Need info on MCP Math

[tonygirl]

Hi all,

I needs as much info on the MCP Math curriculum. The good and bad how you liked or disliked as well as how yr child did with it. I have read that some people have have used it with special needs as well as regular learners.

Are the concepts laid out for me so I can teach or do I have just take info and create it myself?

Do you use any manipultives or just it give you ideas on how to do so?

Do they present alot of info from about of diffrerent concepts or go one by one?

Is it a fast pace curriculum or advanced

Thank you I would love to hear from anyone who has had any experiance with this program.:)

[Guest]

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[Cranberry]

Well, don't know if this is much help, but I'll be using level A with my son this year. I already have the book (an older edition) so if there's something specific I can help you answer, let me know.

 

Last year we used Seton's Math K and it's based on the MCP stuff, DS liked it. Very simple to use, the only manipulatives we used were just stuff around the house for counting, sorting, adding. Also we used coins for doing money sections.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Well, we are a very mathy family. My kids are pretty good in math. I have a 10 yr old getting ready to start book F and a 7 year old over 1/2 way in book B. It is a mastery and quite well done. It is simple in approach and covers all the basics really well. I have degrees in math and like this kind of program. I am pleased with the results so far.

 

We don't use many manipulatives with it. Sometimes I use fake money and unit blocks. But nothing else really. I don't do a lot of "teaching" with it either. My kids catch on easily and we just work together when necessary. The concepts are presented fairly well in the TM so that I find it pretty easy to use. It is not below level, by any means. I don't know if it is advanced or not. But it gets the job done really well for us, IMO.

 

Hope this helps

[sagira]

I really like MCP Math. We have been using MCP Math K 1994 ed. and I think it's just the right level for ds. As far as advanced or easy, I think MCP Math is middle of the road. IMO you could just slow down a bit if you needed more time, or zoom through it if your dc is advanced. It's a solid foundation, mastery concept presented with incremental difficulty program. For us right now there's just enough practice, and from what I've seen from the samples available here I appreciate the teacher's help, mental math and enrichment.

 

I also really like the uncluttered design, yet interesting for ds. He seems to really understand everything, and I don't even have the teacher's manual yet. We use manipulatives at home such as our basic blocks, Cheerios, baby carrots, a pair of foam dice and an abacus.

 

It's teacher-friendly, and I anticipate easier to teach down the road for someone with a shaky math background (I lost math between 7th and 8th grades). It also helps that it's an affordable curriculum.

 

That said, we'll be finishing up Level K 1994 for the rest of the year and we will be doing MCP Math Level A 2005 edition starting in January of 2009. I like the samples and even more appealing colors better, and I'm a sucker for a pretty cover :tongue_smilie:

 

Oh, and I'm going to combine MCP with Miquon to have a combination of solid, basal math facts and drill combined with conceptual, discovery-based math.

[SheilaZ]

I have used MCP math from K through 6th grade with both my NT sons and my sons with aspergers.

Everything is all laid out for you, just open to the next lesson in both the student and the Teacher's book and then start the lesson. For my older two, the program is pretty much self teaching. I use the mental math and the review sections from the TE.

For my younger son, I do use some of the remedial activities to help him really get the concepts.

The only manipultives we have used are money, counting chips, dice, and some popcicle sticks.

 

Each chapter covers one concept. For instance in level B, chapter 9 is on adding and substracting 2-digit numbers. There are 9 lessons on the topic.

It's not a slow program and I wouldn't say it is advanced. I'd say it has a good pace and is right on grade level.

My kids have done very well with and my last little guy is starting the K book this fall.

[melmac]

The other posters pretty much covered everything, I just wanted to add our experience and give it another thumbs up.

 

We've used it since K and my ds 10 will soon be starting level E. My other ds 7 will soon begin level B.

We have always used Miquon along with it till 4th grade level and then just MCP. We've had really great results and long term retention.

 

I haven't used the TM (too pricey for me to afford) but I always thought they would be very helpful if money isn't an obstacle.

 

HTH! :)

[Ann@thebeach]

I've used 3 math program-MCP, Horizons, and Rod and Staff. I used MCP for 1st grade and thought it was fine but bent to peer pressure and thought Rod & Staff or Horizons might be "better" Don't ask me why....

So we tried R&S for a semester and didn't care for all the review, then tried Horizons for a year and thought it was too busy (color and picture wise) and moved a little too fast. My son did fine but I didn't think it explained new concepts adequately and I didn't think he was retaining things as well as he should.

 

So then I went back to MCP this last spring and quite happy with it. We have used A, C, and will be using D this fall. I'm starting my DD on A this fall too.

The new concepts are explained better and the teacher manual is quite good IMO.

 

 

I don't think MCP is slow or advanced-just middle of the road as stated above.

We've never used manipulatives except for an abacas so I can't really comment on that part.

 

I think it's a solid program and will be sticking with it from now until algebra!

[tonygirl]

Thank you all so much for opinions. Can this be a stand alone program or is it just a supplement?

We have tried Miquon Math didn't go so great. Are the concepts introduced one after another another like Saxon? If they are is easy to slow it down? As for munipultives does it give suggestions for their use.

I am glad to hear it's laid out for me I need that math is not my strong suit! I thought I read that there are remedial activities is that right. Thank you again everyone!

[Ann@thebeach]

This is definitely a stand alone program. You could always add review in a certain area if your child needed it but it covers all the bases.

[sagira]

Yes, it's a stand-alone program.

 

I just want to try Miquon, but maybe I'm messing with greatness too :tongue_smilie:

 

What was the reason Miquon didn't work out well? Math is not my strong suit either, but I figured a little over $5 is a small price to pay to try it out for first grade.

[SheilaZ]

Thank you all so much for opinions. Can this be a stand alone program or is it just a supplement?

We have tried Miquon Math didn't go so great. Are the concepts introduced one after another another like Saxon? If they are is easy to slow it down? As for munipultives does it give suggestions for their use.

I am glad to hear it's laid out for me I need that math is not my strong suit! I thought I read that there are remedial activities is that right. Thank you again everyone!

 

It is very easy to slow the program down, especially for the older ages. You can just spread each lesson out over two days.

I use this as my main math program. In the past I supplemented with Singapore Word Problems just because I wanted the kids to do Singapore, not because MCP needed anything extra. But this year we are going back to only using MCP math and doing all the TE activities.

My 4th ands 2nd grader have Asperger's and they do very well with the way the lessons are set up.

 

The TE does give ideas for manupulatives.

I'm looking at the TE for lesson 4:6 in the second grade book. This lesson covers subtracting from 18 or less. There are about 100 problems for this lesson. (We would only do the odd number proplems.) There are vertical problems, fact family tables, horizontal problems, math wheels, and then a section on picking the correct sign to make the sumber sentence.

The TE lists manipulatives, warm up problems, a section on teaching the lesson, how to asses leasrning, interventions for errors, an enrichment activity and an activity to promote number sense with common manipultives like counters, buttons.

Some lessons also have a mixed review in the TE.

 

It is not like Saxon at all. This is a mastery program. You learn one topic at a time. The mixed reviews in the TE are used to help students rememebr material, but that has never been a problem with my kds.

[tonygirl]

You guys I am for sure going to try it! I just need to figure out what level to start with. Are there placement tests or anything like that? As for Miquon I just couldn't get my head wrapped around it but that is just me. I was unable to get it therefor I couldn't teach it very well. I have the teacher manual and a few or more workbooks just sitting here because once again something didn't work. Ahh the joy of homeschooling:tongue_smilie:

[melmac]

The combo has worked very well for my dc, and I'm sure it will for yours as well. :)

 

 

Yes, it's a stand-alone program.

 

I just want to try Miquon, but maybe I'm messing with greatness too :tongue_smilie:

 

What was the reason Miquon didn't work out well? Math is not my strong suit either, but I figured a little over $5 is a small price to pay to try it out for first grade.