Blessedx9 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 We switched to R&S this year (started with 2nd for my dd, she knew most of it, so we bumped her up to 3rd), but my dd is having a bit of an issue with the non-workbook format. It is taking her FOREVER to write out the problems each day and she HATES it! Not a physical problem, I don't think, (her penmanship is very good!) just a personality thing. I'm seriously considering switching AGAIN to CLE since they seem to be pretty similar. Are they pretty similar? Or am I thinking that because they are both written my Mennonite companies? I would LOVE and welcome any feedback!!! TIA!!! Shari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I have not used R&S, but it would be easy to try out CLE without committing a lot of time and money. First, give her the placement tests for CLE. They are free if you just download them to your computer and print them out yourself. Start back a level or so since CLE can run a bit ahead in the Elementary levels and let her keep moving until she hits snags. Once you find where she places, order the first couple of light units for that level. Be aware that the first light unit of each level is a review of the previous year so it is not a good example of the actual lessons. It IS a great review, if review is needed.. We love CLE here. And not having to copy every single problem is a big plus. It does have the student copy some problems into a different format, which is good practice, IMHO, but it isn't all the time and it isn't every problem. Usually just a couple. If the CLE light units look like a good fit, I would definitely encourage you to order the CLE flash cards and the CLE reference chart. They are well done and very helpful. They are also used through at least Level 500 so definitely not a waste of money. You might also skim through recent CLE threads. Do a search. There are quite a few here and on the Gen Ed board. It might help you get a better feel for the program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedx9 Posted April 15, 2015 Author Share Posted April 15, 2015 Oh, thank you for your reply! That is exactly what I was thinking! I am having her start the diagnostic tests today to see where she would place, so we will go from there. I already own flashcards from Abeka, do you think those would suffice? I will check out the reference chart right now. Thanks again!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Unfortunately I don't know the Abeka cards but CLE does a very specifically designed, targeted flash card review every day. If you get the addition/subtraction CLE cards they are already organized so it is easy to pull out the specific cards needed for each day. The workbook has a checklist and tells the student which set to grab. You can use other cards. It has a list so you can see how to organize them. It just makes it SOOOO much easier with the CLE version. Well worth the money, IMHO. Another thing that I found helped both kids was that the CLE cards are black on white and pretty large. I thought color would be better but in this case it wasn't. And while many people don't seem to be that enamored of the multiplication/division cards, I have found those enormously helpful, too. Even though CLE doesn't start doing this right away, when I started having them do the targeted multiplication review, I then immediately flipped the cards over and had them do division on the other side. I love that the cards are set up that way. The cards are also notched on one side so it is easy to just flip every other set around. Easy to pull out just the ones I need. The kids started to finally link the multiplication and division as two sides of the same coin when we started using the cards that way. Math facts began to gel better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 My pencil phobic 3rd grader writes his answers directly in the R&S math book. Works well for both of us. He will continue to be able to write in about 1/2 of each lesson in the 4th grade book (there is enough space for this), and will transition to writing it all out by 5th grade. No need to make writing out all that math a hill to die on. Really not worth it. There are other ways to get in fine motor control and attention to detail. ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 (edited) . Edited June 9 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Wait! Hold the phone! Are you saying that although I have workbooks for R&S in grade 2 (that's what my son is doing), there are no workbooks at all available in Grade 3? Ouch!!! I did not realize that, if that is the case. I haven't done any research into Grade 3 yet. I try to keep math-related writing as minimal as possible. Bummer. I am glad to hear, though, that there's a lot of room in the book for writing. We may have to resort to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn E Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I don't think they are very similar. The LA programs are more similar. R&S math is mastery where CLE is spiral. My ds used R&S 1st grade math and then moved into CLE 2. We had to move slowly through the first lightunit of CLE (which is supposed to be a review of the previous year) because more concepts were covered in CLE 1 than R&S 1. You can see samples of each lightunit at clp.org as well as search for and view the scope and sequence. I love CLE, but if R&S is working except for the copying, I would let her write in the book as was already suggested. You really want to pick a program and stick with it because although most get to the same place by the end of elementary, they often take very different paths to get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 If R&S is mastery, then no, they probably aren't terribly similar. Do you think your child needs mastery? Is it only copying the problems that is an issue? If that's true, and mastery is really what she needs, I agree you should probably just stick with R&S and let her write in the book. If you think she might benefit from spiral AND writing in a workbook format, CLE is terrific for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkermamaof4 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 We switched one of my kids from R&S to CLE and we love CLE. No looking back for us! I love the way it reviews more than anything. And that it is written to the student. My dd can do it almost independently now. She is using Algebra 1 now and used R&S through 4 I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 We switched to R&S this year (started with 2nd for my dd, she knew most of it, so we bumped her up to 3rd), but my dd is having a bit of an issue with the non-workbook format. It is taking her FOREVER to write out the problems each day and she HATES it! Not a physical problem, I don't think, (her penmanship is very good!) just a personality thing. I'm seriously considering switching AGAIN to CLE since they seem to be pretty similar. Are they pretty similar? Or am I thinking that because they are both written my Mennonite companies? I would LOVE and welcome any feedback!!! TIA!!! Shari No, not a personal problem because she's a year younger than the publisher imagined children would be who would use that text, so her physical development might not be up to that. She doesn't have to write out all the problems. All she has to do is fold her notebook paper on a line, hold it on the page right below a row of problems, and write just the answers. The word problems she would write out, of course, because she needs to learn to set them up properly. And you're doing the oral class time with her, yes? That's where the instruction is, not in the textbook (and that changes at 4th grade, where everything the children need to know is right in their books). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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