Garrrr! Anyone do two maths in 1st grade? I can't decide between MUS or Horizons!

[amselby81]

I hate this! We've been doing two maths this year, and I feel like I'm bogging DD down with all of this math work. And this year we've only really been doing math, phonics/reading, and handwriting. I plan to add more to next year's schedule, so I don't care for the idea of doing two maths. But I know some people have mentioned doing two or more math curricula. I'm just not sure if they did it as early as first grade. And why am I doing two maths? Because I love them both for different reasons. :( I love the spiral approach of Horizons, and I love the manipulatives and little tricks for memorizing things in MUS. Those are the pros. The cons? I don't like the number line in Horizons, and with MUS, I don't like that you do 6-7 worksheets per lesson, all on the same topic. It's kind of boring. There are also some concepts that I'd like to introduce to DD earlier than MUS introduces them. Like money. I'm not sure when MUS introduces money, but she's already working with money in Horizons.

 

When I ask DD if she had to choose just one to do next year, she says she'd rather do MUS. I'm not sure if says that because she hasn't been doing MUS everyday. We really started it last year, and it's taken us over a year to get through it b/c she didn't want to do it at all last year. Granted, I think Primer might be more geared toward K than pre-K. But we only got to lesson 10 before this year, and she's only on lesson 22 right now.

 

I really think she has a solid understanding of the math concepts this year b/c of the different approaches. Plus, we do skip counting in Classical Conversations, so between the three, she's GREAT at math. So maybe she can handle two maths next year. I just don't want to stress her out, and I'd also like to not waste money.

 

Any ideas? I'm sorry if this post is a mess. I'm all over the place on this topic. To do two maths or not to do two maths? If I do only one, which one? Ugh!

[myfatherslily]

I found it too difficult to do two math programs (tried with Horizons and Math Mammoth). I KNOW what you mean about how hard it is to just pick one! For what it's worth, if it's mostly the number lines in Horizons that annoy you, you can ignore them. Have your daughter pull out her MUS rods to find answers she doesn't know (I did this with cuisenaire rods). Horizons 1 covers quite a variety: time, money, adding two digit numbers, subtraction, skip counting, etc.

 

It's a pain to decide. I've agonized for quite some time!! :)

[stripe]

I tend to pick aspects of one that are lacking in another. Otherwise there is too much duplication.

[alisoncooks]

I feel your pain. We're currently doing CLE (spiral, lots of math fact review) and Singapore (conceptual, mastery).

But I know that I will NOT continue with 2 programs. Too much for us. I'd like my child to be educated, but I refuse to be driven by fear that she's not doing "enough" or that others are doing "more" or "better." I'm just gonna let it go and pick one program for next year.

 

Do I know WHAT that 1 program will be?

NOOOOOO!!!!!!! (I'm going back and forth like a crazy lady!)

 

But I'm determined to do just one program. :p

[reign]

I have never seen MUS or Horizons BUT I do use more than one math curriculm. I have MM, MEP, and some Singapore workbooks I picke up from B&N. Reasons for using more than one:

 

1. My girls like variety. They like switching from one style to the other.

2. I like teaching more than one way to do something.

3. Mep is free!

4. My oldest needed lots of problems to work on fact memorization.

 

For money problems I think hands on counting works better than worksheets. Grab some change and play store/candy shop. My 5yr hates number lines so she works with rods when she gets to those problems. I'm not a fan of number lines anyways.

 

[Tanikit]

I am using Horizons 1 and Singapore 1b with my DD, however we are just using a single workbook for Singapore and not the entire programme. Last year we did Singapore 1a and Horizons K and it worked fine - the teaching time was minimal for Horizons and still is in Horizons 1. I find the pros of using two programmes is that my DD can approach things using different methods and I find having one spiral and one mastery based prevents her getting bored and I can use the spiral approach more as revision. The con is that I have to plan well and be willing to take my DDs stamina into consideration on the day. If the one we start with takes long or introduces new concepts then we do not do the other one that day. I think another con is that you may need to be prepared to skip some sections in one or other programme if you want to cover both in a year and not feel the desire to do absolutely everything else you may burn your child out. And finally cost of course - one programme is always cheaper.

[Wheres Toto]

My dd is doing two first grade math programs. She does MM1A and Evan Moor Skill Sharpeners Math 1st Grade. She only does one page from each every day, and so far it's going well. In MM she is still working through the addition chapter. MM pretty much covers one topic at a time. My son does pieces from all different chapters at once but I don't think that's the right approach for dd, at least not yet. The Evan Moor introduces different topics periodically - money, time, graphic - so it's different than MM.

 

My son does multiple math programs - MM where he's working from Chapters in 3A (multiplication tables), 4A and 4B (place value and fractions) currently, Beast Academy where he's still in 3A (we usually only do this every few days), Scholastic Algebra Readiness Made Easy which he's almost finished, Scholastic Solve the Riddle Math Practice which he's almost finished. He likes math.

[RootAnn]

I love the spiral approach of Horizons, and I love the manipulatives and little tricks for memorizing things in MUS. Those are the pros. The cons? I don't like the number line in Horizons, and with MUS, I don't like that you do 6-7 worksheets per lesson, all on the same topic. It's kind of boring. There are also some concepts that I'd like to introduce to DD earlier than MUS introduces them. Like money. I'm not sure when MUS introduces money, but she's already working with money in Horizons.

 

 

While I couldn't do two full time math programs with my kids, I thought I'd throw out some suggestions for you to try the rest of *this* year to see how you like it & how it works.

 

First, as a PP said, you can SKIP the number line in Horizons. (And, you don't have to do every.single.problem. Pick & choose what you want to do for a lesson or a page.)

Second, you don't have to do every single worksheet in MUS. If your dd gets the concept after a couple pages, move on. A friend of mine who uses MUS likes that she can make the program work for her by not having her son do all the worksheets for every lesson if he obviously understands it. They move on. If he needs extra practice, she pulls one of those un-used worksheets out. In your case, that extra practice will come with Horizons.)

 

And lastly, you don't have to wait for a program to introduce a topic. I can't tell you how many times I've introduced something (order of operations, distributive property, division!) before the math program does. For me, the tough thing isn't the introduction, it is remembering to *review* what I've introduced. My kids need the review, so I use a spiral program (like Horizons). That way, I don't have to remember to review certain things (like measurement (ft/in, qt/c., etc.) or reading a clock/elapsed time).

 

If you & she generally like MUS best, maybe just think about adding a five minute review sheet for 1st grade topics -- math minutes or Evan-Moor's Daily Math Practice. Good luck!

[mommyto4QT]

We did 2 math programs this year for my DS for 2nd grade, Horizons and Singapore. My DS LOVES math and I was unsure which type of math would be best for him. I thought we'd "try out" both Singapore and Horizons to find a good fit. However, he's enjoyed doing both and has requested we do both again next year. So I guess we'll do 2 again.