Math Mammoth 5B Geometry Chapter

[Haiku]

My dd11 started this chapter excited: "Yay! I love Geometry!" She has always been mathy.

 

Halfway through she feels ground down and discouraged. There is A LOT (too much, I think) of information in this chapter. There are A LOT of area of polygons problems that I feel are needlessly complex (odd fractions, decimals to too many places). I think that the understanding of the concept could have been accomplished with more straightforward problems. DD has always loved the Puzzle Corners; now she groans and asks, "Do I HAVE to do the puzzle corner?"

 

I have been prodding her along rather quickly, hoping she could finish 5B before I go on a month-long overseas trip in June. I realize that I am burning her out.

 

So I am giving her a math holiday. For two weeks (maybe longer), she can work on anything math-related that she wants during math time. I'll have some resources for her to choose from, but what she does is up to her.

 

I hope that by the end of the holiday, she feels happy and confident about math again.

 

I'm also glad that we are moving into Dolciani next year. I think MM has been an excellent curriculum, but I think we are both ready for something more straightforward. I find myself looking at the lessons in MM5 and thinking, "This could have been taught in an easier way."

 

Just wanted to share.

 

Tara

[Chrysalis Academy]

I really like MM overall, but I also dislike the two geometry chapters we've seen so far - the 4th and 5th grade ones. They are overly wordy and tedious and . . . I'm not even sure what all. We did the 2 Beast Academy Geometry chapters in lieu of most of the MM5 chapter, and even though it is supposedly 3rd grade, I feel like dd learned a lot more from it than she did from MM.

 

For next year, we will do most of MM6, but I"m planning on using the AoPS geometry chapters instead of the MM. Just gonna skip it. Maria does a lot of things really well, but the Geometry is just not at the same level, IMO.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I really like MM overall, but I also dislike the two geometry chapters we've seen so far - the 4th and 5th grade ones. They are overly wordy and tedious and . . . I'm not even sure what all. We did the 2 Beast Academy Geometry chapters in lieu of most of the MM5 chapter, and even though it is supposedly 3rd grade, I feel like dd learned a lot more from it than she did from MM.

 

For next year, we will do most of MM6, but I"m planning on using the AoPS geometry chapters instead of the MM. Just gonna skip it. Maria does a lot of things really well, but the Geometry is just not at the same level, IMO.

[SunnyDays]

Hmm, this is good to know. We are getting ready for the last chapter of MM 5A, and I've been wondering how far to go with it before moving on. I remember not being crazy about the geometry in MM4 either. I've been thinking I may need to pick and choose which sections we do next year.

[Forgiven]

My dd and I aren't fans of the Geometry chapter in MM4, and now to think that we're going to have to go through this again in MM5--oh man! I do have Beast Academy for my eldest son, who'll be in third next year. Thanks to Chrysalis Academy, I'm going to have my dd go through the Geometry chapters and maybe skip the rest of MM4's Geometry. It's so tiresome, and some of the things she's doing in it, I remember doing in high school, so I know she'll see this stuff again, when she's older and more mature.

 

Thanks for this post. It's nice to know we're not alone!

[crazyforlatin]

Yep, what Rose said about MM's geometry. I had the same feeling about it from MM4 but thought it was more to do with me. Beast 3 presented it much better with DD declaring a passion for geometry. I printed out some of the geometry sections of MEP 7 and 8 because I think the layout is better for DD than MM's geometry. Also, we just started dabbling in the geometry chapter of AOPS Pre-A.

 

There are more sections, but these are just a few that we like.

 

MEP level 7

Angles, http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/book7/bk7_5.pdf

Area and perimeter, http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/book7/bk7_9.pdf

 

MEP level 8

Polygons, http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/book8/bk8_15.pdf

More Angles, http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/book8/bk8_11.pdf

[Haiku]

Thanks so much for the links! I (and dd, because I told her about this thread) are very relieved to know we aren't the only ones who don't like the MM geometry. On the way home from hockey, when I was telling dd about this thread, she said, "Math Mammoth is a good curriculum, but this chapter is trying to make students learn to much, too fast. I think she could have gotten all the information in if she had done a geometry I, and then another chapter, and then done a geometry II. Then students would have time to think about the material more."

 

Pretty wise, that sounded to me. (And I like how she referred to kids as "students." So formal!)

 

Tara

[TracyP]

For anyone interested, you might want to request the new MM 5. I thought the new geometry chapter was waaay better. Less content (like 1/2 the content I'd guess) but stretched out with a better layout and better graphics, iirc. I was at a conference this weekend and my brain is fried....:) I just remember looking at it and thinking that we might actually do this - we typically skip MM's geometry because I also have not been a fan.

[Mom-ninja.]

We didn't like it either. Thanks for the links.

[TarynB]

For anyone interested, you might want to request the new MM 5. I thought the new geometry chapter was waaay better. Less content (like 1/2 the content I'd guess) but stretched out with a better layout and better graphics, iirc. I was at a conference this weekend and my brain is fried.... :) I just remember looking at it and thinking that we might actually do this - we typically skip MM's geometry because I also have not been a fan.

Thank you! That's good to know.