allymom Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I've really struggled to find a good fit when it comes to math with my rising 5th grader. My older dd uses MUS and it's been a great fit for her all along, but this child was bored to tears with MUS. She gets math concepts easily but it's really not her favorite subject. Last year she did Oak Meadow math 4, but it really was too easy for her and I wasn't that thrilled with the overall program. I let her look at several different programs and she really wants to do LOF. I'm planning on her doing LOF Fractions as well as Decimals & Percents. She loves to read so this should be a good fit for her. But only 6 practice problems just seems a little light to me. So I was looking for something to supplement it a bit. Singapore has been suggested to me, but that's really a full program on it's own, isn't it? MCP math looks like it could be a good fit. And it wouldn't cost me a fortune. If you all have any better suggestions, I'm open. I'd like a program that will compliment LOF, and not over-burden dd. And she needs something that isn't just numbers. Words, graphics even, are good for her. She's a doodler, a little ADHD maybe, but straight boring clean pages (like MUS) make her a bit crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allymom Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 Bumping to get some thoughts on this today. We head out for a homeschool conference tomorrow and I'm hoping to pick up all of our books there this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 I'm just entering Gr. 5 with my eldest, so this is definitely *not* BTDT experience! Something that isn't just numbers, has words, or graphics ... would Beast Academy be something you'd consider? It's very conceptual, very puzzly, lots of fun art, and definitely more than just numbers. You could start at 3A with a rising Gr. 5 student (others have) and still find it challenging. Or maybe MEP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 The first things I'd look at in this case are the Singapore Challenging Word Problem and/or Intensive Practice workbooks, which are designed to be supplemental. Math Mammoth also has instruction organized by topic - the topic books would be easy to use as practice supplements and they have plenty of word problems. Alternatively, I'd let Fred be the occasional supplement just for fun and choose something else for your main instruction and practice. For grade 5 in particular, I like MM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allymom Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 We tried BA in 3rd grade and it was much too hard. I haven't looked at it again since but that's a good idea. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Those two LOF books won't last more than a month or two tops. I don't see how you could flesh them out with extras to make them last a year. I would look for a full program and put those on the side or for "fun Fridays." My DD currently doing 5th grade math is thriving with Horizons. It's colorful, has several different concepts in one lesson to help curb the boring issue, and it stealthily increases skills. The Sonlight site has a good placement test for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allymom Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 Thank you for the ideas. I have 2 friends who use those LOF books as a complete math program for the year. They lean toward the unschooly or relaxed schooling side, so I wasn't entirely sure if it would fill a whole year or not. It felt too light to me, but I thought maybe I was expecting too much of my children. I'm glad others here seem to have the same thoughts as me on this. I will look into all of these different suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateingr Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 How about the Key to Fractions and Key to Decimals books? They're very well-done books that approach decimals and fractions from the same conceptual/understanding-oriented approach that Fred uses, but with lots of practice with the basics. I used them when I taught fifth-grade and was very pleased with how well they helped my students both understand fractions and decimals and compute fluently with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kateingr Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Oh, and they have percents, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 My go to recommendation is Math Mammoth + Keys to... series. If its a program that can work for you and you have your kid work through all of the problems (or even most of them) then your kid will know what they are doing, why they do it, and how. I made my kids do every single problem and now we do light maintenance work but its been a very satisfactory foundation and I have no regrets. If you are only using them along side LoF then you will want to at least use Keys to Fractions + Keys to Decimals + Keys to Percents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Mathematical Reasoning from the Critical Thinking Company looks like it is the exact opposite of MUS, lol. I have been considering it for that very reason. Lots of pictures, graphs, word problems, puzzles, etc. I think there are people on the forum who use it as a full curriculum, so I assume it is complete. I own LOF Fractions and Decimals/Percents, and they are nowhere near a full year's curriculum. They would be a good supplement for the right student, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allymom Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 If I used the Key To series with LOF, would I need something else for all the other math skills that should be reviewed periodically? i.e. Measuring, long division, long multiplication, how much time has elapsed, etc. I liked the looks of the Key To books but I was afraid both of those math choices might be too specific in the skills practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allymom Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 I like the looks of the Mathematical Reasoning books too. Thanks for all the great suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 If I used the Key To series with LOF, would I need something else for all the other math skills that should be reviewed periodically? i.e. Measuring, long division, long multiplication, how much time has elapsed, etc. I liked the looks of the Key To books but I was afraid both of those math choices might be too specific in the skills practice. That is where worksheets from off the internet come into play. You can print out worksheets on measurement, time and money from online very easily. Frankly, I would give my kid 2 multiplication and division problems each day as a warm up and I wouldn't source them from anywhere, just make up a problem like 213 x 67 and 21) 2163 and put them on the board for the student to solve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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