Math - Best return on your investment

[mymommy1]

My almost 8 year old is finishing 2nd grade and MM3.  He has enjoyed BA some and Zaccaro Primary Grade Challenge Math from time to time as well.  My question is what supplements or main curriculum do you think gave you the most bang for your buck. 

 

I would just go with BA, but the price is a bit steep, not bad, but close.  I am a college math teacher, so I can adapt some, but like having elementary level things planned out.  I'm think along the lines of keeping MM going to cover the bases but want something for fun and challenge.  Is Beast Academy worth the time and money to finish all the levels he has left?  Just a couple Zaccaro books? Penrose the cat books?  HOE?  What has been the best return for your investment?

[Epicurean]

As a college math teacher, you should know that BA is a bargain. Think about how high quality the pictures are, and how sophisticated the math is compared to other books. A lot of work goes into them.

 

When I compare the quality of BA to a college math textbook, and Google tells me college math textbooks cost an average of $210 (twice that of BA), then it really puts things into perspective. i am honestly surprised they can sell it as cheaply as they do.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Epicurean

[kitten18]

BA, especially if your child doesn't need much arithmetic practice.

[wapiti]

Penrose and Zaccaro don't really fulfill the same function as BA would - I think they're hard to compare.

 

FWIW, yesterday I went to update my stock of BA and ordered *only the workbooks* for 4C to 5B.  My kids attend school and from time to time I might pull out a little BA though we rarely use the guides.  Now that I've ordered the workbooks, I'm sure one of my younger kids will start getting into Beast and want the guides LOL but I can always order them later.

 

MM is a good value too though in your shoes, I might consider BA for the full program with the occasional printed sheets from MM as needed for review, practice, etc.

Edited May 15, 2016 by wapiti

[mymommy1]

Thank you for your replies.  I certainly didn't mean to imply that BA was overpriced, just that it would use a good portion of my homeschool budget.  Most things we use are from the library, but math is harder to source like that.  I know the math in BA is great or I wouldn't consider it. 

 

I bought all of MM on sale last year because my oldest did not do well with BA or SM, and it was a great price.  I kept them both in the same program to save money and added Zacarro for the younger one. I had also bought that for my oldest and ended up not using it.  So, maybe it's more that there are so many things out there - some cheaper, some more, some better, some harder, etc.  I just wondered what you would put your money in now if you are past my stage. 

[mymommy1]

Epicurean, I do hope I didn't upset you.  Most college text cost too much, especially since they don't change much.  In courses that I can actually pick the book, I always make a cheaper choice, like $54 instead of $210.  I'm just an instructor, so I don't always get to choose.  In those classes, we search Amazon the first day to see what deals we can get.  Usually, they have very good prices compared to the bookstore.  My brother is a big pusher of OpenStax texts at his university.  Those are free.

 

We did find a precal text for $54 for next year, and surprisingly, the other textbook company offered to cut their price by about 70% to try to keep our business.  Hopefully, we will be seeing more and more lower price options in the next years.

[reign]

Beast is by far the most expensive program we use. I think it is totally worth it. We also do MM as a supplement.

[bibiche]

Well, the best return on my investment was Mathematics Enhancement Programme because it is free. ;)

Mortensen Math was great when DS was little and I would definitely purchase that again for a small child.

 

Otherwise, Beast and the other AoPS books, hands down.

[mymommy1]

bibiche, did you use MEP the whole time or start later?  I've used it a few times and did like it.  Many things I tried with my oldest who struggles with math, and then didn't think to try them again with the younger.  Honestly, I'm just getting the oldest figured out enough (LD things) that I can focus on ds2 now.  He would be somewhere in grade 3 area.

[bibiche]

bibiche, did you use MEP the whole time or start later? I've used it a few times and did like it. Many things I tried with my oldest who struggles with math, and then didn't think to try them again with the younger. Honestly, I'm just getting the oldest figured out enough (LD things) that I can focus on ds2 now. He would be somewhere in grade 3 area.

I think we started it around age 5 or 6, but we were pretty unschooly so did not do it as a rigorous program. Mainly we used it as a fun way to shore up DS's Spanish since it is available in that language. What we mostly did at that age was living math and a lot of logic puzzles. This continued even with BA (looking through DS's BA workbooks I see lots of empty pages!) and up until DS decided to get serious about math and started AoPS at age 9, I think.

[Julie of KY]

I love Beast and then AoPS for older kids.

I like MEP starting at level 7.

If kids need more drill, then there are lots of choices.