Help! BJU Math vs SM

[plain jane]

I've been doing SM all along with this one child and we are currently 3/4 of the way through 4B.  It's been pretty good. But I think it could be substantially better.

 

For one, this child likes to take shortcuts.  This is a problem with her more so than SM but it's happening and it makes her get the wrong answers.  She won't write down her steps or show her work and tries to do everything mentally but she's not able to do so.  Then I can't help her at all because I don't know where she went wrong and she can't remember what she did. (she's easily distracted as well, which doesn't help)   I am working on making her write down her work but she claims to "forget" to do do.

 

This child does not seem to have long-term retention.  She does well on the daily lessons (when not skipping steps or trying to do it all in her head, even the multi-step word problems) but I'm noticing it's not sticking.  I decided to order the test book for 4B and have her work through that since we are winding down the textbook work.  She was doing a test per day since it was all review and lo and behold, she was failing. 30% on one 25% on another.  :huh:   These were all concepts she did fine on during the workbook work.  Now, the work book work was a few months ago now- Jan/Feb but this was a big drop in her level of retention.  She was frustrated with herself and in tears when she saw how poorly she did.

 

I don't like a program that spirals too much (like Saxon) as I think she won't focus for long enough but my limited exposure to BJU would seem that it may be a good fit for her.  I don't know what the grade 5 BJU would be like but I know things ramp up in SM 5a and I don't want this child to lose her mathematical confidence.

 

Would I be happy with BJU?  Is it to the same level of SM?  Many people I know IRL seem to hold SM in high esteem. I haven't heard the same of BJU, but to be fair, I haven't heard anything about BJU  :laugh:  (good or bad).  I very much like the *idea* of SM but I'm starting to think it may not be the best idea any more.  I hate jumping ship but what I saw on her test scores these past few weeks has me worried.  She does not have test anxiety.  She tried her best but she simply could not remember how to do the work.

 

I'm not really willing to shop around for a bunch of math programs.  I feel that we should maybe give BJU a try or stick it out with SM.  Thoughts?

[Jasperstone]

What about CLE maths?

 

You can try it out as its so cheap at only $3.40 a Lightunit and they last around 3-4 weeks etc...

 

I found it to be an unreal fit for my dc.

 

Hope you find something that works for your dd.

[mmasc]

FWIW, we jumped ship from SM after 2B for the same reasons. I was thinking of going to BJU as well, but once I bought the book and saw that it was divided into 'chunks' (addition, subtraction, etc) I got worried that it might not be enough of a change for us. So I ended up going with CLE due to the very different approach from SM because I wanted to see if an entirely different way would work. So far, we love it. But I did really like the looks of BJU, I just can't say if it's a good program since we didn't use it.

[WahM]

I switched one of my kid's from Singapore to BJU and we all love it. It's now the math program I use for all my kids and plan to use for my youngest as well. I love the program it's great. It does have some review of previously learned concepts while it focuses on another concept. The teachers manual is needed since, like the HIG, that's where most of the teaching is. The review book is also very useful. It gives extra practice on the current topic plus a page do previously learned concepts.

 

I was in love with the idea of Singapore math because that is the way I naturally do math, I was never taught to do it that way that's just the way my brain operates I guess, but it wasn't the right choice for my kids. BJU has been a perfect in between for all of us.

[alisoncooks]

We quite like BJU Math.

As far as it being divided into "chunks" or topics, it is true -- the chapters are focused.  However, every single lesson reviews a previously taught concept (not from that lesson).  My DD is finishing up BJU2 (so I can't offer insight on the older levels) but today's lesson was Addition in the Thousands with Renaming (or whatever they call it).  The front of the page teaches the topic, the back has independent practice, and then on the bottom of the back page there are some 3-digit subtraction review using dollars/cents.

 

I liked Singapore... but we needed the review.  I'll be honest, I don't love the BJU teacher manual.  I have purchased and gotten rid of the manuals for BJU 1 and 2.  I just teach the concept on my own.  (I anticipate needing the manual in a year or 2... but the earlier years just have so much extra fluff and junk, IMO.)

[Jess4879]

We use and love BJU math with my middle kiddo and it's my math of choice for my youngest as well.  I started with the full set, but we never used the test booklets.  Now I just get the TG, workbook and the student material packet.  I love the way the TG is laid out and that there are only the two books..  One of my turn offs for SM was how many books there were.  I also needed lessons that were really well explained to help me teach.  BJU fits the bill for us.  I find it very open and go.  From time to time there is a sheet I should have printed, but didn't, and I have to take a couple minutes to do so, but otherwise I don't typically prep for a lesson.  Review is built in, which I love, and the TG and workbook are colorful and easy to use.

 

We never used SM, so I can't compare head on.  I feel that BJU is a very strong math though and I don't feel like the kids are lacking on anything. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Elisabet1]

Oddly, my son has had an issue with retention. I thought he was doing so well, because we coasted through Singapore Math, his first semester book. But then, as soon as a bunch of review problems hit, he was clueless on how to do them. I did not realize it before, but he needs a lot of review.

 

I actually love BJUP. But, I am not going to switch to them because I do not like having to use the TM so much for all the separate books they have going in one program. Someone can chime in and say it is not so complicated, because I have not tried. I did used to tutor math and really liked the BJU books. But I was not teaching the entire program. I was just trouble shooting some specific areas. 

 

I was thinking about what I did different with my older children that made SM work so well. I did do the Keys to Fractions with them. That might have made some difference. I also had Singapore Maths software, which no longer works on my current computers. 

 

Otherwise, just switch to BJU. One nice thing is that BJU will get you all the way through high school math without having to switch again. So, you were likely going to switch soon anyway. I recall some people saying that they stopped SM at about this point. I know for us, at about 5B, SM got wonky. So I already knew we might not stick it out until 6B this time.

[WahM]

Oh yes! I forgot to mention to student material packet! My kids love puppets and when I introduce a concept using the hands on manipulatives from the packet. All that is laid out in the TM.