & MEP Worksheets) So what I do, is I have a separate notes page in my journal (I use a "Natural Learners" type planner, more a record keeper for writing down after we do it).

 

I'll tell you about next years one, since this years a little higgledy piggledy.

 

Singapore Maths (write out as per HIG lessons)

Intensive practice (done fornightly after SM lessons)

MEP Worksheets (staggered in at various intervals)

Challenging Word Problems (done 1 book behind, so when on 1B we'll start it)

Miquon (use SM/Miquon correlation chart, using Miquon as the introduction to the SM concept)

 

So I skip out on MEP worksheets that are too easy or we have enough review of, MEP is more of a fun little extra

We only use Miquon as it applies to Singapore, as Introduction to the concepts.

Intensive Practice is for review, and to see where she needs work

CWP is for challening and adding another angle.

 

So what we have (this year as well) is a simple typed/written up list of "what comes next" that we tick off as we go. Its separated from the schedule, as its just not ideal for us to schedule pages in (some days she'll go through about 6 lessons, other days none, next day one page etc) I never let her go for more than a day (on weekdays) without doing one page, but elsewise for the moment, I find shes happier deciding the day she wants to play "hookie" with Math. She loves Maths, so its only every couple of weeks she'll have a hookie day.

 

It would be as follows (completely made up):

 

1) Miquon Red Page 20 2A-4B

2) SM Lesson 1

3) SM Lesson 2

4) Intensive Practice Page 2

5) SM Lesson 3

6) SM Lesson 4

7) CWP 1

8) MEP Pages 4,5,6,7

9) Miquon Blue Page 45

10) SM Lesson 5

 

etc, so on and so forth. (really, don't follow the above, its just an example :tongue_smilie: )

 

So its just a chart, so we know where we are upto, and what's next to do during maths. We know Maths is done everyday, so its not really needed to "schedule" it. We just plow through till she starts to glaze. If theres one sheet/page left, I may end up giving to her to finish later on in the afternoon. So once the whole of that particular lesson is done, we just cross it off the overview.

 

If where ever short of time or family emergencies happen, extras get dropped, and we just keep with our main basic programme.

[blondeviolin]

Our main curric is MEP. We do it daily. On Fridays, we quickly work the review sheer together and spend the rest of math time doing either Miquon or selected MM topics (money, clocks, measuring, whatever). On breaks, we work through SM. SM has been a great review and she's has moved through the first levels quickly.

[Kathryn]

I stopped scheduling math this year. If I have an opinion on which should be worked on, we do that one. If not, I let DS choose which one to work on.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I stopped scheduling math this year. If I have an opinion on which should be worked on, we do that one. If not, I let DS choose which one to work on.

I thought about doing it this way, for a second. I'm too rigid. Need schedules. If you do it this way will everything get done for the year? (curious not being critical)

[*Lulu*]

Punk has his main math program that he does on the days we school at home and a secondary program that he works on when we are out of the house for Bug's speech serivces.

 

Sister has a main program and then a secondary program I use to supplement when I am having trouble helping her make connections with a concept. She also has a third program that I use when we school away from the house each week.

 

Bug has a main program whose scope and sequence is followed and I add correlating activites from a second program almost daily. I also do a lot of mom-created curriculum with him.

 

All three kids do math activites from recourses like Kitchen Table Math and math based board games with me one afternoon a week.

[Gentlemommy]

Right now, we are using MEP and Miquon. Every week, I'll also print out word problems from online somewhere. I just do MEP one day, Miquon the next, or two days of one and three days of the other, ect. I don't bother trying to line them up or coordinate. For now, MEP is at an easier level for her, so those are her light days. I'm sure it will vamp up here soon-we just started the 2nd year so I think the first few lessons are review.

[BugsMama]

We use Saxon and MUS together.

 

We are working in Saxon 2. Whenever new math facts are introduced, I bring out MUS (Alpha and Beta right now). We watch the math u see dvd to introduce it. (I just look at the table of contents in the MUS teachers manual to see which lesson I need) and then I teach the concept from the MUS book if it needs reinforced. We do not use the MUS Student books, we just use the MUS "thinking" with the saxon workbooks.

 

Then we do the saxon lesson (I like how it spirals other topics, like money, time, measurement, fractions and so on).

 

When we do the saxon timed test, any questions he gets wrong, he builds MUS style, and finishes the worksheet using the MUS blocks.

 

I do not allow him to use the MUS blocks for the assessments, but he is welcome to use them for the "homework" if he wants them. Normally, he only uses them for finishing the timed test and the initial teaching.

 

Dreambox he does for fun in his free time, LOF we do as a read aloud.

 

We like math around here. As soon as we are done with Saxon 2 and start 3, we are going to add in beast academy as friday fun math.

[bluemongoose]

For DD: She alternates days with Singapore and MM. She also does Miquin 3 days a week.

 

My boys do one day of Right Start and one day of Singapore each week. They are younger and do not school 5 days a week yet.

[Momling]

My kids used to go to PS, and at that time, we established a homework time following dinner. When we started homeschooling, I kept that time. So every day after dinner, the girls do math, handwriting , and vocab/spelling. So currently, we do SM during the day and LOF / BA in the evening.

[Walking-Iris]

I usually do parts of others as supplement. Kumon workbooks to fill in gaps in number sense, time and measurement, geometry and word problems. Scholastic ebooks for logic and problem solving and games.

 

For my oldest I'm going to try to just stick with Saxon 5/4 and a logic/problem solving book. In the past I used Miquon with various supplements.

 

My Kinder will be doing Singapore K and MEP Reception...hopefully moving into Miquon Orange. I've toyed with having my oldest do MEP as well, but I feel like Saxon has plenty of work in it.

 

I always feel like any curriculum I look at is missing some essential topic. So although I don't do two full curricula, I do try to supplement.

 

I'm actually trying to reduce how much math we do this year. It took a lot of time last year and I want to free up some for other subjects and projects.

[zoo_keeper]

We don't schedule.

 

SM: The girls do 1 lesson each day (whatever lesson is next, an average of 4 days per week) from their SM wb/tb. Once or twice per week they'll do a few pages (just whatever's next, sometimes I'll skip a page or two if it looks too easy) from CWP & IP. This approach still has us completing a whole level (A & B) in 1 year, schooling year round.

 

LoF (elementary, Honey): We read probably 2 chapters on average in the evenings each week and do the Your Turn to Play aloud. We are flying through this series, going through a book every 2 months or so.

 

BA 3A: Once or twice per week we'll do several practice wb pages (again, starting wherever we left off) and read the guide book if it's called for. This approach does NOT have us finishing a whole level (A/B/C/D) within 1 calendar year. I think we'd have to complete 7 pages per week, and we might only do 4. I don't know if I'll change this or not...

 

MM: I'm waiting until the August sale to add in a few blue series books that the girls need review on (e.g., time & money).

 

Math Fluency: These are drill books that the girls do 1 line from each (I'm using the 1st 4 in the series) each of the days they do SM wbs.

 

Crap, it sounds like a lot, I just can't seem to stay away from math & grammar programs!

[fraidycat]

I let DD do whatever curriculum she feels like on any given day, as long as she's doing math at math time. There are less battles that way.

[Woodland Mist Academy]

It depends on the year and which programs we are using. This year AoPS Prealgebra will be our main math text. On most days I plan for 1-1.5 hours of math. If we get to a good stopping point with AoPS and have time left over, we work from one of the other programs/supplements.

 

On less structured days we may only do Life of Fred, word problems, Mathematical Reasoning, etc.

 

For us, it's important to identify one core program and keep moving at a steady pace. Sometimes I have a goal to finish more than one program and only parts of others. How I fit them in depends on the goal for the year.

[sleeplessnights]

We use Singapore Math for our primary program, but it only takes my kids about 20 minutes. I also give them a page from something else. The extra page is usually something unrelated to what they're doing in SM. For example, my second son does a SM lesson and a page from MUS Beta every day. We also do math at least 45 weeks a year, so we have time to add in the Intensive Practice books too.

 

From my (limited) experience, I have learned that a little bit of a new concept every day for many days will cement it into memory. This is why we don't do two or three SM lessons a day. I like to spread the lessons out to make sure it makes it into long-term memory.

[kristinannie]

We spend 20-30 minutes on Right Start daily. We then spend 5-10 minutes on Miquon daily as well. I break it up. We do LA in between the two sessions of math. We also play RS games after dinner. If your programs will both take a substantial amount of time, you can do your basic program 3-4 times a week and your other program 1 or 2 times a week.

[Leav97]

I kind of do / kind of don't. We need to do ~6-10 pages of Math Mammoth a week to finish in a year. We do CWP one grade level behind. If we run out of time we don't do CWP in a week. I figure we need to do 2 sections of BA in a week to finish in a year. If BA takes more than a year I'm OK with that. MM is our priority.

[Kathryn]

I thought about doing it this way, for a second. I'm too rigid. Need schedules. If you do it this way will everything get done for the year? (curious not being critical)

 

Truth be told, it's VERY difficult for me. I plan *everything.* But, I realize that for us math is something that needs to go at his brain's pace. We go much faster than I'd expect on some concepts and much slower on others. I'm trying to let go of the need to schedule his brain's ability to grasp a concept.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Thanks all.

This gives me some idea on how to get multiple math programs going. I am going to try several of these ideas and see which one fits my dd the best.

[LAR]

We used Calvert math 3 days a week, worksheets I printed or prepared one day, and then "tests" on Friday. If we went through the Calvert lessons quickly, I would give them LOF or other worksheets.

[Chelli]

We use Math in Focus every day which I actually schedule out these lessons before the year starts. We take it at a leisurely pace to finish the books in a year so it only takes us 20 minutes to finish each day.

 

We do one MEP lesson Monday through Thursday. It takes us about 20 minutes as well.

 

On Friday, we do Miquon.

 

I thought about trying to align all three, but :willy_nilly:

 

Now I like that they aren't lined up. We might hit a topic in one of the other two before we hit in MIF or vice versa. Basically it is a three pronged spiral...all with different viewpoints.

[happycc]

Well Math is really important in my house...

 

I struggled a lot as a youngster but by college I loved math. I hope that I can give my kids a better "math start love" earlier on.

 

LAST year the 5th graders used Key to Fractions and TT5. TT5 bored them to tears. I also supplemented some of the teaching with a SAXON 54 and BJU 5 student textbook. We also dabbled in Hands on Equations. They have been doing Dreambox as well. They also played with younger sisters Rightstart B games.

 

My 3rd grader LAST year did Rightstart B as well as Dreambox and Teaching Textbook 3. TT3 was pretty challenging for her. She struggled and I had to stop it temporarily until we got all the multiplication facts down. We have been using Times Tales and a lot of drill papers. We also used Timez Attack but her typing response was too slow and the monster always got her.

 

All these things were scheduled Daily-about a page or two aside for the Hands On Equation which was once a blue moon.

 

THIS YEAR we will use Singapore 4a/4b and 5a/5b, cwp, process math and Key to (Decimals/percents/algebra), Dreambox, Ko's Journey, Life of Fred Fractions, Hands on equation, Beast Academy, Education Unboxed, Crewton Ramone's and Prealgebra during 2nd semester Art of Problem Solving for the 5th graders. I am not sure how I am going to schedule ALL this but the Singapore and Key tos will be daily for sure.

 

My 3rd grader will use Rightstart C, Singapore 2a/2b, process math and cwp, plus dreambox, key to fractions, education unboxed and crewton ramon's videos.

 

I have the cuisenaire rods, base 10 blocks, math u see blocks in a bag and the kids go and play with them at free will and I hear them doing the lessons as shown on Education Unboxed and Crewton Ramone's videos as well themselves. Playing school with each other basically.

 

Anyone else's kids do that?

 

Does anything think this is overkill? Oh I forgot about MEP. We just started briefly with Mep for the summer but my toddler makes it really hard for me to do this with each individual age group.

Edited July 25, 2012 by happycc