mo2 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 We're currently using Math Mammoth, but dc gets overwhelmed and bogged down by all the different ways it teaches things. It's almost as if it makes things too complicated rather than simplifying them. So now I'm looking for a math program that is very simple and straightforward, and inexpensive would nice too. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 What grade level? Do you care about spiral vs. mastery? What about Christian vs. secular? Developmental Math might be something to look into if you want a mastery format & secular. http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=10&category=2208 CLE is Christian and has a spiral format. http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/4 Key to... series is secular and good for late elementary & middle schoolers. http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=10&category=2225 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Um_2_4 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 :lurk5: Listening in... as I had hoped maturity would help DD7 handle MM, but still not seeing it. We are trudging through, but she says math confuses you. I already own MM, but......I am thinking of going back to MUS (I already have the blocks), but not sure where to start....Beta??? (she knows how to subtract, but facts are not memorized completely, using xtramath for that)....sorry for t he rambling.... :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Before you jump ship, in case this helps, I would take another look at the lessons you have issue with in MM. In particular, look at the lessons on a particular topic as a group. The "different ways" of doing things in MM are almost always developing understanding of the concept prior to teaching the one, single, shortcut procedure. For example, multiplying in parts (the concept, especially involving the distributive property) is taught before the multiplication algorithm (the procedure). In this light, IMO a "straightforward" program sounds more like traditional math, leaning more toward procedures and away from concept development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Secular. Dc is working through MM4 now. Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely check into them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Galore Park maths is straightforward. What age is your child? L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Strayer-Upton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I saw the title of the thread and was going to jump in with a Math Mammoth recommendation. lol Guess that doesn't help much, huh? I'm sorry it's not working for you all. It took my 3 several weeks to get used it after being pulled from public school, but they are into it, now. They like that they get a choice in how they do their math problems because they learn more than one way. DD7 & 9 are both in 2B and often choose to use different methods. This is why I like it! The same way doesn't work for everyone. DD12 sometimes asks for a little help in MM6 so I start to show her my way, and she says no wait use this other way becuase I understand it better. Love love love that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Math U See? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I'm a huge CLE fan. I agree that MM seems to over complicate things a bit, ime. My mathy girl couldn't stand it (it's busy too, which didn't help her dyslexic brain, lol). I regret leaving CLE for my oldest, and I happily picked it back up with my mathy middle child (DS4). It's traditional, straight forward, no frills, aesthetically pleasing, and spiral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Strayor Uptom Rod and Staff Modern Curriculum Press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel TX Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetics Book 1 can be used for 3rd & 4th grade. It's traditional math that assumes the teacher will demonstrate and provide explanation, which makes the book very straightforward. And it's only $15 for two years of math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 We moved from math mammoth to Saxon. It was an excellent decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 CLE and R&S. You cannot get any more straight forward, solid, and cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mama27 Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Saxon. Don't skip any problems. Get the dvd for teaching. There are at least 3 different ones to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 CLE. Yes, it's Christian, but there isn't much Christian content in it. It's very much straightforward, plenty of review, fact drill built in, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCelebi Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Math U See. It is very simple and straight forward and provides lots of practice. It is about as "mastery" as you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Check your library. Ours has several complete sets of public school math books from the 1980s. They are solid, simple, and straightforward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Rod and Staff Publishers. You can't get any more solid, simple, straightforward than that. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 CLE. Yes, it's Christian, but there isn't much Christian content in it. It's very much straightforward, plenty of review, fact drill built in, etc. Exactly what I was going to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Can someone help me out with CLE? Is this what I'm looking for: http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/4 ?? Are the TMs necessary, or just the student book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetics Book 1 can be used for 3rd & 4th grade. It's traditional math that assumes the teacher will demonstrate and provide explanation, which makes the book very straightforward. And it's only $15 for two years of math. Have you used this? Do you find it easy to teach? Does it include enough practice/review? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kagmypts Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Can someone help me out with CLE? Is this what I'm looking for: http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/4 ?? Are the TMs necessary, or just the student book? I was also going to recommend CLE. It is very straightforward and complete. It balances being thorough without being tedious very well. Like other posters have mentioned, it is Christian but not in a very outward way. There are only a couple of Christian references in each LightUnit. For what it is worth, we tried R&S, and it did not work for us. While it was very straightforward, it was very tedious for my kids. I also felt there was too much emphasis on the process and on drills and not enough conceptual teaching. The difference between R&S and CLE was especially obvious to me in grade 4. As for the link you provided above, yes, that is what you are looking for. With respect to the TMs, I would highly recommend them. While I have yet to use them to teach, the guide makes it so easy to check my kids' work. For the older grades, I purchased the answer keys over the manual. In the younger grades, there are also a few problems where you read the numbers to kids, and they write them down. The numbers are located in the TMs. ETA - CLE is very student friendly. For the most part, my mathy kids have been able to teach themselves. There have been a few times where they needed extra explanations, but it is by far our most independent subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 My dd who cried over MM 4 is flying through Horizon's 5 and is happy with math again. There is some Christian content, but not preachy just kinda artistic (the answers make a cross occasionally). You can skip the creative element and just do the problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel TX Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetics Book 1 can be used for 3rd & 4th grade. It's traditional math that assumes the teacher will demonstrate and provide explanation, which makes the book very straightforward. And it's only $15 for two years of math. Have you used this? Do you find it easy to teach? Does it include enough practice/review? I am currently using it. I do find it easy to teach because it's 3rd-grade math, and since it's traditional there are plenty of exercises. It includes a lot of word problems, which I like about it. Look at this page sample: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_slideshow?sku=545009&actual_sku=545009&slide=7&action=Next I use MEP also because, well, it's a different approach and I want to use both, but I would feel confident if I only used S-U. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bdbeckler Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 We like CLE. We have Math Mammoth, but my daughter has an easier time with CLE. I think she likes the variety within each lesson. So far, it has also been easy for me to teach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolinagirl1 Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I've only used CLE and Singapore and I LOVE CLE!! It is definitely straightforward. As for the TM, I am teaching 1st and 3rd. I definitely need it for 1st. There are some scripted parts that I definitely need, but 3rd teaches to the student. I have the TM for 3rd and as a pp mentioned, it makes it super easy to grade. I would get the TMs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deee Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 MEP. Free, teaches concepts over procedures, has all the answers and teachers notes freely available, presents kids with only one page of work per day so it's not overwhelming, spiral program so lots of review, but sophisticated enough to prevent boredom and feelings of "I've done that before". Really, this is an outstanding program. I still can't believe its free. Only possible down side is that it's teacher intensive, which I like D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I would say Teaching Textbooks meets this criteria, though it's a bit expensive. Use it at least a year ahead though (so TT5 if you're using MM 4). Yes, even if he's struggling with MM4. I know what you mean about Math Mammoth. My youngest uses Math Mammoth and it is a great match for her. She even accelerates with it. But she is mathy and wants to be a programmer. With my oldest, she made it through MM1 but by halfway through 2 she was crying daily over math. People criticize TT for being behind and simple. And it is a bit. My daughter uses it 1 level ahead even though math isn't her strength. But we keep tabs on her progress, and by our evaluation she is learning a sufficient amount of math, and does adequately on standardized tests in math. More importantly, she is learning it without tears, frustration, or hatred for math.. We don't see her going into a STEM field or anything - and if she changes her mind when she matures we'll help her catch up at that point. For now keeping the "I hate math" vibe away from her is more is more important, and TT does that well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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