Jump to content

Menu

If Math Mammoth has worked well for you, please comment here!


Recommended Posts

Well, I brought dd home from ps a year ago in 4th grade. Mostly because of math - she was using a heavily spiral program with a teacher who wouldn't teach, and who wouldn't adapt the lessons to her level, and she was really, really hating the drill and kill, and starting to hate math and school and the whole works . . .

 

So after a lot of research, I picked MM. We started with 4A. Boy, Chapter 1 was brutal! All about mental math, which dd had *never* done in ps, and she didn't really have a clue about conceptual math either, as opposed to simply applying the algorithm, which she was great at. I had to back up and do 2nd and 3rd grade worksheets on the mental math concepts with her, before we could tackle the 4th grade stuff. We also started doing LOF - the whole elementary series - to bring back the math love.

 

Well, after that 1st chapter of MM4, we went through the rest of the level very well - and she loved the conceptual explanations, and understanding *why* the algorithms worked. I often skipped up to half of the problems, and didn't always need every single step in the incremental teaching, but we went through MM4 in its entirety, and we are now working on MM5. It was great. DD loves math again, and she really understands it. MM is great, I'm really happy we found it. It's flexible, very complete and incremental, yet easy to accelerate through.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Math Mammoth as a supplement for grades 1 and 2 worked very well for us. I switched my 3rd grader to an online program due to various issues (one being that he can't stand worksheets), but I am strongly considering buying the deal from the HS Buyer's co-op so I can get the specific-item workbooks. My 2nd grader LOVES worksheets, and he does great with MM! I haven't decided if I'll keep him with it or switch to online (for various reasons).

 

I haven't tried to use MM as my core - I use RightStart for that and have been so pleased I haven't wanted to move away. I think I'd have a lot of difficulty using it as a core - sometimes when I try to use their explanation to discuss problems I have trouble "connecting" with it...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks! I'd love to hear success stories about MM. Especially if you have used it more than one year, and especially for grades 3 and up. (but others are ok too!)

 

I used MM4, 5 and parts of 6 with my dd, after pulling her out of school. She did very well. At the beginning, it seemed hard for her, especially adjusting to word problems. By the end, she loved it and didn't want to stop, LOL (she moved on to AoPS Prealgebra).

 

My ds9 used MM5 last year, in his classroom. It worked out so well that the school bought it for three grade levels ;). His twin brother is now doing MM5 at school - he's in the agonizing adjustment phase but he seems to be finding the on-switch to his brain, finally (indeed, that was my goal all along :))

 

Is MM a supplement or a curriculum?

 

Math Mammoth comes in two versions: a full grade-level curriculum ("Light Blue") and a version organized into topic books ("Blue"), which is what to choose if you'd like to use certain topics as a supplement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Both my kids switched from singapore to mm about 18 months ago. I really like the ease of use. We still supplement with CWP. I am very happy with it, especially as my son enjoys teaching himself. I wish i had switched earlier(would have saved money!) my older is starting aops and i believe he is well prepared. However, we also added in lots of other math books, games, and living math.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We used MM from Kindergarten to 4th grade levels, as a full curriculum, the Light blue pages. I thought it was great, my kids were getting math and accelerating through it more than a year ahead of grade level. We also used CWP to supplement. Last year I started getting the grass is greener syndrome and so we switched to MEP, but I think it derailed us more than anything. They forgot the why and how of simple math operations like 2 digit subtracting that they used to know before mentally, at first they thought the puzzle like questions of MEP were fun, but I wasn't doing as good a job teaching them as Maria does in the MM pages built into the worktext. So this year we're back to MM and very happy about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like it, but we do use it in conjunction with a few other materials. It can be used as a thorough mastery curriculum in itself, but I suspect it might get boring for some kids.

What I like about it:

  • it's reasonably priced, for what you get
  • it covers just about everything, in easy increments
  • it has as much practice as you need (you can generate extra worksheets if you need more drill on a topic)
  • it has extra files for Australian money (or Canadian, British or Euro)
  • it has nice clear instructions to encourage kids to work through it alone once they can read
  • there's lots of info, videos etc on the website if you need more ideas

Edited by Hotdrink
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like it, but we do use it in conjunction with a few other materials. It can be used as a thorough mastery curriculum in itself, but I suspect it might get boring for some kids.

 

 

:iagree: we do this too: MM is our spine, to make sure we cover everything in a systematic, thorough, and logically structured way, but we do other things too, for a variety of reasons - to check understanding, to deepen problem-solving skills, to relate math to other topics, to defeat boredom, and for fun! Some of the other things we use, in whole or in part, are Life of Fred, Beast Academy, and Singapore CWP. But MM is the core and it drives the rest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:iagree: we do this too: MM is our spine, to make sure we cover everything in a systematic, thorough, and logically structured way, but we do other things too, for a variety of reasons - to check understanding, to deepen problem-solving skills, to relate math to other topics, to defeat boredom, and for fun! Some of the other things we use, in whole or in part, are Life of Fred, Beast Academy, and Singapore CWP. But MM is the core and it drives the rest.

 

that is good to hear

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:iagree: we do this too: MM is our spine, to make sure we cover everything in a systematic, thorough, and logically structured way, but we do other things too, for a variety of reasons - to check understanding, to deepen problem-solving skills, to relate math to other topics, to defeat boredom, and for fun! Some of the other things we use, in whole or in part, are Life of Fred, Beast Academy, and Singapore CWP. But MM is the core and it drives the rest.

 

This is pretty much how we're using it. DS doesn't *love* MM (it's a layout/cluttered page issue, LOL) but it gets the job done and it's thorough. But we add in LOF, BA, Zaccaro books, and fun apps and computer programs for enrichment, and he lives for those. MM gives him a solid base to enjoy the enrichment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son started using it at the beginning of the 2010 school year. I did start him half a year "behind" because I wanted to make sure some skills were firmed up and I don't see a reason to rush math.

 

He is pretty math intuitive and I think MM has been a great fit for him. My daughter has used it since grade 1. My children are given the Woodcock-Johnson for their end of year assessment and both have done quite well with the math portion. My daughter's first grade scores were very average, but she made a big leap at the end of last year and I was pleasantly surprised with her math score.

 

I also find MM very easy to teach because it is written directly to the student. It has been great for my math phobia self and I have a stronger understanding of math and teaching the why of math from our use of MM.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, it's been one of our favorite things here. My dd had a hard time moving into it when I brought her home, as she had been using Saxon and the MM word problems were not her thing. But she did well after the first few months of getting adjusted. ds started in MM1 and is currently half way through MM4 and doing really well. I love the mental math aspect and how it teaches so many different ways to do something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

We love MM. I found it too late for my oldest so used it to fill in some gaps because we curriculum hopped a few times. The younger one has loved it. She does not improve with busywork, and there is not a lot of it in here. She grasps the material well and progresses quickly. So far I have only supplemented with free material online, but I have the LOF books and I might use them too just because we are working throught MM a little too quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...