So just as I was contemplating what level of CWP to get for dd...

[Gentlemommy]

I overhear her tell her grandma that she loves reading, but math is good too because it's super easy. Lol. We've been doing MEP year 2, right on schedule. I had a feeling it was not challenging her a ton, but I didn't think it was EASY. I'm not sure if I should skip lessons to move ahead...I worry that I'll skip an important step in the process.

So if you've found, part way through a subject, that it's not challenging enough, what do you do? Do you think it would be ok if I skipped some lessons, and if so, how many at a time? So if we are on lesson 50, do I move to lesson 60? And try those lessons for a week and see how it goes? Do you think I'd miss something important if we skip ahead? I certainly don't want her to struggle, goodness knows she's had enough of that with reading/writing, but I do feel (and she confirmed today) that where she is currently is too easy. We've never has THIS problem before...:-/

[PentecostalMom]

Can you work through more quickly by doing more than one lesson per day? That is what we are doing with Saxon. You could also only have her work 1/2 the problems in a lesson and if they seem easy and she gets them all correct, go to the next one.

 

[Gentlemommy]

Great idea! She likes the word problems and the puzzles, so I'll have her do those and see if we can move quicker.

[boscopup]

It's a bit harder to accelerate a spiral program like that, but not impossible. :) What I would do is look at each problem and decide whether your kid knows that or not. Some problems, you will just automatically know she doesn't need to practice again. Some you will know she needs to do. Once you're looking for what she knows vs. what she doesn't know, you'll start to see the patterns and be able to easily pick and choose problems. Sometimes throw in one you know she knows, just for practice. But don't dwell on that type of problem for 10 pages, ya know?

 

Same goes for new concepts taught. If you know she knows a new concept, you won't spend 30 minutes teaching it. You can give her a few problems using that concept for practice to verify that she understands it, then move on to the next new concept lesson.

 

This is basically how I teach math all the time to my oldest. If he knows the concept, he does a few problems to demonstrate that knowledge, and if he has zero trouble and does them quickly and easily, we skip to the next concept. If it's one we haven't practiced in a while, I might still have him do the exercise in the workbook, but the teaching time will be very short to none. We spend our teaching time on new concepts, reviewing old ones only as needed. This is easiest with a mastery type program, where the exercises all match the new concept, so you can just skip that whole lesson/problems if the child knows it backward and forward.

[Crimson Wife]

I was underwhelmed with MEP 1 and 2 compared to other 1st & 2nd grade programs (specifically Singapore and Right Start) but I have been told by users here that they are deceptively easy. The idea is to use smaller numbers to lay the foundation for some challenging problem-solving techniques. If you basically like MEP, I would keep going and trust that your child is actually learning.

 

I dumped MEP after 1A in favor of a Singapore 1/Right Start B combo. After DS finished the first part of RS C (I don't care much for the later part of C), I tried again adding MEP to Singapore. Still didn't care much for it, so DS is now using Beast Academy to supplement Singapore 3.