teachingmy3 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Hi Everyone- I am new to the forum and I have my first question ready to go. This year we used Teaching Textbooks (TT). My son (10/4th grade) used TT4. My daughter (8/2nd grade) used TT3. I also have a DD that is nearly 5 and doing Math U See K that we got free to review. I am not sure we like this either. Man, I am picky. THEY HATED IT! When we began, they thought it was kind of fun to do math on the computer. I always sat with them while they did their lesson so that I could see what they were doing and identify any issues that might need more work. But around Christmas time, they started to hate it. I don't know if they've truly learned anything. We won't be sticking with TT next year. I know many consider TT to be mastery but I disagree. I was a teacher and used several mastery programs that weren't as scattered as this. My question is: where do I go from here? I am looking at Saxon. I want my kids to have a very solid foundation in math. And with my oldest entering 5th grade, I feel like my time is running out to build that foundation. Thank you for any help you have about what worked for you. I am open to suggestions. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Welcome! If you are looking for mastery, Saxon is not the way to go. My kids learn best with mastery and only lasted about a month with Saxon. Math Mammoth has worked great for us. It is mastery. We are using the Blue series, which may work well for you since it would not be tied to a grade level. There are a few other things that have worked well for us to mix things up a bit (or help them better understand a concept). 1) Videos from Education Unboxed. They have not only helped my kids, but they have helped me better understand and teach math. And best of all, they are free! 2) Right Start math games. My kids learn so much from these games and they don't even know they are "learning"- to them it is just playing! Hope that helps! Math can certainly be a tricky thing and sometimes it takes a while to figure out what will actually work:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 First I don't know anything about TT except what I have read. But if a curriculum is truly terrible and a very bad fit, don't feel bad about changing it. For your youngest, look into Miquon (I personally feel the c-rods are superior to the MUS rods), Singapore Math, the free MEP online. Or use all three at eh same time! That will help you back up and establish that strong foundation early with them. i use Saxon 5/4 with my oldest. I think Saxon in the older grades is a great program. It is spiral or incremental, but it's a solid program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachingmy3 Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 Welcome! If you are looking for mastery, Saxon is not the way to go. My kids learn best with mastery and only lasted about a month with Saxon. Math Mammoth has worked great for us. It is mastery. We are using the Blue series, which may work well for you since it would not be tied to a grade level. There are a few other things that have worked well for us to mix things up a bit (or help them better understand a concept). 1) Videos from Education Unboxed. They have not only helped my kids, but they have helped me better understand and teach math. And best of all, they are free! 2) Right Start math games. My kids learn so much from these games and they don't even know they are "learning"- to them it is just playing! Hope that helps! Math can certainly be a tricky thing and sometimes it takes a while to figure out what will actually work:) Thank you! I am not necessarily looking for mastery. Since TT isn't really mastery, I just can't tell why it didn't work. Last year we used Modern Curriculum Press which is more mastery. I think it worked better than TT but I am not sure. My oldest doesn't like math but he is good at it when he doesn't rush. My 2nd grader is very good at math but TT is making her hate it. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lots of boys Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I second Math Mammoth. When I started hsing my three, I started with TT and quickly disliked it. We switched all my boys to MM and Miquon and they love it again. We do one or two MM sheets per day and 1 Miquon sheet a day. It is a wonderful combo. MM is very mastery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I've only seen TT once, so I can't comment on that, but I can tell you why we like what we're using for our kids. DD, age 11 (finishing fifth grade) -- easily distractible, doesn't like colorful or cute or silly, very linguistically oriented, not so much math oriented, needs to "chew" on concepts for a few days. She didn't like Miquon very much; she didn't want to play with the rods and find patterns and such. She also didn't like the Calvert math book we had sitting around; its mastery approach meant that she'd have a whole chapter on a concept, do a lot of problems on it, and then move on, and that just wasn't the right approach for her. She still doesn't love math, but she is thriving in Saxon (high grades, and her standardized test scores were excellent). Its explanations are clear and step-oriented, no distracting colors/graphics/jokes, and in every practice set, there are guaranteed to be ones she can do easily, so it's a confidence booster for her. It works really well for her that it has her review concepts over and over, and I see her ask questions a lot when something is new, and gradually ask fewer questions as her brain gets used to the concept. She's finishing 7/6 right now and will move on to Algebra 1/2 next year; we'll spread it over two years and do some supplemental word problems and such (not Saxon's strong point) in between Saxon days. DS1, age 8 (finishing second grade) -- very math-oriented, loves patterns, adds the mile marker numbers in his head as we drive up the road, gets math concepts really quickly. We use Miquon and Singapore for him, and he loves them both. Something about Singapore's mental math way of doing things really speaks to him; it would drive DD nuts, but DS1 naturally thinks like Singapore does. When I asked the question, "if money was no object, what would you get for a mathy kid?," on this forum, the majority of the people said "Miquon plus Singapore." DS2, age 4.5 (pre-K/K next year) -- not reading yet or counting much yet but is very curious about everything. What he needs most isn't academics, exactly, but time with me, doing activities and exploring beyond what he can do on his own. I have a book called "Making Math Meaningful" from the Cornerstone Curriculum Company that I picked up for free last year, and I want to give that, or something similar, a shot with him next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I have never seen TT referred to as mastery. It's about as spiral as the come. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I have used Saxon, Abeka, and TT in higher grades and agree that TT is not the way for us to go either. I used Abeka in elementary with my olders, but with starting over dh suggested we try Saxon in elementary and we really disliked it. We switched to Horizons a few weeks ago and we are loving it! It is colorful and while some say there is a lot of work, I have to respectfully disagree. My 7yo (1st grade) has been averaging about two lessons daily with relative ease. We purchased the additional worksheet packet to go along with it and some days the amount of work fron the packet restricts her from doing two lessons. Granted, we were using Saxon 2 and had to "go back" to Horizons 1, but the material is much the same, excpet Horizons goes along at a better pace. Saxon was excruciatingly slow for us. My dd is not excessively advanced, just a normal kid, but she likes the formal much better and that she can do some of the work independently. ETA: Dh has an engineering degree and our plan is to use Horizons then switch over to Saxon at some point after the dc test into 5/4. Not a big rush, we may stick with Horizons until Level 6, but not after that. They recently came out with their own series of higher math, but it is too new for me to have a desire to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachingmy3 Posted April 26, 2013 Author Share Posted April 26, 2013 It's just hard for me to tell if TT was a bomb because (1) it was spiral or wasn't spiral enough (2) moved too slow OR (3) was on computer. Math Mammoth is mastery, correct? I think that might be something worth working on over the summer to see if it's a good fit without making too huge of an investment. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Another vote for math mammoth. I also think it is important to use lots of living books to keep the interest high. marilyn burns books are critical, imo, and there are a ton of fun number patterns books, math game books, soduko, right start games, it goes on. I really think it is critical to take breaks from workbook math to see the beauty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaraH Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Math can be tricky and what some kids/families love, it seems others definitely do not! I find it helpful to look at examples of the math books, either on line or ideally in person. There are a lot of conferences this time of year, so perhaps you could look at something there? We find online math doesn't work for us either. We tried a few things and have settled on CLE which is working really well - solid without being overkill. We don't do everything in a lesson or the timed drills, but many people do. If you search the forums you will find a great number of threads on math, but ultimately you know your own kids. The great thing about some programs is they are either free (MEP I believe - I didn't like having to print my own stuff!) or quite cheap (Math Mammoth often appears at Homeschool Buyers Co-op and CLE you can buy just one book to see if you like it). Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shan.non Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 I feel your pain. My 2nd grader hates math even though it comes naturally for her. I tried MM based on recommendations at it was awful. She tolerates RightStart but is in tears when I try to get her to do a worksheet. She is fine with all other subjects. I don't know what to do with her but I think I will take her to the homeschool store and let her pick from a few programs, including Horizons and Singapore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Bjup math online might be a good option for you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessj Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 I have kids who don't learn from the computer well. We tried it with Explode the Code and it was a disaster. So as much as I'd love to not "teach" math, I know TT is not for us. My kids are currently in 1st/3rd, but my 1st is starting 2nd math. We have used two programs, both good, but different. (Singapore) Primary Mathematics and Math-U-See. My eldest struggles with math and has done well at different times with both of these programs for different reasons. MUS really explains it in a way that she understands, but once she understands it, she gets bored. Primary is more "interesting" to her, but when something new comes up she really struggles to learn it. My younger one has also used both and does fine with either although she says she doesn't like watching the MUS videos because "They are so long and math is so easy I don't need to". I can hardly believe she came from my womb. lol! Recently I looked at Math Mammoth and I would consider that as well. We have programs that we are familiar with and that are working for us so I'm not really looking to change to something completely new. However, if I was, I would take a close look at MM and probably give it a try. In the case of your eldest, and even your middle I would make sure not to jump to something with a completely different approach as it might be a difficult transition and you don't want them to lose any of what they've got. But if they are good with math maybe they could handle it fine. I never was very good at math, so it's definitely a subject that intimidates me to teach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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