What's new in Math for Primary grades?

[Guest]

I'm having a blast walking down memory lane with Saxon K, but it is a lot of work for me and more than a little bit dated for ds2, who doesn't need to know but so much about analog clocks and coins and how hard it is to find liquid laundry starch.

 

So.... do any of you young whippersnappers want to educate me about what's out there that's analagous to Peace Hill language arts and GSWL?

 

Manipulatives are more fun than worksheets, but it would be nice to scrap the guilt about taking Thanksgiving to January birthdays off, less work to adapt the product to a year round schedule or picking the book back up after breaks that aren't in June, July, and August, and less stress coming up with money for all new curriculum all at once or stigma for ds if it ever has the "wrong" number on the cover.

 

TIA

[fourisenough]

Education Unboxed & a small group set of C-rods?

[Walking-Iris]

RightStart or Singapore Essentials is good for K. I am also slowly starting to like and appreciate Math Mammoth, though we haven't finished the 1st grade level book, so I can't say anything about the next levels yet. Miquon is my eternal favorite. My oldest went through the whole program and now my younger ds is working in them. 

 

Any and all manipulatives are good. C-rods and bead bars, abacus, snap cubes and so on. I really like the way math is taught in Montessori and some of the materials and methods blend well with other programs. 

 

I like Saxon from 5/4 and up, but haven't had much interest in the earlier books. 

 

You could get by with something like Peggy Kaye's Math Games at that age unless you want a workbook to do as well. Miquon/MM doesn't take much time at all. I alternate pages from each and try to play the RS card games a few times a week. 

 

Not sure if I answered your question.

[Farrar]

I second Education Unboxed - newer resource of videos on how to use the C-rods.  Even if you think you know what you're doing with them, it's incredibly useful.

 

Beast Academy is also new.  Not yet for such a young one, but it could be on your radar for the future.

[Guest]

Thank you, that was exactly the information I was looking for. ds loves math and deserves materials that are appropriate for the 21st century.

[~Victoria~]

We are doing Math U See (Alpha) and my son is 5. We really enjoy it and will continue with it next year. I have a friend who is a couple of years ahead of us and she loves it too - a mastery program that is very hands on.

[MotherOfBoys]

I was just at the Art of problem solving website and found three kitchen table math books that look hands on, cheap, and thorough. 

 

I'm making myself sleep on it because I already have saxon k-2, mm 1-6, and Life of Fred A and B. My son wants Beast but it doesn't start till third.

[Farrar]

Oh yeah, that's something else new - the Life of Fred elementary series.

 

There are also newer living math books out if that's your cup of tea.  Charlesbridge has a bunch and there's a nice series about animal babies in zoos and math.

[momma2three]

We're using Math Mammoth and MEP.  I really like MEP.  It's kind of intensive, but it's free and fully scripted (you can edit the script A LOT... it's intended for a classroom setting, so there will be 8 questions on the same concept so that the teacher can call on 8 kids to see if they have it down... with 1 kid, I just ask 1 or 2 of the questions to see if she gets it.)  It has lots of manipulative, and presents lots of different ways of looking at numbers and math.  Each lesson (and there are 180 lessons per year) has only a single worksheet, and most lessons you spend most of the lesson period doing other stuff: conversation about patterns or numbers, playing with c-rods or scales or rulers or shapes, doing mental math, oral word problems, puzzles.

 

Math Mammoth is more hands off from the parent's perspective, and 100% worksheet-based, but much more straightforward, and is much loved here amongst people whose reviews I trust.