NightOwlMama Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 We're trying CC for the first time this year and they suggested Saxon but I keep hearing that it's a program that makes you hate Math. I'm not good at Math myself so I need something that is really easy to teach. My almost 6 and 7 yr old did Singapore K this year and it bombed for us:-/ I need suggestions ASAP! Here are a few I'm wondering about... Saxon Math Mammoth Life of Fred HELP! :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.m Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 You do not have to use CC's suggestions until they enter into Challenge and even then families have worked around using Saxon. But Saxon is very different when it gets into the middle grades. I think you might want to look at Christian Light Education if Singapore was a bomb. I use it until my kids are ready for Saxon 76. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BugsMama Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 My kids love saxon k-3, and I do too! The manipulatives are fun, and the spiral keeps everything fresh! Math U See is good too, we use the videos with saxon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Have you looked at McRuffy? It is like Saxon in a way, and it great at catering to all learning styles, plus is has a decent amount of review. My kids love the games that go with it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Life of Fred isn't a complete curriculum at that age. It's more of a supplement. Rod & Staff is a good deal of memorizing facts and how to do the math without much of the "why", but the teacher notes are good and explain most things thoroughly. I personally prefer Math Mammoth, there are more mental math strategies and mathematical thinking encouraged, but you do need to be comfortable explaining concepts in a different way than it's presented in the worktext if your child doesn't understand that explanation. But then, it's first grade math, which mostly deals with addition and subtraction and basic geometry. You're not getting into fractions and vectors and graphing equations at this age, and you can learn along with your kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatashainDFW Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 We love Math Mammoth here. We tried Saxon but ds didn't enjoy it and Singapore was a bomb because of how it was presented. When we switched to MM it was like a light bulb turned on over ds' head and math became much more enjoyable. He was always good at math he just hated to do the work. Now he doesn't have an issue doing the work and is understanding the concepts much better instead of just being able to work the problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_in_Switzerland Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 If you don't mind the cost, Right Start B is good, and it's entirely scripted for mom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Can you give more detail on what exactly bombed? Was it concepts not understood by the kids? Which ones? Or did you have trouble teaching it? If so, what parts did you have trouble with? Were you using manipulatives? If so, which ones? Are there any LDs involved, or are these neurotypical kids? Were they placed correctly? Did they already know the material or were they struggling to learn the material? That might help people give you better recommendations. Some kids do fine with Saxon. My kid and I both couldn't stand it, but we're also both mathy. I could see someone that isn't mathy doing better with it. Have you looked at CLE? It's straightforward and easy to teach, while still having the spiral review that some kids need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefragile7393 Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I'd go for RightStart, Math-U-See, or Math Lessons For A Living Education. Singapore Earlybird bombed for us too and I found that all 3 of these programs were good for ds....picking just one was the hard part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightOwlMama Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Can you give more detail on what exactly bombed? Was it concepts not understood by the kids? Which ones? Or did you have trouble teaching it? If so, what parts did you have trouble with? Were you using manipulatives? If so, which ones? Are there any LDs involved, or are these neurotypical kids? Were they placed correctly? Did they already know the material or were they struggling to learn the material? That might help people give you better recommendations. Some kids do fine with Saxon. My kid and I both couldn't stand it, but we're also both mathy. I could see someone that isn't mathy doing better with it. Have you looked at CLE? It's straightforward and easy to teach, while still having the spiral review that some kids need. I'm new at homeschooling and didn't know that Singapore needs Math Manipulatives - so we didn't have any and were just doing workbook work:-P My kids don't have any issues learning but they both seem to be slow to enjoying Math which is most likely my fault. I am REALLY bad at Math and have trouble explaining things well in this area. They wren't struggling to learn all of the material but some things were not clicking. Even though we were learning new things they were bored. This year I'm planning on having a tutor come a couple times a month and help us with fun math games, the manipulatives etc - hopefully it will help fill in the gaps a little and I can learn some creativity in this area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I highly recommend Singapore WITH manipulatives and Home Instructor Guides which have a lot of activities and games. I use paper and pencil with the manipulatives and/or whiteboard when working with two kids at time and then have them both come up to the board and write out how they draw a model for a problem. My kids would not get anything from just doing the textbook/workbooks themselves. I remember the K level workbooks back with my 14yrs old and they were pretty easy with lots of pictures but my kids still need a lot of hands on stuff to make it real to them. Maybe that curriculum has changed since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Have you looked at CLE? It's straightforward and easy to teach, while still having the spiral review that some kids need. :iagree: We switched to CLE last year, and it rocks my world! (I love it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathwonk Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Here's a good Activities Manual, (and textbook) for elementary school math teachers: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=sybilla+beckmann&sts=t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 If concept and be fun is your problem. I will consider miquon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I'm new at homeschooling and didn't know that Singapore needs Math Manipulatives - so we didn't have any and were just doing workbook work:-P Ok so here's the problem. You did NOT have the textbook? The textbook IS like having the manipulatives on paper. DS does not need "extra" manips, DD definitely does. You can work through the textbook portion with the child, or on a white board while child follows along, and then they are ready for the WB on their own. I just wouldn't totally dodge a solid math program if you have not learned to fully implement it. I was adamant about not needing the HIG's (home guides) but once we hit level 4 they have really come in handy. If you don't really feel comfortable teaching math the guide's are handy. MM ALONE doesn't fly here. I still print off pages here and there if we need some more practice. It works for plenty of folks though. Just know that, the need for manipulatives is really based on the child. Do they see math, or do they need to feel it in their hands. Make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 You could use Math U See and let the kids watch Mr. Demme teach on the DVD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Watch the videos at educationunboxed.com. That might help you teach and understand the math yourself. Good idea getting a tutor. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 (edited) I highly recommend Singapore WITH manipulatives and Home Instructor Guides which have a lot of activities and games. I use paper and pencil with the manipulatives and/or whiteboard when working with two kids at time and then have them both come up to the board and write out how they draw a model for a problem. My kids would not get anything from just doing the textbook/workbooks themselves. I remember the K level workbooks back with my 14yrs old and they were pretty easy with lots of pictures but my kids still need a lot of hands on stuff to make it real to them. Maybe that curriculum has changed since then. :iagree: and were you using Singapore Earlybird? If so, I hated that series but love Primary Math. They are written by different authors. If you were doing Singapore Essentials and didn't like it, you may not like Primary Math. I'd still try it out with the HIGs and manipulatives. Edited August 5, 2012 by Dinsfamily Just some autocorrect errors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightOwlMama Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Yes it was Singapore Earlybird and it had no Instructor's Guide. I would never, never, never let my children know I hate Math! :-) They have no idea. Hopefully they will take after my husband. Thank you for all of the suggestions everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Out of your three listed, I'd definitely choose Math Mammoth as the main, but, like others have said, Singapore Earlybird IS NOT like 1st grade on up so don't judge Singapore by that. I didn't understand math conceptually when I started teaching my oldest. I've just learned along with her, trying to stay one step ahead but sometimes she jumps ahead of me! The SM HIG's for Grades 1 and 2 really helped me start to understand place value better. Miquon opened my eyes to a lot of different ways to play with numbers, too. I also bought the CWP books 2-5 and went through 2, 3, and 4 so I could understand and know where we were headed. That really opened my eyes, too! Algebra started to make a little bit of sense even though I wasn't using algebra when going through the books. So, my best advice is to do your best to learn elementary math again for yourself, not just go with a program that will baby-step your kids through without any of you really understanding what you did for 6-8 years once you're done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaddon Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I had saxon and it would never have worked. Singapore EB was a bomb, Right start was too much with 4 kids, and MUS was never "seen" by my son. I bought Horizons and he's taken off. Not sure why, but it has worked. I just wish it had been the first thing we had bought :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I'd go for Singapore Primary Math, Standards edition. The HIG is WONDERFUL about holding your hand as you teach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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