Need Math Advice

[Caraway]

My son is 10 and finishing up Math U See Gamma.  I have really liked MUS, but now, not so much.  I feel like the methods are getting more and more offbeat.  My child doesn't need to know a special trick for multiplying by 11, if the this is under 9, but the that is over 5.  Ya know?

 

We are also doing Beast Academy.

 

So, I need a comprehensive, well thought out, math program.  I don't want a new set of crazy manipulatives.  I don't want a text designed for a foreign teacher teaching 30 kids.  I need straight forward.  And did I mention comprehensive???

 

I am considering Saxon 5/4.  Thoughts?  Better alternatives?

 

I have searched, but am not getting results.  Help!

[dragonflyer]

You are going to have a hard time switching between MUS and Saxon.  MUS is mastery based, and the Gamma book focuses only on multiplication.  If you choose to move onto Delta, you will be learning only division.

Saxon is a spiral based approach.  It will touch on a subject, then come back to the subject later to go more in depth.  The Saxon series also spends a lot of time on review.  Some kids love the way Saxon explains math, some love a different program.

By 10, your son should have decent insight into what explanation helps him understand not just HOW to do a math problem, but WHY the solution works.

You keep talking about straight-forward AND comprehensive, but the problem is that any comprhensive program explaning why things work the way they do involves work on someone's part to read and understand.

If you do not think he needs mental tricks for multiplying by 11s, move on, but now is the time to find the one that works for your son and stick with it, because jumping around will cause more gaps than using the "wrong" program.

[thowell]

CLE is straight forward and complete. There is a free placement test if you want to see where he would start. You can also just buy 1 light unit and make sure he likes it before you start the whole thing.

[Heartsjoy]

It's sounds like you want to add something more to Beast Academy?

 

Are you wanting more practice to add to Beast Academy or a different curriculum altogether?

 

More practice and comprehensive might be Singapore Intensive practice workbook. I'd probably start with the B workbook of the year before my students actual level and skip whatever they don't need making sure to hit the word problems and the challenge problems.

 

I'm doing more thinking here. The only thing I can think that might not be in the Intensive Practice books would be speed drills/ memorization of multiplication, division, squares, primes, etc. These are easily added from sites like math-drills.com or Johnnie's math page games.

[MamaSprout]

Math mammoth. He'd need a placement test. It complements Beast, and if you don't want to learn 3 different ways to do each operation (which MM teaches) you can just have him master the one that works for him and move on. You can try out a 1/2 year for around $16 dollars. ($12.50 if there's a sale at Kagi) Printing the upper levels in black and white is fine.

[Pen]

My son is 10 and finishing up Math U See Gamma.  I have really liked MUS, but now, not so much.  I feel like the methods are getting more and more offbeat.  My child doesn't need to know a special trick for multiplying by 11, if the this is under 9, but the that is over 5.  Ya know?

 

Uh.  No.  My ds did do Gamma, but I do not recall that.  ???  I do recall teaching my ds the "regular" way to do multiplication as I do it, not the MUS way, however.

 

We are also doing Beast Academy.  Which level?

 

So, I need a comprehensive, well thought out, math program.  I don't want a new set of crazy manipulatives.  I don't want a text designed for a foreign teacher teaching 30 kids.  I need straight forward.  And did I mention comprehensive???

 

I am considering Saxon 5/4.   We are not Saxon fans here, but some people do like it.

 

 Thoughts?  Better alternatives?

 

Stick with MUS if it has been working, but maybe try to get along with it faster if that is possible for him--Gamma at age 10 is not far along.   Or maybe something like Math in Focus, or Mathematical Reasoning?

 

I have searched, but am not getting results.  Help!

 

What has the progression been thus far to be where he is?  Is he learning and retaining?  If so, I'd consider the idea of not changing even if you think it is offbeat.  If it is not seeming a good fit for him, then that is different.  We left MUS after Delta because ds was feeling bored, but other things we went to, like Math Mammoth turned out to be less good fits.

[kristi26]

We love MUS here.  I have tried multiple other programs (Singapore, Prentice Hall, Life of Fred) with my oldest who is dyscalculic and MUS is the only one that he "gets" at this point.  I even took a look at Saxon and still, we are sticking with MUS.  You can read my full review on my blog if you're interested: http://themommywriter.blogspot.com/2013/10/math-u-see-curriculum-review.html

 

I would say that if you get to something in MUS that doesn't work for your family, don't use it.  Teach it a different way. Whatever.  But I'd stick with what you're already using.

[jjfamily]

I have successfully moved a 4th grader from completing mus gamma and delta in one year then into saxon 54. (She needed to go back and work on those basics before we could move up and on.) The first half of saxon was easy for her. I plan on dong the same with the next one up.

[Aurelia]

I second the recommendation for Math Mammoth.

[Ellie]

 

Saxon is a spiral based approach.  It will touch on a subject, then come back to the subject later to go more in depth.  The Saxon series also spends a lot of time on review.  Some kids love the way Saxon explains math, some love a different program.

 

Saxon is incremental, not spiral. It introduces a new concept and then continues to add small increments to it throughout the whole book, in every lesson. So not only is it not spiral, it doesn't spend a lot of time on review. Every lesson is teaching something. :-)