CCelebi Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hi All, I am new to this board and new to homeschooling. I have a 6-year-old (who is finishing out first grade at our local public school), a 4-year-old, and a 2-year-old. I have read The Well Trained Mind, several times actually, and can't wait to implement all of the tools that it suggests. I am, however, struggling with one decision - which math curriculum to choose. I have purchased the Math U See Primer and Alpha but I am open to suggestions of other options. Any suggestions or feedback will be greatly appreciated! Christina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suezoo Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hi Christina, I am new to posting on this forum as well but I have been homeschooling for 14 years now with 5 children. It sounds like you are a well-informed person that has done her research about not only homeschooling but also the math curriculum that's out there. There is no perfect curriculum and though everyone has their favorites or even hated ones, that particular curriculum might not work for you. So I basically like to ask the questions, "What do you like about a certain curriculum" and "What do you not like about a certain curriculum?" That way you can assess based on their answers whether the reasons they liked one might be the very reason you might not like it. For example, one person might say that they liked using tons of manipulatives while to another person that sounds awful and would prefer lots of drill. I hope that makes sense. :) Math U See is a solid program which uses a good teacher, Mr. Demme, and lots of manipulatives. I personally think it doesn't have enough rigor in it so I have used Singapore Math with my kids. I have also supplemented with more drill and more manipulatives using other programs. But please don't let me dissuade you or discourage you from choosing that program. I would say you should try it out and you may find soon enough that you may want to supplement or that you will love the program! Hope that helps, Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hi All, I am new to this board and new to homeschooling. I have a 6-year-old (who is finishing out first grade at our local public school), a 4-year-old, and a 2-year-old. I have read The Well Trained Mind, several times actually, and can't wait to implement all of the tools that it suggests. I am, however, struggling with one decision - which math curriculum to choose. I have purchased the Math U See Primer and Alpha but I am open to suggestions of other options. Any suggestions or feedback will be greatly appreciated! Christina I prefer CLE (Christian Light Education) over Math U See. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 If you have MUS on-hand, why not try it & see how your kid(s) do with it? You'll be able to tell pretty quickly if it is a good program for *you* and *your children.* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Anna Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 One suggestion I would have if you want to get a fairly objective comparison of Math Curricula is to look for Cathy Duffy's 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum at your local library. (Or pick up a copy over Amazon if you have the money.) She will guide you through a set of criteria (child's learning style, parental availability for involvement, planning required, etc.) and then give you a chart listing several solid programs for each subject according to the criteria. We've used MUS for the past 6.5 years or so and it's worked for us. But I hesitate to give you a rave review when your situation is likely to be different from ours. Duffy's book gives you a detailed review of each curriculum as well as the comparison chart. I highly recommend it! HTH! Mama Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherOfBoys Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Welcome! Keep in mind that even though this is the well trained mind website, many people on here don't school that way or do it lightly. You know what you want more than we do. I second the cathy Duffy website. It's great. Also you have three kids so consider how much time and teacher intensive the math is. I am currently switching to math mammoth, don't know if you've heard of it or not yet. It is really cheap and good. Homeschool coop website has a sale right now. Th lady that wrote it is very nice about answering questions. It's a mastery program with review too. It's a cheap place to start. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alef Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I like Math Mammoth starting with second grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 We use Math Mammoth. I like that it teaches math conceptually not by memorization. It's a tough curriculum, though, and not for everyone. A friend cannot use it with her children because she has 3 kids with major reading issues so they like Teaching Textbooks where they watch the video then do the problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Welcome. I also agree that since you have MUS just jump in and try it. Sometimes it's better to try to stick something out, especially math, rather than curriculum jump. You'll know if it's a bad fit. I don't really like MUS because I'm a huge fan of Cuisenaire rods and Miquon. Check out the videos at educationunboxed http://www.educationunboxed.com/ to learn all about C-rods. And MUS uses rods that are similar but are really different in key parts. C-rods are the gold standard of math manipulatives IMHO and MUS doesn't work well with them. It's almost as if MUS tried to reinvent the wheel. My 1st grader is working with MathMammoth and Miquon. We also play a lot of games, RightStart card games and others. My oldest went through the entire Miquon program with games supplements etc and I'll do it again with my third. Miquon isn't for everyone though. It can be difficult to implement and the teacher book is a little hard to understand. Singapore math is another solid choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I'd start with Math-U-See. It's solid, works for many, and you own it. If it turns out to be a poor fit, you can try something else. I love RightStart for the early grades, but it's pricey. I wouldn't do Math Mammoth with young kids myself. We use Math in Focus, and I really like it. It doesn't require the teacher's manuel, and without those isn't terribly expensive. Some schools use it, so if it's possible school might be tried again, it's scope and sequence will fit better than other options, especially Math U See. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCelebi Posted January 31, 2014 Author Share Posted January 31, 2014 Thanks for all of your ideas and suggestions! I ordered Cathy Duffy's book and can't wait to read it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If you've bought Math-U-See, give it a try. You may love it. :) Honestly, I've used many different curricula that I've loved. We started with Right Start Level A and B, which was wonderful..but a lot of work on my part. Still it was a great fit for my son who didn't like writing at the time. My youngest two have used Saxon K-3 in school, and they really work well with a spiral approach. It's a bit repetitive, but that works for some kids. We tried Math-in-Focus, which is Singapore, and my DD loves it…but I really think you need to start the approach early. It's been tough for my eldest to get "bar models" not having done them before. I love Math Mammoth, and keep coming back to it. It works for us. It's easy and self-explanatory. Oh…and my eldest two have both loved Beast Academy as a supplement for 3rd grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedarling Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 We've been combining Rightstart and Math-u-see. Rightstart is great as far as a myriad of different topics and manipulatives...its fun, but teacher intensive. I needed my dd8 to be able to work somewhat independently at times, so Math U See provides that...and is what older siblings are doing. We love MUS, but I do feel RS lays the foundation that math is fun much better! (Math U See drills the basics to mastery. RS adds breadth.) Since you have MUS, try it, then maybe supplement with something else to add variety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 There are tons of good math curricula out there. Since you have MUS I'd go actually use it with your DC for a couple/few months before deciding if you need something else. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanSebast Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 It depends on the child. My ds HATED the idea of it and refused to work with it, so I have no personal experience with the program. A friend of mine used MUS for her daughter and during her junior year, after getting very poor scores on her ACT math, hired a tutor to teach her from a different program (Saxon), cramming three or four years in her jr/sr years, but again, I haven't used the program so I can't speak for it's effectiveness. All I know is that when I went over it, back when I was considering it, it seemed pretty good, but in need of supplementation, but that's just my opinion. And I didn't check into extra practice exercises or anything like that because ds simply said "no!" My advice, start it and see how your dc likes it, and take it from there. Welcome to then board and best of luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I agree that reading Cathy Duffy's book may help you figure this out. You can always dabble in MUS since you have it and just see how it goes. We worked through most of the Primer when my son was 4/5ish and I realized it was not a good fit for us. We use Miquon & c-rods now and we LOVE it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSinNS Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I like MUS with my kids (all elementary) though I may switch as they get older. My 5 year old will likely pass my 7 year old in math in the next year, so I'm going to switch him or maybe her. My boys have a strong grasp of math and explore interesting topics with me or their dad, so I'm using it primarily to get the fundamental arithmetic skills for them. My daughter is struggling more, and needs more review, drill and conceptual teaching, so we take periodic breaks to review and build the skills she's still struggling with. Things I love about MUS-it's straightforward. It doesn't complicate relatively simple things. I tend to teach most of the stuff the way I was taught it back in the dawn of time, so it works with that. I love the layout of the lessons, so the kids can do as much or as little as they need to do. My kids all have short attention spans and are easily overwhelmed, so I like the bland pages with the wide open spaces. I like the mastery approach, which makes sense to me. He puts concrete things in the early books, and more complex ideas in later books-makes sense, especially for kids who are struggling. I love the visuals of blocks. MUS is definitely less "modern" in teaching style than many other books in the way he presents mathematical thinking. Not sure how much of a problem that is. I suspect it depends on the kid. It would be easy with MUS to rote memorize problem type rather than understand. Anyway, I wouldn't change until you've tried it and see if it's a good fit for your family. If not, there are no shortage of other choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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