Would CLE Math Work as an Independent Spiral Review?

[CAtoVA]

Have you used CLE as a spiral review? Can it be done independently by most 10 year olds? I looked at the samples and the lessons seem straight forward and short and sweet, : ). Horizons is another one I have considered but I think the pages may be too distracting for DS.

 

I'm thinking about using CLE Math 4th grade modules as an independent, spiral review for DS (rising 5th). This probably would be for a short period before each "formal" math lesson for the day. Our main math is Singapore Math in Focus (grade 5) which I would like to stay with for its general approach, problem solving, bar models, etc. Being somewhat advanced, the 4th grade CLE actually starts to track with Singapore MIF 5th toward the end. DS was at a private school last year and his 4th grade math instruction (also Singapore Math in Focus) was sketchy so he could benefit from some review. Plus, he seems to need review in many areas just to cement concepts even though he is pretty "good" at math.

 

I think more of the same (for example, Singapore Math Extra Practice 4th Grade) may not be as beneficial as some other type of program—kind of like athletic cross training. DS also seems to need major hand holding with anything Singapore so more Singapore would defeat the purpose of trying to encourage growth in independence, growth in confidence, etc.

 

Anyway, your thoughts or advice are most appreciated!

[shinyhappypeople]

CLE is *a lot* for just review.  Level 300 (the level we tried) usually had about 50 problems in the workbook, not including the speed drill.  It's probably overkill if you're also using something else.   Not sure what else to suggest.... maybe Key To books or LOF or... ???  I don't know.  I understand wanting to approach things from a different angle.  I just worry that CLE *plus* MIF would burn him out.  Have you considered switching to CLE as your main program and supplementing with Singapore Extra Practice and/or Word Problem books? 

[Storygirl]

I agree that it would be too much to fit into a short review time before another math lesson. Each day there are about four workbook pages to complete, so it does take some time. Straightforward, yes. Short, no. We use it for our main math program, as I think most people do.

 

I do love it, but it's not designed as a supplementary program, and I think you would be finding it too much to use as you plan, unless you perhaps only do two pages, or half a lesson, each day.

[boscopup]

I use it as a review for my 5th grader. His main program is AoPS Prealgebra. He does CLE Math 500 (in 508 now) as a warm-up each morning. It only takes him 10-15 minutes to do a whole lesson since it's ALL review and being used 2 years behind his regular math program. We've been happy with it.

[TheApprentice]

CLE can be done independently, and it's a solid program; but it can take a while to finish each lesson. I would not recommend using both CLE and MIF daily. He will burn out, and not enjoy math, which will defeat the purpose.

 

If you use MIF, maybe you could do Keys To Series... or Math Mammoth Blue Series on different days for that review (neither one of these are spiral).

[CAtoVA]

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. I guess the samples for CLE make each lesson look fairly short which they must not actually be.....

 

If I use it as review I think I would do something like take one page and circle 5-10 assorted problems for the review portion of math for that day. Then circle another 5-10 problems on another day, etc. I don't think I would have him do one whole lesson a day in addition to Math in Focus. That does sound like overkill.

 

The other program I heard about (from these forums actually)  that may work and is a page of a few problems a day (supposed to take just a few minutes and I believe it's spiral) is this one called Simple Solutions:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934210129/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A306DJFWZLJ2OZ

 

And then there is the "Key To" series as some posters have suggested. Decisions, decisions as time winds down.......

[kagmypts]

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. I guess the samples for CLE make each lesson look fairly short which they must not actually be.....

 

If I use it as review I think I would do something like take one page and circle 5-10 assorted problems for the review portion of math for that day. Then circle another 5-10 problems on another day, etc. I don't think I would have him do one whole lesson a day in addition to Math in Focus. That does sound like overkill.

 

The other program I heard about (from these forums actually)  that may work and is a page of a few problems a day (supposed to take just a few minutes and I believe it's spiral) is this one called Simple Solutions:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934210129/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A306DJFWZLJ2OZ

 

And then there is the "Key To" series as some posters have suggested. Decisions, decisions as time winds down.......

 

I wanted to echo what the other posters have already said.  We like CLE, but it works much better as the primary program rather than a supplement.

 

If you plan to only do 5 or 10 problems per lesson, I would not use CLE.  Since it is a spiral program, I think that you would really be removing the meat of the program by creating a subset of work.  Each CLE lesson contains a variety of review problems and covers many different topics.  However, there are enough problems that the review section actually reinforces previous lessons.  I would question the benefit of only doing one problem per section.

[shinyhappypeople]

How about something like Evan-Moor's Daily Math Practice?  What you're describing is what it's designed for.   It has 5 problems a day and is very spiral.  It's also a lot cheaper than buying a full program.

[CAtoVA]

shinyhappypeople, I'll go check out Evan Moor! Thanks for the tip!

[Korrale]

If it were me I would use CLE as the main program because it is integrated and spiral. Each day's lesson involve a snippet of math from a variety of math subsets. I would then use MIF as supplement. You can then cut up a lesson into bits or skip parts more easily.