JUST started homeschooling and cannot choose a math curriculum!

[Guest jmansky]

I just started homeschooling my 10 year old daughter 2 weeks ago. She was in 4th grade (public school). She was in "advanced math" so they were covering 5th grade math. My daughter loves math and is very strong. One of the reasons that she wanted to homeschool is that she found the math pace too slow and wanted to move at a quicker pace.

 

However, we cannot find a curriculum she likes. We've done a few online trials but she does not like the videos. I think that I need to find a basic math book that includes concepts, problems, quizzes so she can just "have at it" without watching videos.

 

I love what I have read about Singapore. However, the placement tests were inconclusive because for every test that we tried (4A - 5A) she did fine on the concepts she has learned but not the ones that she hasn't (Singapore math is in a different order than what she was learning in her Pearson Scott Foresman spiraling curriculum). I have also read good things about Mammoth Math. From what I heard about Saxon, i don't think she would like it.

 

So - I am looking for a math curriculum (preferably a book) that is suitable for a gifted child who is strong in math - I want it to be rigorous and explain the concepts well - but not lots of repetition. Any suggestions? Thank you!!!

[wapiti]

We used MM, skipping lots of problems. For some advanced kids, the lessons may be too incremental. (When that happened for my ds, I adjusted on the fly and compacted several lessons into one.) What I liked about MM was that flexibility. I could keep ds moving forward without worrying about drudgery, but only when I stayed on top of things, every lesson. In other words, if you're very involved and don't mind using your own judgment, I think it's a fine program to use with an advanced student. It provides a good conceptual basis and plenty of word problems, and is a good value if you need to teach topics from several different levels in a relatively short period of time.

[Guest jmansky]

Thank you - is MM (Mammoth Math) available as a book for purchase or does it have to be downloaded and printed? Also would you characterize it as "spiraling" or "mastery?" Thanks again!

[nomadgirl]

My son was considered advanced in Math in public school also. We use A Beka (even though we are secular) it works great and is extremely far ahead of the math programs in 4th grade now. It is in workbook form.

[wapiti]

Thank you - is MM (Mammoth Math) available as a book for purchase or does it have to be downloaded and printed? Also would you characterize it as "spiraling" or "mastery?" Thanks again!

 

 

It can be purchased as a book or as a PDF. MM is mastery. It is available organized as a grade level program ("Light Blue") or as topic books ("Blue").

[foxbridgeacademy]

I would also suggest you use Math Mammoth. I would go with the Blue series (by topic). That way you can cover what she hasn't done in depth and skim over what she already know. MM helped my now 6th grader last year move ahead at least a grade and a half in about 6 months.

[Trish]

Math Mammoth's layout CAN be daunting for certain kids. (lots on the page)

 

You might also want to consider Horizons.

[TheApprentice]

You can also look at Math in Focus by Saxon. It is mastery.

[dereksurfs]

For an advanced student it is often good to use a main 'spine' program such as Math Mammoth then include supplementals such as Hands on Equations (HOE), Zacarro Challenge Math, Singapore challenging word problems, etc... With ds11 I allowed him to work once a week on Pre-A when he was 10 and still finishing elementary math. This along with HOE introduced algebraic reasoning earlier and helped keep him challenged and interested in math as a whole.