Switching math

[Jess4879]

I am curious...I always hear that it's not a good idea to switch math programs if you can help it, but I fully admit, I've switched! It's always taken us a try or two to find the program that fits us perfectly. I always went in with the intention of staying with it until at least high school, but it's taken us some trial and error to find what works. Does anyone else not go through this?

 

Did you pick a math in K and stick with it at least until high school? Or did you have to find your groove first?

[alisoncooks]

I'm a switcher.

I've given myself this year (1st grade) to play around and try a few programs out.

(Oh, all right, I've tried a LOT of programs out!)

 

I'm pretty certain now what I'm going to stick with... no lingering doubts about the ones I never got to try (cause I tried them all, haha)...

[mazakaal]

I've had to switch math programs several times. The younger kids are now using CLE and I'm very happy with it, hoping not to have to switch again for elementary.

[ondreeuh]

Hindsight is 20/20 (or at least better than the current haze, lol). I've switched when I should have stuck it out, and stuck it out when I really should have switched! We are now reviewing 5th grade math with a different program over the summer to make sure that we are ready for yet another program for 6th. I plan to stick with one series for 6th-8th (Holt Middle School Math) so that the foundation is rock solid.

 

With my next kid, I hope to stick with a sequence through K-5, and supplement as needed.

[jessj]

It's hard, especially in the beginning. Some methods work better for different kids. It's also hard to feel confident that you've made the right choice!

 

I've switched... and switched back. And now my eldest asked about another program that her friends use. I am going to let her try it this summer and may implement it as a supplement.

[ByGrace3]

Switching happens. I think if you do what you can to not make a habit of it and watch for gaps...

We started with Saxon 1 for K and switched to MM but when we did I went back and did mm 1 to be sure we covered everything. We have no plans to switch but I would if it was absolutely not working....

[EmilyGF]

I've stuck to RightStart, despite everything people say about the higher levels, because it works well for us, my kids like it, I like teaching it, and my kids clearly understand math *really* *really* well. I have changed how I teach it with #2: she gets to read the teacher's manual with me.

 

Emily

[SorrelZG]

My oldest started K with Horizons, jumped without completing it to Math Mammoth 1 and I had bought 1-6 so obviously I had big intentions. He completed 1 half way through K and neither of us wanted to look at 2 so he did living math and Life of Fred for a while. I grew out of love with LoF at about Dogs and added a "2nd grade" Spectrum workbook to accompany the living math. He flew through that and I tried him with MEP and that didn't go over well once the novelty wore off (a couple days) and we moved on to Miquon. During a period of time recently when I needed something even easier to get done, I started him on New Franklin Arithmetic. Through out he has supplemented on and off with The Verbal Math Lesson (not intended to be a full curriculum). Somewhere in there we were using Mathematics Power Learning for Children (aka Professor B ). Oh, and I forgot about our trial of MCP Math 3 which I didn't love enough to make room in our luggage for when we moved.

 

Honestly, I have no idea where he places in math but he is finishing up his "official" first grade and I know he has covered first grade math thoroughly and second, depending on the curriculum referenced. :-P I have noticed that math curricula can vary greatly in what they label with what grade level. Mostly I've focused on skill progression and I know he is progressing steadily but it is a bit tricky to place him into a graded program because in the various threads of math, his knowledge varies greatly. It depends on the language a curriculum uses also although I suppose that's easy enough to pick up.

 

Right now I plan to have him complete Miquon and then place him into Beast Academy. My next born is doing Miquon. I did try MEP again with her but I didn't want to continue. I think Miquon is my groove.

 

Hope that made you feel better. ;) lol

[dewdropfairy]

We switched once and I'm pretty determined to stick with the new program.

[Jess4879]

It definitely makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one who has done some curriculum jumping. :) Math has definitely been my greatest challenge. Trying to find something that fits the kid AND fits my teaching abilities has been tough. I'm hopeful that we don't have gaps, as we've made sure to backtrack when switching curriculums, if necessary. I'm hoping that we've found our groove now and luckily I've still got another kiddo up-and-coming to "practice" on. ;)

[nomadgirl]

I want to switch but I am afraid. We are a Secular family and use A Beka for math. I wish I knew of something out there that was similar and secular. It is a great program and DS does really well in math. Switching is a scary thought because you don't want to mess things up.

[stripe]

I am not loyal to any one program, so I don't consider it "switching" when I use something new. I have changed, and eliminated, many things. I made a shift halfway through grade 1 work, to MEP, that was very beneficial. However, with another child, MEP is not quite the right fit. But I never use only one thing.

[lea1]

We started with RightStart in K and I didn't like teaching it. Then we tried SM 1a. I had a hard time teaching it and it seemed to make too big of leaps for my sons. We did all of MM 1st grade but there were some tears and I could tell they really were not 'getting' parts of it well enough. We were still in our 1st grade year so we started CLE 1st grade math and we are close to being finished. I have supplemented it with SM 1a and 1b so we would not miss the conceptual parts but I have really liked CLE, for the most part.

 

I have purchased Math In Focus for 2nd grade and am planning to use it and supplement with CLE. I have been reviewing vid's from Education Unboxed, Crewton Ramone's House of Math, Let's Play Math and also the sample vid's from Math U See, trying to better learn how to teach math like they do. I had even thought of using Math U See and was getting excited about it but then I looked at the sample workbook pages for Beta and felt that it just did not cover enough. It seemed that most of what it covers in Beta was already covered in CLE 1st grade.

 

So I am researching and studying and trying to better learn to teach it the way I wish I was taught. I had planned to try different things in 1st grade and settle on one to stick with by the time we started 2nd. I'm not sure if I am there or not but I am hopeful. I have been careful to compare curricula to make sure I have not created any learning gaps so far. CLE's 1st grade math really followed SM's 1a/1b very well, although SM had more conceptual math and memory math and CLE went further with telling time, measuring and a few things like that. It really has been interesting to learn how the different curricula teaches differently.

[Tanikit]

I have got around switching because of two things: 1. It is difficult and expensive to import curricula here and it takes a long time so usually you need to stick with something long enough to really get into it. 2. I use more than one curriculum which prevents my DD from saying I hate this - she does dislike one or other at any point in time, but then I just stop the one she hates for a few days or weeks and switch to another. We still get through two main curricula a year and suplement with a third though she doesn't do every problem.

[Hypatia.]

I switched a few times with DS1, trying to find something that was a good fit for us. We started with MUS, then Math Mammoth and finally settled on Teaching Textbooks. I think the jumping around did put him behind a bit but I didn't stress over it, he caught up quickly. Now I'm starting off with MCP Math and then moving to Teaching Textbooks with DD1. Poor DS1, the first pancake.

[Five More Minutes]

I feel like I made a big program switch when we moved from using Saxon to Singapore. This switch required a change in my approach to teaching math, mentally moving me from a procedural and efficiency emphasis to a conceptual and problem solving emphasis.

 

Since then I've added in other programs and switched around what has been our main spine. For example, right now my younger dd is using Miquon as her main math; next year my elder will in all likelihood use Beast Academy as her main math. Neither of these feels like a real switch, though, because they emphasize deep understanding and problem solving.

 

I can't imagine how I would be able to pick one program and stick with it to high school. I find that I'm shifting between programs within a single year often enough!

 

(But I do have a math program addiction. :blush: )

[Jenn121]

I have changed math twice. From Abeka to MUS and now to AoPS.

 

For the A-Beka to MUS change I was able to borrow the Delta book and do the last quarter of the book, which contained concepts that DD already knew, to learn the different teaching style.

 

Next year for 7th I was planning on using AoPS for Pre-Algebra but after ordering the book I realized that it expects her to know concepts that MS does not cover until Pre-algebra. So I have combined the two. Making sure that DD does the video and a few pages from the MUS lesson before attempting the AoPS lesson.

 

I have a plan to do this the whole year but it will depend on how DD handles the new math as to if I will be able to drop the MUS supplement.

[boscopup]

I changed math last year, and it didn't cause us any problems at all. I guess it set us back a semester, but that didn't matter (we were well ahead already). We changed at the 4th grade level. My second kid started out with what we switched to and will likely stick with it through 5th grade math. We do prealgebra after 5th. I change programs for prealgebra, but I have no intention of sticking with one program from K through high school. Our needs for K and our needs for calculus are completely different! :) Sticking with something K-5/6 is good, but if you have to find the right fit, that's fine. If you find yourself hopping from curriculum to curriculum with your child falling woefully behind, THEN it's a problem. Changing once or twice in 1st grade? Not really a problem.

[crazyforlatin]

I don't switch so much as I fold in math curricula into our base math curriculum. In other words, I use everything. :).

[Holly]

I switched quite a bit with my oldest.

preK--Saxon K

K--Rightstart A

1st--Singapore

 

When we got to SM, I was determined to stick with it, but it just wasn't working for DD. We used it for several years and finally switched for 5th grade. I'm hoping to stick with MUS for the long run. I think it takes a bit of figuring out to find what works for you (and your DC). I think if it doesn't work for one of them, I'll probably adjust my teaching before switching curriculums again. Like PP mentioned, it does get expensive to keep changing! I still need to go back and re-buy several of the earlier levels for my younger DC which is going to be a large portion of our HS budget for next year.

[Jess4879]

Poor DS1, the first pancake.

 

:lol:

[coralloyd]

I switched once. After Saxon K I switched my oldest to MUS. I have stuck with MUS for all my kids. My oldest will be starting Pre-Algebra very soon. We have done supplementing with TT, LOF, MM, Ray's, and Your Business Math throughout the years. However, MUS will always be our main curriculum (unless something goes drastically wrong) because it works, not only for my kids but for me. I love it and have learned so much all these years. I am a very visual person and having Mr. Demme teach me on a DVD gives me so much more confidence in teaching and explaining it further to my kids.

 

One of the things that I feel was the biggest detriment in my own education was the fact that I was switched to all kinds of math curriculum and teachers. My experience as a child made me determined to try and find a good fit for us and stick with it. Now, I think I lucked out finding MUS so early on. I definately know it won't be that easy for everyone. If you can find something early it is probably the best though.

 

My dh was a huge help in this decision. I knew that I needed someone elses imput. Someone that knew me and knew math (he's an engineer). It is the one subject that I told him I desperately needed his help to decide. After going to a MUS talk at a convention, he was sold. He told me this is what we need to use.

 

There have been times when we have needed to speed things up, slow them down or supplement but sticking with a great frame work has been one of the best decisions I have made. I have done the same thing with grammar.

[Walking-Iris]

So far I have been lucky that I haven't needed to switch math because something was not working. But I am a supplement-er. :)

 

I think that if a math book was not a good fit and we were not happy with it, I'd have no problems finding something else. I supplement with so much that I think switching would be painless if I had to. I wouldn't exactly be switching as it would be dropping.

 

I wouldn't stick with something just because of a feeling of "have to." I also think it's helpful at times to see how kids do in a different format. Sometimes kids can begin to intuitively know what the program or book is expecting. Surprising them with another format or different wording of instructions or different manipulatives can help evaluate (or even deepen) understanding.